Former G/T Mayor and astute businesswoman, Dr. Mavis Benn, is a ‘Special Person’

Dec 22, 2019 News, Special Person

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By Feona Morrison

The fearless sacrifices by women are often overlooked. Women participate in every industry and their efforts and ideologies have helped shaped the world. They have supported and helped other women to follow their dreams. They have withstood the test of times and their legacies will live on to inspire others for generations to come.

A couple of decades ago, a bouncing baby girl came into the world. Her parents, a housewife and rice famer named her Mavis. Although she was born at Ayr Village in Berbice, Mavis Benn grew up in another village in the county, Seafield, where she shared an unbreakable bond with her siblings. She likes to describe herself as a “convicted Berbician.”Due to the economic circumstances in those days, around the age of six, she parted ways with Berbice, moving with her father to Georgetown where she attended the then Christ Church Anglican School. According to her, “In those days things were really rough. But despite the circumstances both my parents wanted us (their children) to be educated.”
She would later move back to the Ancient County before permanently leaving at around age 15, with her older sister. Sometime after that, she moved to Georgetown and from there on her teaching career started. She has since moulded scores of minds at the Hope Primary School, Augsburg Primary School in Burma and the Kitty Methodist School.
Dr. Benn is happily married to the love of her life Ronald Benn. The couple tied the knot in 1974, and together they share wonderful children, Zoywin, Ronald Jr. and Abiola. One might ask what is the secret to a long, healthy marriage. For Dr. Benn, it requires more than simply love and physical attraction. According to her, it requires communication and trust, and once these two traits are not there, a marriage is bound to fail. She describes her husband as her lover, father, and best friend.

MAYORSHIP
Dr. Benn joined the political arena in 1981 when she was appointed Mayor of Georgetown. To this date, she is the only executive Mayor of Georgetown who served on a full time basis. As Mayor of the Garden City, she ensured that the concerns of citizens were addressed. And with her humble personality, she accomplished quite a lot during her four-year tenure. But of the numerous accomplishments, Dr. Benn admitted that she is most proud of helping to take several

prostitutes off the streets.The story on how she did this is remarkable. One day, Dr. Benn visited a depressed community to visit a building which had been deemed condemned by city officials. Despite the state of the building, some women occupied them. These women, according to Dr. Benn, worked on the streets at nights selling their bodies to earn a dollar. Saddened by their situation, Dr. Benn said she knew she was in a position to render assistance. In fact, she offered them a job in the cleansing department of the municipality.
She was able to persuade them to give up their trade and add value and respect to themselves. What is even more amazing about their change in lifestyle Dr. Benn says, is that their children have gone on to become prominent citizens in society. She added, “I want to emphasize that this is one of my greatest accomplishments.” Also during her term, Dr. Benn led the first major staff conference of the municipality in 1981.
The event was addressed by former President Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham, outstanding lawyer Sir Lionel Luckhoo, and other dignitaries. At the conference, Dr. Benn gave the Key to the City of Georgetown to the late Jomo Kenyatta, a Kenyan anti-colonial activist and politician who governed Kenya as its Prime Minister from 1963 to 1964 and then as its first President from 1964 to his death in 1978; Vidya Zarako Vitch of Yugoslavia, the Prime Minister of Belize and several other officials.
As Mayor, Dr. Benn ensured that the daycare system in the city was expanded and developed and even brought in an expert fro

m Ottawa, Canada, to assist in that regard. Although she demitted office many moons ago, Dr. Benn would like to

see Georgetown return to the Garden City it once was. In this regard, she has committed to lending her expertise to the city’s current Mayor and council. According to her, she also wants to see entertainment for senior citizens return, like taking soothing steel pan music to the seawalls.
Currently, Dr. Benn is the Deputy Chairman of the Public Service Commission on which she also sits as a member.
ASTUTE BUSINESSWOMAN
Dr. Benn sits at the helm of her own business, Zoywins Consultancy and Training Institute, which was named after her daughter and established in 1992. Its principle purpose is to train and re-train persons in the workplace, in the field, in places of learning at all levels, in order to prepare them to participate fully in individual development and in that of the larger society.
Located at 47 Brickdam and Austin Place, Georgetown, the company has been waging the battle to revive standards at all levels at home, in the workplace and in the global community. In this regard, the company also has branches in New York and Canada and has trained thousands of persons in the public and the private sector since its establishment.
It offers programmes and services in etiquette, customer service skills, speech and report writing, empowerment, motivation, human resource development, planning and goal setting, public speaking, telephone skills, and many, many more.
According to Dr. Benn, “The Company is committed to a life’s vision of making a difference in the upliftment of quality skills and moral standards in individuals, families, communities, social institutions and governments. Through the years of wide demographic dispensation, Zoywins has touched the lives of over 5000 individuals who participated in its programmes. Over 100 institutions have positively evaluated the impact of Zoywins’ courses have had on the upliftment and progress of their organisations.”
But the businesswoman admitted that she is not surprised at the growth and development of her company, as both she and her husband came from a background etched in human development. She added that the passion in which the company undertakes its programmes understandably is predicted on a history from a Christian childhood rooted in the highest moral values of parents, a youth committed to community development and an adulthood deeply engrossed in the highest level of policy making and government.
The businesswoman admitted that she is very impressed with the many accolades showered on Zoywins for its contribution to human development. She confessed that, in particular, the words of New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg still resonate. When Zoywins’ marked its fifteenth anniversary in 2008, Mayor Bloomberg hailed it for its contribution towards the development of the city of New York.
Mayor Bloomberg wrote: “Since its inception in 1992, Zoywins Consultancy has provided exemplary technical and interpersonal skills training and preparation services to clients in South America, the Caribbean and the United States. Their guidance and professional expertise has allowed government agencies, non-profit organizations, and small businesses to grow and thrive by helping employees improve efficiency and managerial competence.”

He further wrote: “As a member of the National Minority Business Council and one of the New York City Department of Small Business Services certified Minority—Owned Business Enterprise, Zoywins has also helped our city achieve its goal of creating greater access to business opportunities for minority—and woman—owned enterprises.”
Added to this, Zoywins has also received citations from Member of Congress, Yvette Clarke on behalf of New York’s 11th Congressional District; President of the Borough of Queens, New York, Helen Marshall, Deputy Borough Presidents of the Office of Brooklyn, Yvonne Graham; Financial Controller of HCCL, Bronx, New York, Derek Broomes.
Citations were also received locally from the Guyana Missionary Baptiste Church, John Fernandes Limited, Correia Group of Companies and the City Council of Georgetown.
In terms of institutions here, Zoywins has lend its expertise to several government ministries, NIS, Georgetown Public Hospital, Deeds Registry, GUYOIL, the Guyana Police Force, CANU, Banks D.I.H Limited, Guyana Lottery Company, private individuals, and others too numerous to mention.
ACHIEVEMENTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Last month, at the United Nations office in New York, Dr. Benn was conferred with an honorary doctorate from the United Graduate College and Seminary. She also recently received a World Civility Award and has been appointed a Civility Ambassador. In 1976, Dr. Benn was elected to the International Women’s Forum of the World Assembly of Youth based in Denmark. Before serving as Mayor, she was elected as the youngest City Councillor, and was the youngest member elected to present for the Georgetown City Council at the Guyana Association of Local Authorities which was then the umbrella organization for all Local Authorities in the country.
Apart from these, Dr. Benn served on the Constituent Assembly in Parliament as a representative of the Guyana Assembly of Youth. This body was set up to rewrite and advise Central Government on the Constitution of Guyana. She also represented Guyana as a member of a two-man delegation to the biennial Caribbean Studies of Association Conference which was held in St. Thomas, West Indies, in 1983, and presented a paper on the Role of Women in the Caribbean.
Dr. Benn was also a Special Advisor to Prime Minister Hamilton Green on Welfare matters. Among other things, she was tasked with organizing the World Environment Day Programme in Guyana for a number of years; organizing business entities for single parents, particularly, women who need financial assistance.
Furthermore, she was also selected to represent the Georgetown City Council and the Guyana Association of Local Authorities (GALA). Along with two others, she was responsible for bringing Food For the Poor to Guyana
She has also undergone special courses in Expansion of Small Business, Upgrading Management Techniques, Enhancing Managements and Leadership Skills and Specific Short Term Managerial Training.
As a young member of the Socialist Movement, Dr. Benn led a group of young people from Kitty, Georgetown, to rename the streets in the community after a decision was made to name them after members of the Village Council.
In recognition of her sterling contributions to society, a street has been named after Dr. Benn in the Shirley Field Ridley Square in Georgetown. In her spare time, Dr. Benn enjoys cooking, listening to music and decorating her home.
For her extensive contributions, today we at Kaieteur News bestow her with our title of ‘Special Person’.

 

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