Frances Beard (left) with NEA Mid-Atlantic Regional Director Tamara S. Hamilton, at the OD Network awards ceremony held at the Baltimore Waterfront Marriot in Maryland, last Tuesday, October 23. - Contributed

Jamaican Frances A. Beard was one of two recipients of the prestigious Sharing the Wealth Award presented annually by the Organisational Development Network. Mrs. Beard was lauded by National Education Association (NEA), Mid-Atlantic Regional Director, Tamara S. Hamilton at the OD Network's annual conference in Baltimore, Maryland, on October 23, for her "passion for seeing 'wholes' and fostering learning communities."

Alpha Academy graduate Frances Beard (formerly Lowrie) has been an internal OD consultant for the 3.2 million-strong NEA for the past 10 years. Her professional highlights include a complex whole-system change process in a large NEA state affiliate, spearheading an ongoing NEA-NTL OD/Systems Change certificate programme.

The holder of a master's of science degree in organisational development from Johns Hopkins University, Mrs. Beard's primary OD interests include: leadership development, large-scale change, organisations' OD capacity, and assessing OD effectiveness.

In memory of ...

In an interview with Flair Mrs. Beard said she has lived in the United States for 32 years and, so far, two others have received the award. The OD Network instituted it to reaffirm and recognise that the field of OD should engage the hearts, minds, and souls of people and their organisations. The award is given in memory of Kathie Dannemiller who was an exemplar in this area.

One other Jamaican, Calabar graduate Michael McPherson, works with the NEA. He sits in the top tier of the NEA as its chief financial officer.

NO DISCRIMINATION

At a time when racial discrimination has once again reared its ugly head in the U.S.A., Flair asked Mrs. Beard whether she has experienced this overtly or covertly. She said, "If I go back to my first years in the U.S.A., I may have to claim some naiveté. I didn't detect any form of discrimination. However, I don't think I ever thought about that aspect of life here. As a Jamaican, it didn't occur to me that I did not belong or would be perceived as an 'outsider' because of my ethnicity, colour, or nationality. I know that then and even now, my accent announced that I was from another country. But I always bragged about being Jamaican. Perhaps that in itself discouraged people from expressing discrimination."

After more than 30 years, she is aware that that discrimination exists. Political and economic agendas are driving a fresh focus on race and nationality. In the personal realm, she may have overlooked discriminatory encounters early on. But, Mrs. Beard said, when she became more sensitised and had reason to question whether a decision or attitude affecting her was motivated by discrimination, none of the instances involved the threat or reality of her being deprived of something significant.

Humbled and honoured

She is very humbled and honoured to receive the award and is grateful to her department director, Tamara Hamilton, for seeing in her OD practice the qualities recognised by the award. It means a great deal to her and motivates her to work even harder to be the best OD practitioner she can.

"This award is not about being 'on top.' I accepted it on behalf of so many others whose work attest to the value of sound OD consulting. It is like a 'sweetener' that can sustain my enthusiasm about working in this field, even when it may take a long time to see measurable results. I predict a productive and satisfying future because this is a profession that thrives on sharing the best of who we are and of what we know, she said."

Biggest career achievement

Her biggest career achievement so far was 15 years ago when she brokered an agreement for her then organisation in which she won the opportunity to sit down and talk with a group of environmental activists who had mounted a public campaign against a decision made to sell over 100 acres of land. The Washington Post, and other popular media, ran scathing stories about the destruction of 'virgin' forests and thereby endangering several species of birds.

The organisation's arguments were sound. There were sound legal arguments to refute accusations about going against the wishes of the benefactor who had willed the land to the organisation that had a social service mission.

However, as the drumbeat about lack of conscience and social res-ponsibility grew louder and other forms of nasty attacks were made on the organisation, Mrs. Beard reached out to the lead environmental activist. Getting the two parties in the same forum was a major achievement.

"I would like to think it played a part in the eventual resolution of what seemed like an intractable problem," she said.

Mrs. Beard is the daughter of Mrs .Maisie Lowrie and the late Joscelyn Lowrie. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with her husband, communications specialist and composer William R. Beard Jr. and their daughter, Patrique.

Barbara.ellington@gleanerjm.com