Natalie Reece-Sarkar, Vice President, Certifications, Energy Chamber of T&T

Natalie Reece-Sarkar, Vice President, Certifications.

“Looking back, I believe the most rewarding aspect of my career at the Chamber has been the relationships I’ve built with stakeholders. Each connection has shaped my professional growth and contributed to the success of the initiatives I’ve led”.

Today is a bittersweet one for us, as we focus our lens inward, to pay tribute and bid a fond farewell to one of our very own, Natalie Reece-Sarkar, Vice President, Certifications, Energy Chamber of T&T. 

Natalie joined us in 2002 as a Projects and Research Specialist at our predecessor, the South Trinidad Chamber of Industry and Commerce (STCIC), following an assignment in the Turks and Caicos.  At that time, her intention was to relax for a couple of months, but very rapidly, boredom set in and she saw an opportune moment to relieve this, with a ‘short stint’ at this office in her hometown of San Fernando.  Naively, she thought “I could work there for a year max, until I am ready to get back to a steady job in Port of Spain”.  Two things occurred after her interview: she managed to fight off boredom for 23 years and never returned to that steady job in Port of Spain.  

An outstanding employee and colleague, Natalie has been an active participant in the evolution and rebranding of the STCIC to the Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago (Energy Chamber), and as she reflects, has found her more than two decades with the Energy Chamber, to be “rewarding, fulfilling, exciting and challenging”.  Initially focused on “research, trade matters, writing articles, and assisting with the then Petroleum Conference, I later transitioned into the Safe TO Work (STOW) programme, first as Project Coordinator, later as STOW Manager, and eventually as Vice President – Certifications.

Her multiple portfolios throughout the years required her to engage with leaders across the upstream and downstream sectors and build strong relationships with CEOs, HSE leaders, contractors, STOW Assessors and other stakeholders.  Although she considers herself ‘an extroverted introvert’, Natalie embraced and mastered this role, plus the need to do a significant amount of public speaking and influencing key audiences, with a naturalness that she herself found astounding.  Natalie’s other skill which really surfaced and strengthened, is her ability to calmly diffuse situations that could otherwise quickly escalate. 

Intricately linked to Natalie’s years with us, are two areas of which she is justifiably proud to have contributed to: “Understanding the critical role of safety and certification in the energy sector, we introduced the Safe TO Work (STOW) company certification, and established the Learning Centre to support individual training through Safety Essentials and other key programmes”.   Of all the projects and tasks which would have come to Natalie, the one which she has found most satisfying was the “successful entrenchment of the Safe TO Work (STOW) programme in the industry.  It was extremely rewarding to see all the leaders in the oil and gas industry sign the Safe TO Work (STOW) Charter at the ECTT’s Energy Conference in 2013, renewing their commitment to utilize STOW in their contractor management programmes.”

Among the key milestones which she noted, one was undoubtedly “the evolution of the Petroleum Conference into what is now the flagship T&T Energy Conference. In the early days, I even had the opportunity to present at the Conference — a moment I look back on with pride.”

 Her two plus decades have come with many learnings and notable among them “is that communication truly is key. I’ve learned the importance of really listening to people, understanding their concerns, and figuring out how best we can support them. The more openly we communicate, the easier it becomes to clear up misunderstandings and help others see the value and direction of what you are trying to achieve”.

An extremely valuable element of Natalie’s professional growth has been the people: the ones who have coached, guided and supported her.   Immediately coming to mind was “Dax, our President and CEO, who gave me the opportunities to grow in my career by presenting me with challenging projects and expecting success.”   Very significant among those mentioned was her family, “particularly my mother Janet Reece, who grounded me in resilience, faith and a sound sense of self, which gave me the strength to overcome any obstacle encountered.”

As for the sector, it has been “Exciting, satisfying; the sector is dynamic and with all the moving parts and given the Chamber’s role there has never been a dull moment”.

Natalie ended on a personal note, with deep gratitude to everyone who contributed to her journey, “Dax and the staff of the Energy Chamber, the Certification team in particular, the members of the different incarnations of the ECTT Board, STOW Implementation Board, the PLEA HSSE Committee and other PLEA committees and STOW Assessors”.  She made special reference to Monica Charles-Joachim, Vice President, Administration & Finance for being “a valuable sounding board over the years and someone whose honest feedback, thoughtful advice, and openness, was appreciated.

We congratulate Natalie on a race well (and safely!) completed and thank her sincerely for the tremendous contribution to the Energy Chamber and the sector.  We wish her the best in her retirement which she confirmed will include further adventures travelling with her husband, time with her plants which have always brought her peace in the chaos, and many joyful moments with her 5 dogs.

We are pleased to share the reflections of some industry leaders who have collaborated very closely with Natalie over the years:

Fitzroy Harewood, Chairman, STOW Implementation Board:

Natalie Reece-Sarkar is a very competent administrator, project manager and leader with the Energy Chamber and more so in relation to that Safe to Work programme. She is very experienced, having worked with the Chamber for several years and she brought that experience to every interaction she managed. I have benefited tremendously from her experience, in that she has always been able to provide very good context for decisions - past and present - and represented the interests of all stakeholders holders with balance and empathy. She possesses a calm and quiet demeanor that belies an amazing capacity for hard work, comprehensive analyses and follow through. I have found her to be dependable, trustworthy and honest. She has served the industry very well, demonstrating exceptional customer service to the many service providers involved in the STOW programme. Her legacy remains in the robust but professional discussions that continue as part of the continuous improvements at the Chamber at the STOW programme in particular. Her congenial spirit and facilitative disposition, will be missed.

Eugene Tiah, former Chairman of the Board, Energy Chamber and the STOW Implementation Board:

“I immensely enjoyed working with Natalie. Her focus on results and moving things forward even when there were obstacles were stand-outs for me. She always brought that good balance of being tough on problems and issues and kind and caring in her interactions with people. Her contributions to STOW and many of the other hallmark programmes of the ECTT were exceptional. Her presence will be missed, but I have no doubt that those that she has mentored and coached at the Chamber have imbibed the aforementioned characteristics and her legacy would live on”.

Dax Driver, President and CEO of the Energy Chamber:

I first met Natalie on my first day at the South Trinidad Chamber, then located in the Cross Crossing Shopping Centre in San Fernando.  I was impressed by her calm and committed presence and I soon learnt that she was someone I could trust to deliver.  She had no problem in letting me know if she had a different view to me on what we should do and would always be willing to question the status quo. 

When the idea for Safe to Work was first brough to me by one of our contractor members, I turned to Natalie to implement the project.  She did brilliantly.  She was always up for a challenge and when I read about the World Chambers Federation international competition for the most innovative project, I challenged her to have STOW win the global award.  We were short-listed and invited to the final judging in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  We came second in the world, which shows if you aim high you still succeed even if you just miss the target.

I will miss Natalie immensely but like all great leaders she has found someone extremely competent to replace her and built a strong team to continue her legacy.