The Anguilla Youth Business Foundation, through the Department of Youth and Culture, in a press conference on Monday, November 16th, officially launched the observance of Global Entrepreneurship Week 2020 which extends from Sunday November 15th to Saturday, November 21st.
The Foundation is supportive of this celebration, which is observed worldwide in an effort to inspire young people everywhere through local, national and global activities which are designed to help them explore their potential as self-starters and business innovators.
Moderator for the press conference was Mr. Timothy Hodge, former Chairman of the Foundation, who introduced the various speakers. The Foundation’s Senior Programme Officer, Mrs. Joleyne Robin-Williams, gave a brief background of the Anguilla Youth Business Foundation: “The Anguilla Youth Business Foundation was officially established in 2017. It is a business service organization, established under the Anguilla Foundation Act, to provide business development and support services to young people residing in Anguilla. It acts as one avenue for providing employment options to unemployed youth.”
She continued: “Some of our objectives include developing successful programmes for the facilitation of youth business in Anguilla; implementing successful programmes that will foster cooperation among the public and private sector; assist in the increase of the number of young people who wish to start and manage their own businesses; and to improve the quality of service, support and assistance accorded to Anguillian young entrepreneurs and young people in general.”
Mrs. Robin-Williams noted that in 2018 the Anguilla Youth Business Foundation became an Accredited Member of Youth Business International, which is a global network of expert organizations — in over 50 countries — supporting underserved young people, thus enabling them to turn their business ideas into successful businesses which can create jobs. She claimed that the Anguilla Youth Business Foundation has received the highest accreditation in youth business.
Mrs. Robins-Williams placed on record her appreciation for several entities that have shown unwavering support for the Anguilla Youth Business Foundation: “We are grateful to all of our supporters and donors over the past years. We say thanks to the Dominica Youth Business Trust who has been instrumental in supporting us since the inception of the programme. We also thank our stakeholders including the Government of Anguilla as the Anguilla Development Board.”
She also expressed appreciation for the officers of the Foundation, making mention of: Mr. Clemvio Hodge, the Chairman, who represents private entities; Mr. Timothy Hodge, as Moderator, representing Social Security Board; Ms. Avon Carty, who is the Director of Youth and Culture and serves as the Accounting Officer of the Foundation; as well as Ms. Annishka White who is a board member representing the Anguilla Community College.
In addition, Mrs. Robin-Williams acknowledged the Foundation’s partnership with regional entities such as: Youth Business Caribbean, the Commonwealth Alliance for Young Entrepreneurs and the Dominica Youth Business Trust.
The Chairman of the Foundation, Mr. Clemvio Hodge, spoke of his vision for Global Entrepreneurship Week and entrepreneurship in general: “First, we must establish the significance of entrepreneurs in Anguilla,” he said. “Our country has been built by entrepreneurs. Business people in Anguilla have learnt how to invest their resources and take the risks of starting up their own business. Had this not been done, we as a people would not be able to experience the comforts of the life that we enjoy today. That is why this week, Global Entrepreneurship Week, is significant to us in Anguilla. Our vision is to empower our young people to become employers and not employees.”
He went on to outline the four distinct themes for this week: “These themes, namely Education, Ecosystems, Inclusion and Policy are important to our efforts for entrepreneurship,” he stated. “If we look at Education, we should not just look at education through regular schooling, but education through business programmes like our ‘Get Set’ programme which the Foundation has recently provided.
“Our Ecosystems provide the environment in which our young entrepreneurs, and business-minded persons, have to establish themselves and operate in. Thus, when we think of ecosystem we explore the planting of businesses in soil that is fertile enough to enable business operations to grow and be successful.
“Then there is the element of Inclusion. Our country has grown and we have a range of different persons from various countries and diverse backgrounds. These include persons from our Spanish communities, and even persons who are in prison. These should not be excluded from the opportunities to start up their own business, but they should be motivated and fairly included in business prospects.
“Finally, we look at Policy. From the Government’s perspective, the Foundation must facilitate trade agreements with other countries for export — so that new overseas markets would be introduced and our young people would be able to freely trade outside of Anguilla.”
Mr. Hodge said that he is desirous of reaching out to young people in school who have their own fledgling businesses on a small scale basis. He wants to educate them, bring them into the right ecosystem, and convince them that indeed they are entrepreneurs. He wants to show them the potential of building upon their skills and growing into successful, thriving businesses.
Other speakers at the press conference were: Ms. Avon Carty who emphasised Government’s ongoing commitment and support for the Foundation; Ms. Annishka White who promoted the training provided for entrepreneurs; and Mrs. Althea Hodge who elaborated on the financing aspect of the entrepreneur’s business operations.
– Staff Reporter, James R. Harrigan
