Sugar Ray Thomas
Kaydian Harty, public relations officer of the St. Ann Parish Council, is a resilient, focused, passionate, accomplished and strong young professional woman. And her sights are set on achieving even more in the future.
With her win of the All-Island Administrative Professional of the Year title on Sunday, April 3, the sky is the limit for this young woman. She sees career advancement in education and having a family of her own as her goals to come.
She grew up in Parry Town, St. Ann, with her mother, Sharon Francis and her other family members. She also lived in Moneague with her father Patrick Harty, who is very present in her life.
Harty told North Coast Times that she is a family oriented person and she was from a family unit that had strong Christian principles, from the Baptist faith.
“My mother is my rock and my constant support system. She is my hardest critic and my best friend. I just want to thank her and my grandmother, Evelyn Turner for making me the strong woman that I am,” she explained.
She attends the Parry Town Baptist Church and is vice chairman of the Parry Town Primary School.
Though Parry Town is now considered by some as an area with high levels of criminal activity in St. Ann, Harty insists this was not so when she was growing up in the area. “It was a very quiet neighbourhood and it wasn’t always like this. We would walk on the streets as late as nine or ten o’clock and everything would be fine back then. So this violence that is there it is pretty new,” Harty argued.
Harty is a past student of Golden Grove All Age, Westwood High School, Iona High School and Brown’s Town Community College.
Harty, who has a degree in media and communication with a major in Public Relations from the University of the West Indies (UWI), was always encouraged to go into media. However, she argued that a job in public relations was something she has grown to love.
However, she has been exposed to the media landscape as she was a teenage writer for Teenage Observer and spent a short stint in the news room at Irie FM.
After leaving college in 2006, Harty’s first job was as an information officer with the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCO) and later, she became a receptionist at Club Hotel RIU Ocho Rios. In 2008, she became a full-time student at UWI where she spent three years.
Fresh out of University in 2011, she worked as a banquet/wedding coordinator in sales at the Cardiff Hall Hotel and Spa, formerly Runaway Bay HEART Hotel.
Two years later, Kaydian Harty joined the St. Ann Parish Council, where she serves as the first public relations officer.
Her role as public relations officer encompasses planning several calendar events in which the St. Ann Parish Council is involved. These include the annual Marcus Garvey birthday celebration, National Heroes Day, Local Government month in November and the tree lighting ceremony in December.
Her duties also call for management of the council’s Facebook pages and other social media platforms and assisting in planning of town hall meetings.
She lauds Desmond Gilmore, mayor of St. Ann’s Bay and chairman of the St. Ann Parish Council and acting secretary manager of the council, Claudia Carter, for being open to new ideas. Harty explained that working at the council has allowed her to develop professionally. “It’s an open door policy (there). I feel comfortable enough to make a mistake and I will not be chastised,” Harty explained.
With some level of political stigmatization often associated with the operations of parish councils island wide, Harty asserted that this does not affect her in carrying out her job. “Everyone has a right to support or serve a political party. You should not display that on your job. My political affiliation should not affect how I perform on the job,” she argued.
Harty says that entering politics will be something that she will venture into in the future as she is “learning from the ground up.” However, in the future she hopes to advance in her career, further her studies with a master’s degree and have a family of her own.
When not busy with work, Harty enjoys going to the beach, reading, communicating with friends via social media and spending time with her family. Also she is a member of the Jamaica Cancer Society.
Kaydian Harty hailed the preparation and support given to her by acting secretary manager, Claudia Carter and executive secretary, Hillary Dacosta, both of the St. Ann Parish Council, for her entry into the Jamaica Association of Administrative Professionals (JAAP) all-island judging of the Administrative Professional and Boss of the Year Competitions held at the Bay View Eco Resort & Spa in Port Antonio, Portland on April 3.
“I’m still in shock, but I’m elated,” explained Harty.
Harty won the judges over as she spoke for three minutes on the topic, “Flexible work arrangements are an important part of an effective workplace policy and contribute to employee job satisfaction, retention and health.”
