Your Excellency,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Friends:
It is truly my pleasure to be here with all of you today.
It has always been my contention that our country has a lot more talent and brilliance than a nation our size might reasonably be expected to have – and Ja’Ann Michella Major is one of the Bahamians working hard to prove me right!
I am grateful she has agreed to bring her considerable talents to the very important work of changing our country.
There is no doubt we are in a time of transition. Times of great change present both challenges and opportunities – and Senator Major is going to help us confront those challenges and seize those opportunities with the energy and intellect she has thus far shown throughout her professional life.
Very few people who begin as a summer student at a law firm make it all the way to partner, as she did. It’s an achievement that speaks to excellence and dedication.
She was blessed with an inspiring role model – her mother, who led her family through what must have been very difficult years after Ja’Ann’s father, Gerald Major, passed away from cancer, a terrible loss for Ja’Ann when she was only 15 years old.
Fifteen is very young to learn the hard lessons of loss and tragedy, but what is evident to me is that she also learned that strength and resilience can live alongside heartbreak.
Character matters. Many of us are in public life because our country has such difficult problems to solve, not despite those difficulties. There is so much purpose to be found in doing the hardest work, when you love your country and people.
I know that our newest Senator, Ja’Ann Major, will make a difference as we do that hard work together.
She knows we are not here to preside over the status quo, but to change it.
She understands our country’s enormous potential, and the transformational policies we need to maximize it.
She believes, as we do, that innovative, compassionate, forward-looking policies can create a more inclusive economy, one that lifts up more and more Bahamians.
Her professional career – and in particular her knowledge of the maritime and aviation businesses – has given her a deep well of expertise which will allow her to begin contributing right away.
Her work on the boards of The Bahamas Maritime Authority and The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers’ Confederation has given her experience navigating complex issues. She is ready to create and drive policies which will help us modernize and expand the Bahamian economy.
I am so optimistic about our country’s future because of Bahamians like Ja’Ann, one of our new generation leaders, who are ready to innovate and change what is possible for our country.
I know she will be the kind of leader who runs towards our most pressing challenges, instead of away from them, ready and determined to make a difference.
I know she will be an advocate for all Bahamians, and reflect the values and aspirations of our people in her work.
I know she’s going to make waves, and more importantly, make a difference.
Welcome, Senator Major, and may God bless you and all of your endeavours.