Monica Silvera

Remembering Monica Silvera

Monica Silvera was the Caribbean Shipping Association’s first female chief executive. Monica sadly died in 2002. Today, the CSA continues to celebrate her life and her contribution to the Association and a scholarship is named in her honor.

For those who knew her, Monica Silvera had a sunny and permanently cheery disposition and brought warmth and energy to the Secretariat at CSA conferences. She had a welcoming persona and an infectious laugh and she had the uncanny and impressive ability to remember everybody’s name. More than that, she knew where everyone was from. And if they had brought their family to a previous CSA conference, she would remember the name of their spouse and the names of their children. It was a rare and incredible gift.

At CSA conferences, when sometimes weary delegates arrived at the Secretariat, often after long and arduous journeys, Monica would be there to welcome each with a warm smile, address each effortlessly by name and was able to discuss their journey simply because she committed to memory how each delegate would be travelling to the conference. This was just one of the many aspects of her personality and she was widely admired and highly respected. For, not only did she make people feel special, she also helped to make them immediately feel part of the CSA.

As has been mentioned in previous issues of Caribbean Maritime, Monica gave CSA members a sense of belonging. She made those coming to a CSA event for the first time feel that they were one of the family. It certainly made her a very special person.

First female

Monica’s appointment as the CSA’s First Female Executive Vice President was a very easy decision. She knew the CSA and was its binding force. She had served the Association for many years as secretary to the previous executive vice president and then as corporate secretary to the Association. She knew every decision that the General Council had taken as she meticulously went through the minutes of the various committees.

Her background in one of Jamaica’s leading law firms made her a stickler for detail and she let very little slip her attention. She was therefore able to effectively handle the logistical details of planning large international conferences such as the CSA Annual General Meeting.

Sorely missed

At the time of her passing, CSA President from 1994 to 1997 and fellow Jamaican G. Ainsley Morris said: “She will be sorely missed, not only because of her fantastic personality but more so because of her ability to get things done properly and expeditiously the first time around.”

And 1981 to 1984 president and another co-compatriot, the late Ludlow Stewart had previously summed up Monica’s attitude: “She undertook her responsibilities with diligence and determination. As such, she became a CSA icon.”

Monica worked hard, completed her assignments accurately and on time and then she partied heartily. She was a classy lady. Impeccably attired, elegantly formal or fashionably casual, she embodied the spirit of the CSA in her work and in her humanity.

Monica died in 2002 shortly after attending in Guyana the first-ever Caribbean Shipping Executives Conference and during the presidency of Capt Rawle Baddaloo. This was six months after being appointed the CSA’s first female chief executive officer.

In recognition of her enormous past contributions, the Caribbean Shipping Association Monica Silvera Scholarship was established in 2005 and is available to students enrolled in all programs at the Caribbean Maritime University.

After Monica died, Pauline Gray took over as executive vice president. She was officially appointed at the Martinique AGM but sadly passed in April of the following year. Pauline was also general manager of the Shipping Association of Jamaica; having taken over in 2001 from Alvin Henry when he retired.

A personal tribute from CM publisher

Monica Silvera was the first person I ever met at a CSA conference. I had arrived in Valencia, Venezuela (now looking back and given what has happened since, it seems such an odd location) to attend my first AGM. How did she already know my name and how did she know how I had travelled to the event? I was baffled and amazed in equal measure.

Monica could not have been more welcoming, treating me almost like a long-lost friend rather than an ignorant stranger from beyond the region and one with little or no knowledge of the Association, its raison d’être nor of its many larger-than-life characters who made up its membership.

As others will no doubt testify, walking into a first CSA cocktail party when you know not a soul is a daunting experience, but Monica, noting my predicament, was kind enough to introduce me to others. Monica remained a friendly face at subsequent AGMs and seemed to have total recall of delegates’ names and their affiliation, including mine. Her sad and untimely death in 2002 was shock to one and all and Monica remains much missed – especially by that bewildered first AGM attendee from way back in 1997.