Swiss-based TT national Donna Pierre advises women to take risks and relish in their experiences

Being a woman today means having to take many risks.

Whether it be the risk in recent days of simply travelling by taxi, taking a leap of faith with the right partner, and even giving birth can be risky…the list can go on.

As we continue to place the spotlight on our women, in celebration of International Women’s Day on Monday, 8 March, we shine our light today on Donna Pierre, a young woman who took the bull by the horns, travelled across the globe for a very demanding job, no family support, a foreign language and culture she had to learn about on the go and having to endure food, that is simply not Trini-flavored.

Pierre is the Project Coordination Officer at the World Meteorological Organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Look her up on LinkedIn and you’ll see that she is an experienced Disaster Risk Management Specialist with a demonstrated history of working in the environmental services industry.

She got her feet wet in the media profession but with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) focused in General Management with specific lens on the role of governance in advancing sustainable development, the sky became the limit. She’s worked at the Office Disaster Preparedness and Management here in TT, the BrainStreet Group in Guyana and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency in Barbados, to name but a few.
She is skilled in Policy Analysis, Sociology, Strategic Planning, Public Policy, Monitoring and Evaluation and Training.

So…with all of that goodness under one hat izzso whatsapped this St Augustine bred home girl to tell us about her journey.

Living in Switzerland for approximately four years now, we asked her what the experience has been like.

Being a successful woman and carrying some position of power in a white dominated country, what are some of your challenges, and have they come from other women?

You have been employed at a number of entities outside of TT, and have taken the risk to travel to countries across Europe and even Africa, all by yourself, what advice would you give to women, who are fearful of taking such chances, whether it be for work or life in general?