New Senior Civil Service appointments

Today, the Cabinet Secretary and Head of Civil Service, Dr. Derrick Binns announced the following appointments among the senior ranks of the Civil Service.

Dr. Binns advised that Ms. Cherie Whitter has been formally appointed as the Deputy Head of the Civil Service.

The public will recall that earlier this year as part of an organizational change of Government Ministries and a reassignment among the Civil Service Executive (CSE), - Ms. Whitter was appointed as the Acting Deputy Head of the Civil Service. 

In her role as Deputy Head of the Civil Service Ms. Whitter will primarily be responsible for leading the Public Service Reform initiative.

Additionally, after recently undergoing a structural review, the Cabinet Secretary advised that the Ministry of Education and Economic Development has been assigned two Permanent Secretaries to provide the necessary executive leadership and to manage the needs of the mega-Ministry.

In that regard, Mrs. Valerie Robinson-James will serve as the Acting Permanent Secretary for Education. Mrs. Robinson-James, who until recently served as the Director of Statistics, takes over the Permanent Secretary responsibilities following the recent resignation of former Permanent Secretary, Mr. Ross Webber.

Meanwhile, Mr. William Francis will assume the role of Permanent Secretary for Economic Development. Mr. Francis has a wealth of knowledge in the technology field, having served as the Permanent Secretary for the former Ministry of Telecommunications and E-Commerce.

Today the Cabinet Secretary said, “As the community is aware, last year, Government underwent a structural change which resulted in a reduction of Ministries.

“Additionally, in an effort to ensure that the public service was operating at optimum efficiency a decision was made earlier this year to embark on a Public Service Reform initiative. Each of these steps were taken to ensure a more efficient, streamlined and nimble Government.”

Dr. Binns continued, “Public Service Reform is aimed at improving the way that the service works so that government can deliver better, more efficient services to its citizens. As I have noted, Public Service Reform requires a shift in our corporate culture and a readiness for public servants at all levels to serve and lend their expertise in new areas of Government.

“The reassignments at the senior Civil Service level are intended to ensure that a strong emphasis is devoted to ensuring that these very important areas of Government receive the critical focus and attention they deserve. It is a demonstration of the Government’s commitment to not only reforming the public service, but it is a demonstration of our commitment to the people of Bermuda by ensuring that they receive the best service possible so that their needs are met.

“I am confident that these individuals who have been appointed to these key posts will serve the Government very well. I wish them every success and look forward to their contributions to public policy initiatives.”

As a note, Ms. Whitter’s and Mr. Francis’ posts are effective immediately, while Mrs. Robinson-James assumes her duties as of May 5. Mr. Webber will continue his service until 11^th July and during that time he will provide transitional support to Mr. Francis and Mrs. Robinson-James. Dr. Binns expressed his gratitude to Mr. Webber for his leadership and service, and wished him every success in his future endeavours.

Cherie Whitter is a member of the Civil Service Executive (CSE) with over 20 years of public and private service experience at the senior level.  She has served in various capacities in the former Department of Tourism including the position of Director of Tourism.  As a member of the CSE team she has led portfolios including, the Ministry of Tourism and Transport, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Home Affairs and has also served as an Assistant Cabinet Secretary (Policy). 

In addition to her public service experience Ms. Whitter has held senior executive positions in the private sector wherein she served as the Senior Vice President of Marketing for the former Capital G Limited. Ms. Whitter holds a Bachelor’s of Business Administration Degree from Pace University and a Master of Arts Degree from Webster University.  She is a member of the Board of Governors of the Berkeley Institute and a youth leader at the Bethel AME Church.

Valerie Robinson-James is a career Public Servant with more than 20 years of proven leadership, management and administration skills at the senior management and Director levels. She is a former educator having commenced employment with the Bermuda Government as a Secondary School Teacher.

Her career in Government extended to being appointed Statistician in the Department of Statistics and later promotion to Director of Statistics in 2003. Mrs. Robinson-James has worked under the policy direction of several Ministers having held a number of acting appointments as Permanent Secretaries in the Ministry of Culture & Social Rehabilitation, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education. She has demonstrated experience in progressing legislative change; executing strategic initiatives; providing policy advice and leading change.  She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics and Economics; a Bachelor’s Degree in Education; and a Masters in Economics.

She also possesses a Diploma in Government Administration and a Certificate in Leading Change. Mrs. Robinson-James has served as a member of CARICOM’s Regional Advisory Group on Statistics for the past 5 years.  She is charged with representing the statistical offices in the British Overseas Territories as it relates to work programme planning, implementing good statistical practices and maintaining linkages with regional and international agencies in the area of statistics.

William Francis is senior member of the Civil Service Executive with over 25 years of experience in Senior Management and Executive positions, 10 of which have been in the public service. Mr. Francis joined the Civil Service in 2003 as the Director of Telecommunications and was shortly thereafter asked to join the Civil Service Executive to represent the then Ministry of Telecommunications and E-Commerce.

In 2008 he was promoted to Permanent Secretary and has since had executive responsibility for several portfolios, including the Ministry of Energy, Telecommunications and E-Commerce and the Ministry of Government Estates and Information Services.

For the past two years he has been an Assistant Cabinet Secretary with responsibility for the development of an IT Governance programme, which will now form a part of the Public Sector Reform initiative.

Prior to joining the Civil Service, Mr. Francis had a long and distinguished career in the private sector as an Information Systems and Information Technology professional, where he rose to the position of Senior Vice President. He also served on the Telecommunications Commission for a period of 7 years and was the Chairman for 2 years until he was appointed to the position of Director of Telecommunications.

Mr. Francis attended Villanova University where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering in Computer and Control systems, followed by graduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania where he was awarded a Master of Science in Engineering Degree in Computers and Information Sciences. He has also attended several executive management courses at Harvard University. Mr. Francis is a long serving member of both the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and also holds the professional designation of “Certified Computing Professional” (CCP) awarded by The Institute for the Certification of Computing Professionals.