This week the world celebrated International Women’s Day, and this year’s theme is “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world.” While women and girls’ tremendous efforts worldwide help shape a more equal future and recovery from the pandemic, it also highlights the gaps that remain.
Traditionally, the immigration investment industry has been a man’s world, with most senior positions held by men. There have been massive strides towards gender inclusivity, but it is still an upward battle.
Finding women in the immigration investment industry who hold senior positions is difficult. While many are working in the industry, they do not get credit for their work.
These women are among the leaders shaping the future of the immigration industry.
Micha Emmett
Micha Emmett is the founder and CEO of CS Global Partners and is a dual-qualified attorney in the United Kingdom and South Africa, and has years of practice in the fields of citizenship, residence, immigration, and foreign investment law.
CS Global Partners was born out of the desire to deliver efficient and effective solutions for globally-minded people seeking to expand their horizons. CS Global Partners was integral in changing the narrative in the citizenship by investment industry by focusing on the corresponding benefit the investment had on the countries that we work with.
Furthermore, Emmet is also the Editor-in-Chief of Truly Belong magazine, mentor, advisor, speaker, writer, and self-professed citizen of the world. She is a member of several philanthropic organisations that focus on gender equality and education.
CS Global Partners is not only led by a woman but a large part of the workforce, 82 per cent, is also made up of women. While this does not make it easy to operate in a male-dominated industry, Emmett strives to employ individuals who are talented, passionate and, most importantly, those who embody the vision of the company.
Micha advises all aspiring women to remain true to themselves and their values. “It’s contrary to our authentic selves to try to be like a man. We have so much to offer as women, and if we embrace this more, we will see greater strides in society as a whole,” she shares.
Read also: Frequently Used Terms in the Immigration Investment Industry
Julia Onslow-Cole
Julia Onslow-Cole is a partner at Fragomen specialising in Global Government Strategies and Compliance. Onslow-Cole is a prominent individual in the global immigration market and is regarded as the ‘expert’s expert’ by peers.
“Migration has been a central feature in the development of human society, and the project will allow us to study, understand and cherish our heritage in this area,” says Julia Onslow-Cole.
Onslow-Cole regularly speaks at conferences around the globe and comments in the media on global immigration. Her accomplishments also include being the general editor of Tottel’s Immigration Law and Practice, and she has contributed to several immigration law textbooks.
Onslow-Cole is also the Chair of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute Charitable Trust, a member of the Chatham House Refugee Forum and the Advisory Committee of COMPAS, an organization that conducts high-quality research, develops theory and facilitates knowledge exchange in the field of migration at the University of Oxford.
Francine Baron
Francine Baron is the interim director of the Climate Resilience Execution Agency for Dominica (CREAD). Her work consists of supporting the implementation of Dominica’s Climate Resilient Recovery Plan to build back better after the devastating Hurricane Maria in 2017. These projects are partly funded by the Dominica Citizenship by Investment Programme.
Baron has also served as Dominica’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and as the diplomat charged with representing Dominica in the UK. Baron has also held the position of Principal Advisor to the Government of Dominica. From December 2014 to December 2019, she was the Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs of Dominica. She was the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Dominica from 2007 to 2010.
In a 2020 interview on World Bank titled International Women’s Day in the Caribbean: reflections of leadership, entrepreneurship, and navigating the workplace, Baron shared her advice on women getting started in their careers.
She said, “My advice is that one must try for excellence. One must strive to be the best in whatever area we are engaged in. We take advantage of the opportunities available to us, the technologies that are out there, and we should not take no for an answer.”
Katrina Cooper
Katrina Cooper is a partner at Deloitte and an immigration expert with over 25 years in the legal industry. Cooper provides strategic and innovative solutions to support the movement of talent globally. As a dual Australian and UK qualified lawyer, Cooper has developed a powerful and deep understanding of the immigration and global mobility.
Working with a global immigration leadership team, Cooper provides strategic advice to some of the world’s largest companies to retain, move or attract international talent.
Cooper also speaks and provides training sessions to clients and the public on various matters, including immigration issues in emerging markets, global immigration compliance and EU directives impacting the immigration world.
Alexandra Otway-Noel
Alexandra Otway-Noel currently works as an advisor to the Grenadine Prime Minister and is responsible for promoting Grenada’s Citizenship by Investment Programme. Otway-Noel previously served as the Minister of Tourism and is, therefore, no stranger to promoting the Caribbean Island. Otway-Noel led the rebranding of Grenada and the tourism industry to ‘Pure Grenada’
“Grenada is rapidly emerging into a model country, and in many ways, continues to carve new paths constantly evolving in this very competitive and dynamic world. When you get citizenship in Grenada, you enjoy the same rights and privileges as I do,” said Otway-Noel at a citizenship and residency seminar.
