Newman to get Thomas Gilbert award

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC), Dr. Lucy Newman, will next month, be honoured in the United States of America (USA) with the Thomas F. Gilbert distinguished professional achievement award. She was selected for the 2019 Thomas F. Gilbert Distinguished Professional Achievement Award based on strong recommendations from the ISPI Awards Entries Review Committee and unanimous decision by the ISPI Global Board.

Newman was notified by the President of the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI), Scott Casad over the award holding at an ISPI Annual Awards Luncheon in US.The recognition of Newman comes few weeks to the end of her two terms of five years each at the FITC.

After receiving the award, she will respond to an audience of 2000 to 2500 Performance Improvement Practitioners across industry clusters, from over 50 countries and six continents. With the 2019 Thomas F. Gilbert Distinguished Professional Achievement Award, Newman whose tenure as MD/CEO of FITC ends early May 2019, will be the first person to receive this award from outside North America, the youngest recipient so far and the 30th to receive the award, since it was introduced in 1991. The 29th and immediate past recipient of the award before Dr. Newman, is Dr. Roger Chevalier, CPT who received the award in 2016.

Newman joined ISPI as an International Member in 2000 and got certified as a Certified Performance Technologist (CPT) in 2008 for her demonstration of ability to get results in her work by systematically identifying and removing barriers to performance.
Newman was invited to join the 10-person International Task Force, created by ISPI Board in 2008, to plan its global expansion. She became a Life Member of ISPI in 2009.

The ISPI, a non-profit membership organization believes in “Being Better Matters.” It helps people and organizations make a difference to their co-workers, clients, communities and world. FITC is the apex management development institution in the Nigerian financial services sector which operates as a non-profit organisation limited by guarantee. Its membership is consisted of institutions within the Nigerian Banker’s Committee.

The agency’s continental footprints show its services are being patronized by operators and regulators within the financial services sector espcially, banking industry in Togo, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Lone, Uganda, Tanzania, Cote d’ Ivoire, Mozambique, Zambia and Ethiopia.

FITC has under Newman, continued to provide premium quality training, consulting and research services to the players in the financial sector and related industries within Nigeria and across Africa. It has equally, promoted the practice of good corporate governance and bridged knowledge-gap in the sector.

FITC has its over 38 years in existence recorded over 65,000 participants in its programmes, of which 6,900 have been directors of banks and other financial institutions, as well as numerous though leadership publications and high impact consulting projects executed for its stakeholders and the system.

It may be recalled that last year, Newman also received the Credit Management Director of the Year Award from the Institute of Credit Administration (ICA). The ICA said: “It had followed Newman’s career development and exceptional contributions to the development of credit business in Nigeria and praise her passion for professional credit management practices, which led to the growth of credit economy and recognition given to her”.

She was the first elected International Director on the Global Board of ISPI that was neither North American nor European, in ISPI’s 52 year from inception in 1960. In her role as International Director on the Global Board from 2012 to 2014, she represented ISPI members in 48 countries outside the United States.

Over this period, she was able to make presentations and share the perspectives about the practice of Human Performance Technology at the ISPI EMEA Conferences in Prague and Tiblisi as well as at the ISPI International Conference in Reno, Nevada. She is currently a member of the ISPI Certifications and Accreditations Governance Committee (CACG).

As she receives this award, members and stakeholders of ISPI in over 50 countries outside North America, will likely identify with her and be pleased. FITC is an Institutional Member of ISPI. Over this period, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) also became Advocates of ISPI, in support of Dr. Newman’s tenure on the Global Board of ISPI from 2012 to 2014.