Women Makes Up Half Of Paradise Foods Executives

BY FRANKIY KAPIN - Post Courier

Papua New Guinea owned Paradise Foods company believes women are just as equal as men decision makers and currently half the company’s executive team is made up of female employees.
Paradise Foods Company with an 80 per cent majority Papua New Guinea shareholding through the Nambawan Super Limited and 20 per cent through Comrade Trustee Services has 50 per cent of its females on the company’s Executive Leadership team.
And that includes the chief financial officer, group manager – people and performance, group manager – supply chain, group manager – Chocolate (Queen Emma) & Spice. Other senior leadership roles include finance manager – reporting and analysis, finance manager – operations, trade marketing manager, human resource manager and the quality
assurance manager.
“With 50 percent of the executive leadership team being women in Paradise Foods, they engage as equal partners in the leadership team and contribute to developing and implementing the strategic objectives of the business in their specific areas of expertise leading to the success of the company,” says Michael Shields, CEO.
They are kicking goals for the business!” the Company stated.
And complementing gender equality in the workplace, Paradise Foods Company is as well penetrating the traditionally perceived men jobs.
Currently the men dominated positions held by women at Paradise Foods include plant manager, supply chain manager, production engineer, electricians, production supervisors, packaging supervisors, process workers and machine operators.
“Paradise is an equal opportunity employer so regardless of gender or any other area of potential difference, and in line with legal compliances, we strive to employ and promote the right person for the right job based on ability, potential and performance.” Jane Wickham, GM People and Performance.
Company reward systems at various levels are the same for males and females in same positions.
We have been extremely fortunate in recent times to be seen as an employer of choice and have been able to attract a number of female talents to fill key roles,” Paradise company stated.
“We are aware of the cultural challenges that women face in PNG in terms of education and other stereotype attitudes and behaviors of our society that disadvantage women not only to be gainfully employed but to succeed in the workplace and be promoted to management and executive level jobs.

Go to this link: https://postcourier.com.pg/women-make-half-paradise-foods-executives/

The Girl with the Winning Design

BY PAMELA BARARA - Post Courier 

DWU journalism student

Being the youngest designer among PNG’s top designers, one can only imagine the jitters 20- year-old Josie Nicholas must have felt when she stepped onto a new platform in the fashion industry.

Here, young Josie shares her journey as the official designer to the reigning Miss PNG and the Pacific Islands, Leoshina Kariha.

Josie’s passion started with dressing Barbie dolls at a young age which led to mini runway shows at her school then finally to the big runways of Miss PNG and the Pacific Islands.

The year before, Josie Nicholas, was just another lass from Rigo and Kairiku in Central province who had just graduated from Marianville Secondary in Port Moresby and was looking forward to completing business studies at the Divine Word University in Madang.

But little did Josie know that she would be walking into a year filled with big challenges, one being announced Miss PNG’s official designer for 2018.

Josie developed her sewing interest by watching from her mother at a young age.

“My mom sews and so I watched everything she was doing and copied from there and it became a habit that I grew into in the past three years,” she said.

Josie who is the third in a family of five says her first real sewing came when she was 17 years old when her mother had just purchased a new sewing machine.

“I asked my mom if I could try out her sewing machine and she thought I was joking” she recalls.

Her passion would later spiral her onto the fashion world of the MPIP Pageant where her best friend Janal Lovai first introduced her as a potential designer in the 2018 provincial pageant in Madang.

During the pageant Josie went on to sew an outfit for DWU contestant Leoshina Kariha, who was also a first year student at her university at that time.

“Leoshina and I have known each other since high school, we have been very close and so she supported me throughout the journey with my designs,” she said.

Josie draw’s her inspiration from PNG’s unique culture by studying cultural designs and using her artistic skills to come up amazing pieces.

“I’m interested in our culture and how unique it is, during cultural show’s I like to study designs and traditional attires to get my ideas…inspiration from my designs come from the PNG culture and nature itself, especially birds” she said.

After Leoshina was crowned Miss Madang 2018, wearing a lovely dress designed by Josie, Josie alongside Leoshina then began attending MPIP PNG meetings to await the official announcement.

Josie remembers going speechless when Chairperson of MPIP PNG Ms Molly O’Rourke announced her as the official designer for Miss PNG Pageant during another of her mini runways where her clothing line was being showcased.

“It was shocking and I was speechless but I told myself that I’d do my best.

“Ms O’rourke asked me to step up my game, to stick with passion and continue on with what I was doing,” Josie said.

“I was on a little platform where it was just the community and my family and so my first biggest achievement was having Leoshina wear my designs throughout the pageant and be crowned Miss Madang and second Miss PNG,” she added.

The most outstanding collections amongst all of Josie’s designs showcased during MPIP PNG were the Traditional Inspired Dress (TID) and the sarong wear which Leoshina scooped awards for.

“My wardrobe was all about Pacific and so all my designs had to be simple but elegant,” she explained.

Josie said using the traditional inspired dress was a move to promote the Madang culture where she used traditional attires supplied by the locals of Riwo village in Madang.

“It wasn’t that challenging because I loved what I was doing and I just set my mind to it, when you set your mind to something, you make it happen” she said.

Ms Nicholas said for the sarong wear, she tried to embrace the idea of womanhood and to promote the beautiful beaches of Madang and its many islands.

“All my ideas came from Beautiful Madang itself,” she said.

Being the youngest designer at the pageant was a humble and exciting experience for Josie. “I was excited to be among most of the PNG’s top designers.

“They were even shocked to see me showcasing my designs as I was the youngest,” she said adding that they were also very supportive and helped her a lot throughout the pageant.

Josie wants to become a business woman in the future and to continue her passion for fashion.

Josie embraces womanhood and is unafraid to promote women’s freedom in clothing wear, something Papua New Guinean women are slowly adapting into.

“Fashion is all about freedom of expression when it comes to the ladies point of view; I want to put it out there, be part of the fashion industry and grow with it.”

For her success, Josie acknowledged a few significant supporters including her parents, Professor Kula Semos, all the Divine Word University students and community who she says, had the faith to support her throughout her journey alongside Miss Pacific Islands 2018.

“This journey was a really tough one, but it made Leoshina and I stronger, we strengthened each other at our weak moments and so we never gave up.”

“All that hard work was worth it,” she said.

Josie and her mother Francesca Nicholas own and run Paradise Fashion, a PNG owned clothing line SME that’s been in business for a year.

Go to this link: https://postcourier.com.pg/girl-winning-design/

Turnamur gets competency certificate as mine manager

Posted by The National

HILLARY Turnamur from Toma in East New Britain is the first female in the country to be awarded a certificate of competency as mine manager works.
This is according to records of the Mineral Resources Authority (MRA).
Turnamur is a manager at Ok Tedi Mining Ltd (OTML), Kiunga operations.
She received notice of the award from the MRA after meeting the experience requirements and successfully completing an oral and written examination.
OTML managing-director and chief executive officer Peter Graham said: “We are particularly proud of Hillary’s achievement.
“She is a role model for young women in Papua New Guinea, demonstrating that women can successfully develop rewarding careers in mining, including into senior operating roles.”
Two years ago, the miner established the Ok Tedi Women’s Network (OWN) for female employees to address safety and security concerns, identify development and career pathways and barriers to entry and progression, and to encourage mentoring and training for women.
Graham added: “In 2019, 14 of the 27 trainees selected for our two-year graduate development programme and our apprentice programme are women.
“We are also reaching out to schools to encourage young girls to consider science, technology, engineering and maths subjects, reviewing relevant employment policies and sharpening our recruitment messaging.
“Women are currently underrepresented in Ok Tedi’s workforce and while it will take time, we plan to change that.”

Go to this link: https://www.thenational.com.pg/turnamur-gets-competency-certificate-as-mine-manager/