CARI-CODE to Launch Beyond Relief Project at Sixth Annual ODT CONFERENCE

The Caribbean Centre for Organisation Development Excellence Limited (CARI-CODE) is set to launch an initiative to aid Jamaica’s recovery in the wake of Hurricane Melissa.

The CARI-CODE Beyond Relief Project will be officially introduced during the organisation’s annual Organisation Development Transformation (ODT) Week Conference.

This two-day conference, hosted by CARI-CODE, in partnership with the Caribbean Organisation Development Network (CODN), will take place at the Summit Kingston hotel from June 23 to 24.

CODN President, Ian Williams, told JIS News that the Beyond Relief Project is focused not only on immediate post-Melissa recovery but also advancing regenerative and sustainable development.

“We are pretty much saying… what happens after Melissa? How can we get back up and running? How can we move past the disruption to go into sustainable development?” he explained.

Mr. Williams further noted that Associate Vice President for Distance Learning at the University of Technology (UTech), Dr. Jeanette Bartley-Bryan, will lead the conference discussions on the project.

Meanwhile, Mr. Williams highlighted that the two-day conference, now in its sixth year, will showcase a dynamic line-up of local and international speakers.

They will deliver impactful messages tailored to executives and transformation specialists from across the Caribbean region.

Day one will also feature presentations from UTech President, Dr. Kevin Brown; Corporate Director of Human Resources for Sandals Resorts International, Ryan Matthew; and artificial intelligence (AI) guru, Leslie Lee Fook.

“On day two… we have our international speaker, Dr. Lindsay Godwin, who will be speaking on regenerative leadership as an approach to transformation,” Mr. Williams further outlined.

He emphasised that all these elements are designed to reinforce the conference’s central theme, ‘Human Hearts, Digital Minds: Harmonising Transformation – Bridging Social Intelligence (SI) & Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Regenerative Sustainable Change’.

Mr. Williams noted that the emphasis on AI is particularly timely, given the technology’s growing prevalence globally.

“Artificial Intelligence is here, and it will become more and more present as time progresses. What we want to bring to the fore is that, as organisational development professionals, we must not be left behind. We need to be with what is trending,” he emphasised

Mr. Williams underscored that the conference will explore how organisation development (OD) practitioners can deepen their understanding of AI while ensuring it is balanced with the principles of social intelligence (SI).

He further noted that, although the event is primarily targeted at OD professionals, it remains open to all Jamaicans.

“OD is in the business of developing people,” Mr. Williams affirmed, while extending an invitation to all interested persons to attend the upcoming conference.

“We still have slots open. So, I invite corporates [and] individuals to come and enjoy the richness of this conference. It is a guarantee that attending will be worth your while, in that you will be strengthened, your capacity will be built, and you will have a greater appreciation for, of course, as our theme again highlights, human hearts, digital minds, harmonising transformation, bridging social intelligence and AI, for what we call a regenerative, sustainable change,” he stated.

Interested parties may contact the conference organisers at 876-925-0421 or via email at odtconferenceatcaricode.com.

The Caribbean Organisation Development Network (CODN) currently boasts a membership of more than 200 professionals, the majority of whom are based in Jamaica. The network also includes members from across the wider Caribbean, as well as the United States (US) and Canada

Members are experienced practitioners who are trained and certified by CARI-CODE. which delivers customised transformation interventions that enable organisations to achieve globally recognised standards of performance excellence.

The sixth annual Conference coincides with CARI-CODE’s 20th anniversary observance.