When I was chosen for the role of Cultural Development Officer at JMMB, I had no clue what the job would be
about. In fact I was challenged to develop this job from scratch - I had to write my own job description because
at the time there was no similar role in the country to benchmark against. I bought a lot of books and did lots of
research in my quest to figure out how we were going to build the desired culture. Having been given sufficient
autonomy, I was able to infuse many ideas into making the organizational culture we were striving for achievable,
and we succeeded.
I am now a well-known expert at building culture, team and people. It is an innate ability, I believe, strengthened
by self-study. A big part of who I am today is the result of the work that I did and still do at JMMB. It is amazing
to me when I see the impact especially considering my non-conventional learning background, and the many
associated challenges
Donna Duncan-Scott had this to say about Diana and her impact at
JMMB
“Diana Burgess, One of the best-known team members in the Jamaican Money Market Brokers family. Diana is
one who is truly loved by all. Diana joined the company in 1994 as an Accounts clerk and four months later she
assumed the indispensable position of Fund Administrator. From those early days Diana took ownership of the
vision and success of JMMB and worked many nights to keep our flagship product the Money Market Fund, up to
date. Diana would do whatever was necessary without reservation, as she played her part in ensuring our growth
through superior client satisfaction.
With her deep understanding of the company and its values it was a natural fit that Diana later assumed the role of
Culture Development Officer which involved creating processes to support the building of JMMB’s unique culture.
Highly intuitive, she understands people – their fears, concerns and strengths. Happy, successful team members
are her source of pride and joy, because they are positive expressions of the company’s vision.
Thank you, Diana, for raising the flag of JMMB’s culture, and for keeping it flying throughout the years!”
Love, Marriage, Pain & the Gift of Forgiveness
My now ex-husband was introduced to me by a childhood friend and we were comfortable with each other almost
immediately. When I met him he was a bartender and I was a senior JMMB team member, up and coming. He and
I were at different places professionally, and so it was not the perfect situation, but we had a very good relationship
filled with lots of laughter and I needed that. We got married in June of 2000, and the marital problems surfaced
almost immediately, and persisted even with professional counselling. In an effort to preserve our marriage, I for-
gave many occurrences of cheating and dishonesty, many instances of neglect and broken promises.
We wanted children but being unsuccessful on our own, we tried fertility treatment. This did not work out for us
either, and instead of pulling us together we grew further apart. Life together became unbearable and we separated
in 2006. In 2008 I found out that he had a daughter who was conceived and birthed while we were still married and
in the middle of fertility treatment. This was particularly painful for me because we had been trying to have our
own child together. We later divorced and it took me a while to move on but I chose to free myself from the hurt
and the betrayal and I forgave him, a gift I gave to myself and made possible because of God’s love for me.Today
I am very close to his daughter; she is like the child I never had. The bond between us is so strong that it inspired
artwork that I now use to inspire other children in the form of a school notebook.
As I contemplate this journey in particular, there were some important lessons that I learned. I got a deeper under-
standing of who I am as a person and my ability to love without reason or despite associated discomfort. I learned
that it is indeed possible for me to permanently impact lives and even communities.
I also learned that it is also possible to be a ‘married single person’, and so I now have a deep appreciation of the
need to get to know the family value system and background of your partner before deciding to marry. I am not
sure it would have changed my mind; however knowing would have prepared me
Open Heart Surgery -The Gift of Hope and Determination.
As far back as I can remember I have been treated for asthma and later COPD – my lungs were severely damaged.
I am passionate about distance running so I train often. One morning, about 3 minutes into my pre-run warm up I
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