Jamaica OD conference day two pairs AI tools with human-centred leadership after Melissa

Delegates gathered on 24 June 2026 for the second day of the sixth staging of the Organization Development Transformation Conference, hosted by Caribbean Center for Organization Development Excellence Limited and the Caribbean Organization Development Network under the theme Human Hearts, Digital Minds.

Nicole Wilson, business development officer at the University of Technology Jamaica Open Campus, opened the morning on behalf of Dr Sophia Mintosh. She said the programme was built around aligning social intelligence with artificial intelligence so that technology strengthens human connection rather than replacing it, and she cited a Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt certification launched with Strategy Associates after contacts made through CARI-CODE.

Frank V of Strategy Associates, joining virtually, outlined an updated Lean Six Sigma model that adds an artificial intelligence opportunity assessment toolkit across Yellow, Green, and Black Belt levels. After a technical interruption, conference founder Elsa Duivere explained how the methodology has been offered in Jamaica for more than a decade, including a National Health Fund case in which card processing reportedly fell from weeks to about 15 minutes.

Jana Young, 2026 chair of the Organization Development Network, addressed the room remotely. She praised Jamaica for convening fewer than eight months after Hurricane Melissa, and argued that organisation development practitioners must keep human dignity at the centre as artificial intelligence reshapes workplaces.

Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service Xavier Maine stood in for Minister Fayval Williams and delivered the scheduled keynote. He framed Jamaica's path around resilience, recovery, and renewal, citing post-Melissa rebuilding, the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority bill, and renewal of the country's catastrophe bond to US$200 million in hurricane insurance protection. He noted international recognition of that financing approach among Fast Company's World Changing Ideas for 2026.

Professor Lindsay Godwin followed with an international keynote on Earthshot organisation development and net positive leadership built on radical inclusion, collaboration, and regeneration. Mercedes Martin Burgess, joining virtually, presented her River Journey framework for navigating leadership tension and systems change.

Gospel recording artist Mark Johnson performed ahead of the ministerial address. Later, Professor Gilmore Crosby led a live T-group exercise on emotional awareness and organisational change, drawing on the methods of Kurt Lewin.

Afternoon round-table work used tourism and hospitality as a pilot sector to discuss building back better after COVID-19, Melissa, and Beryl, with tables recommending emergency storage, stakeholder task forces, and cross-sector disaster planning. The programme closed with Dr Ensomo Jaja and AI consultant Stacy Hines urging delegates to turn vision into action using practical artificial intelligence tools.