Three remarkable women are the 2025 recipients of the International Women's Forum TT Inspirational Women Awards - a testament of their exemplary leadership and impactful work in their various fields. Rynessa Cutting has more from the 4th annual Gala.
00:00The International Women's Forum Trinidad and Tobago has been connecting, catalyzing and celebrating remarkable women for the past 10 years.
00:11This year the IWFTT recognized one of its youngest honorees yet, Maya Kurti-Nanan, who was bestowed the Inspirational Emerging Leader Award for her work in championing inclusivity for persons with autism.
00:27Tonight, I stand here with gratitude, but also with urgency.
00:32Too many families are still navigating the silence of stigma.
00:36Too many children and youth with disabilities remain invisible in classrooms, in opportunities, in conversations about the future.
00:44And too many young women still struggle to find a seat at the table, even when we are the ones holding the solutions.
00:51So my call to action is this, let us not simply applaud emerging leaders, let us invest in them.
00:59Let us not only celebrate inclusion in words, but demand it in policies that are not just sitting at desk.
01:07Receiving the 2025 Inspirational Advocate Award was Ms. Suzanne Lacan-Baptiste, who shared thrilling tales of her work in turtle and environment preservation.
01:18Way back then, we had poachers, poaching the beach, taking turtles, but I always welcome a good challenge.
01:26I believe, I believe as a woman, I could have made a difference.
01:36Being out there, I have learned, I had learned so much.
01:39Patience, I got into physical fights with poachers.
01:42Patience, I was really bad, ruthless.
01:47I was told on many occasions that we will get you fired.
01:50I would laugh because I'm a volunteer, nobody could fire me.
01:56This is a man's thing, while you're out there, you don't do favours for the government.
02:01But I believe that all of us have the responsibility to protect planet Earth.
02:07Dr. Catherine Minto-Bain was conferred the Inspirational Champion of Women Award for a pioneering work in IVF fertility treatment.
02:17Here in the Caribbean, we have really huge struggles.
02:23Fertility problems are really often misunderstood.
02:27Infertility remains deeply stigmatized, despite all the advocacy work that's been going on and the talking in public about infertility.
02:39And so the challenges we face here in TNT in the Caribbean, I think, are doubly difficult.
02:44There is so much work to be done.
02:47Her Excellency, President Christine Kangaloo, heaped praises on the awardees as she challenged the national population to follow in their footsteps.
02:58Just imagine the kind of society we would have if everyone approached our national challenges as Catherine, Susan and Maya have approached theirs.
03:09Imagine if, instead of waiting for somebody to fix things, we each asked ourselves what contribution we could make.
03:18Imagine if we tackled issues like crime, inequality, or environmental degradation with that same creativity, determination, and courage.
03:29The mountains we would climb, the valleys we would cross, the future we could secure.
03:36As we stand on the cusp of our 50th year as a republic, it is right that we should honor tonight those who are the best examples of who we can become.
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