Last month, more than two thousand delegates met in Moscow for the Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC)—an inter-disciplinary gathering of startup champions from more than 140 countries. Above all else, they are interested in sharing ideas with one another on how best to help startups flourish in their countries.
Representing Antigua and Barbuda, and the GARD Center at the congress was Johan Oliver, Business Development Officer. The GARD Center is also the local representative for Global Entrepreneurship Week, and their corresponding events.
(Johan Oliver; far right, with Jonathan Ortmans; President of GEW, & Award winning startup Founders for Teddy the Guardian; Josipa Majic & Ana Burica of Croatia.)
The entire week of the Congress offered an impressive range of interesting activities. The Opening Ceremony commenced with a global Research+Policy Summit, and an entrepreneurs’ Peer to Peer event. Official fringe events, conducted by leading practitioners and entrepreneurial support organizations, took place on the days surrounding this Forum—providing educational and networking opportunities as well as a unique window into successful Russian models with potential for being replicated.
The Congress pulls together a broad collection of voices from across the entrepreneurial spectrum—with previous participation from celebrity entrepreneurs like Richard Branson and Marc Ecko, startup community champions like Brad Feld of TechStars and Dave McClure of 500 Startups, as well as an increasing number of government officials interested in getting smarter about how to more effectively help entrepreneur led startup communities.
However, the real driving force at the Congress was an expanding community of delegates—entrepreneurs, researchers and supporters who have partnered with their national leaders in more than 140 countries—working tirelessly to advance startups and position entrepreneurship as the cornerstone of global prosperity and stability. It includes the teams from all 140 countries who run Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW)—the annual collection of national startup campaigns that attracts 7.5 million participants to roughly 20,000 events, activities and competitions during one week each November. In Moscow, they gathered to exchange ideas for GEW 2014 and strengthen the connections that fuel a burgeoning global entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The 2014 Congress was a joint effort by Global Entrepreneurship Week, the Moscow City Government and the Kauffman Foundation.
Category Archives: Entrepreneurship
Mentors and Tutors Trained in Gender Sensitization
GARD Center recruits and trains eleven Mentors and Tutors on Gender Sensitization
In an effort to continue providing young women and men between the ages of 16- 35 with professional training and nurturing, the GARD Center recently recruited and trained eleven mentors and tutors who will be working along with these young persons.
The training was conducted at the Directorate of Youth Affairs by the Director, Ms. Cleon Athill, see photo at right. The topics covered in the training prepared the mentors and tutors for the challenges and situations they would most likely be faced with when working along with these youths, such as, differentiating between gender and sex, and gender biases. It is expected that the mentors would be assigned to these youth and potential entrepreneurs for a period of 3 years, during which time they would be evaluated on a quarterly basis.
The GARD Center continues to attract young persons aspiring to become entrepreneurs to contact the Business Development Unit. We can be contacted at 463-4121 or 734-0084.
Caribbean Youth Empowerment Program (CYEP)
Caribbean Youth Empowerment Program (CYEP)
Launched in 2008 with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Caribbean Youth Empowerment Program (CYEP) equipped vulnerable youth with the technical, vocational, and life skills needed to develop sustainable livelihoods. This program targeted school leavers, ages 17 to 25, with particular attention given to young males, who are currently unemployed, under-employed, lack the skills to participate in an increasingly service-oriented economy, or are unable to successfully launch and sustain small business enterprises. Participants receive job training and placement services and are supported in serving as positive agents of change in their communities.
Outcomes
By the end of the project in 2013, across all of the participating Caribbean countries (Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Jamaica and St. Lucia):
- 2,200 young people will have gained appropriate training that responds to the needs of selected high-growth industries such as tourism, music, entertainment, and arts and culture.
- At least 40% of youth will be placed in quality jobs or in their own business start-ups.
- 50% of participants who have not completed secondary school at baseline will be enrolled in an education training program or will have gained additional schooling credentials at the time of follow up.
- 90% of employers will report satisfaction with their entry-level employees.
- Partners will have strengthened their organizational capacity.
- A sustainable network of stakeholders from private and public sectors will be created.
Donor partners:
GARD Center – EU Graduation
The Gilbert Agricultural and Rural Development Center (GARD Center) and the European Union, under the project, Empowerment of Young Women of Antigua in their income generation (YWEP), held its first graduation ceremony on Thursday, 13 February, 2014, at the Ebenezer Methodist Church, St. Mary’s Street, St. John’s.
One hundred and three (103) graduates who successfully completed their course of study were celebrated during this ceremony. These young ladies between the ages of 16 – 35 years, graduated from Agriculture; Business Enterprise (day and evening) courses; Information Communication Technology (ICT), – day and evening classes; Basic Cookery; Food & Beverage Service and Office Administration.
The Governor General of Antigua and Barbuda, Her Excellency, Dame Louise Lake-Tack, attended and assisted with the presentation of certificates to the Top Students. (R: Ms. Nazeer Colbourne, Overall Top Student)
Mrs. Judith Chastanet, Manager, Customer Relations Department of the Antigua and Barbuda Social Security Board and Mr. Ashton Fearon, Technical Research Officer & Project Administrator, GATE, also distributed certificates to the students. (Pictured Left: Jermyra Williams receiving certificate from Mrs. Chastanet)
Special Recognition was given by the GARD Center to CIBC/First Caribbean International Bank and Townhouse Mega Store for their continued support towards the Center’s Entrepreneurship programme.
The Ceremony was ably guided by the Master of Ceremonies, Ms. Lenora Murphy, and the Invocation given by Rev. Otto Wade, President of the Methodist Conference.
The Welcome was delivered by two of the Agriculture graduates, Ms. Princess Waszutu Mack and Ms. Waszara Mack.
Congratulatory Remarks were given to the graduates by Mrs. Karen Massiah, Customer Services Coordinator/Executive Assistant, Antigua Computer Technology Co. Ltd. and Mr. Jedidiah Maxime, Director of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture. The Hon. Harold Lovell, Minister of Finance also offered congratulatory remarks and words of encouragement to the graduates.
The Feature Address was delivered by youthful, Ms. Damara Phillips, Entrepreneur, (Graphic Artist and Disc-Jockey), who shared her passion, experiences, hard work and commitment, ups and downs with the graduates and others in the packed sanctuary. This young lady spoke of her successful infiltration into traditionally male-dominated fields and how she continues to strive for excellence. (L-R: Her Excellency, Governor General, Dame Louise Lake-Tack, Ms. Damara Phillips, Entrepreneur and Hon. Harold Lovell).
Ms. Kareem Francis, Project Manager of the Young Women Empowerment Programme gave a full, passionate, and emotional project review. The majority of the young ladies / now graduates whom she always referred to as her children/girls had done exceptionally well, which made her tremendously proud. Her ‘girls’ responded to her presentation in the most fitting of ways, with spontaneous applause.
There was also a segment for entertainment, and Business Enterprise graduate, Mrs. Tovia Carey-Dowe and guest artiste, Ms. Lauralie Nathan, each performed breath-taking solos. Remarks were also delivered on behalf of the graduating classes by two of the ICT graduates, Ms. Germaine Dublin and Ms. Patricia Francis.
Portion of the Audience in Attendance at the Graduation Ceremony
Mrs. Roberta Williams delivered the Vote of Thanks. She acknowledged those who assisted with all aspects of the project, and highlighted those business places which offered GARD Center’s students’ internships and employment.
The evening ceremony was closed in prayer by Rev. Janetta James, of the Antigua Methodist Circuit, and light refreshment was shared.
Photos courtesy New Media One.
Caribbean Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Livelihoods
6th ANNUAL CARIBBEAN CONFERENCE
Two young entrepreneurs were selected to represent the GARD Center at this important regional conference which was held in Jamaica, from 9 – 11 December 2013. The Antiguan Delegation of Mr. Winston Laville and Ms. Waszara Mack were part of a four (4) member panel who represented our country in the panel discussion, Youth Entrepreneurs: Young Agripreneurs – Lessons Learnt: Challenges, Successes and the way Forward.
Issues discussed included the challenges faced by youth in setting up businesses; successes gained through steadfastness and diligence, and the accomplishment of goals. Also discussed was the ‘way forward’ stepping stones for the future, and the importance of the Caribbean people networking with each other to assure produce circulates among the region for the betterment of trade.
Mrs. Melida Harris – Barrow, President of the NIC-ETH Productions and AfroLatinoMagazine, offered free advertisement to the entrepreneurs who were present, giving them an opportunity to advertise themselves and their respective businesses worldwide.
Other panel discussions covered interesting topics, such as, advancing food security, women entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial education to name a few. After each session, there was a Questions and Answers section.
The Field Dialogue Research was set up so that three groups: one group to the market place in Linstead, the other in Bog Walk and the third group visited a farm. Each group conducted a survey of the entrepreneurs they met to better understand more about them. Why they chose that type of business and how they started their business were some of the questions asked during the research. After such, each group had to analyse the information, discuss among themselves and make a group presentation of their findings.
After that event there was a field trip at a broiler farm which was a huge and fully mechanised facility which houses thousands upon thousands of birds. The facility didn’t have any birds, for they were cleaning up for the next batch of birds to come in. On investigation of the farm, it was found that the bird’s faeces are collected and sold to farmers as manure. This inspired the livestock farmers who were present on the trip.
Also there were goat and pig pens, which housed the biggest pigs ever in those pens on the farm. They also had a crop section where they planted corn, pigeon peas, sorrel and pineapple.
On the final day of the conference, those present were exposed to a competition going on offering grant funding for proposals that demonstrate exceptional potential impact on the environment. Concepts of the fund include, sustainable agribusiness, water management, (including waste water), energy efficiency solar energy and resource use. The day’s proceedings ended with the sale of exhibition items and the taking of pictures, while the night ended with a highly anticipated dinner and award ceremony.
GARD Center GATE Partnership
Ministry of Broadcasting, Telecommunications, Science & Technology
The partnership with this ministry in the Government Assisted Technology Endeavour (GATE) program has materialized.
A partnership was officially established with a MOU stating that six of the Center’s graduates of the computer repair training course would be accepted into the initial program and the GARD Center would offer its Life Skills programem to all of the GATE trainees. This is a significant opportunity for the Center to export its courses to other training institutions and organizations.
The Exceptional Hospitality Executive Provisioner (EHEP)
This is a new and exciting course which is being offered exclusively by the GARD Center through the Antigua and Barbuda Hospitality Training Institute. This course though previously offered by ABHTI has never made it into the full course offerings by the institute.
GARC Center seeing the potential for entrepreneurial opportunities is offering this course to twenty young ladies between the ages of 16 to 35 to think out side the box and “Go Against the Grain”. These ladies, will cover areas such as:
- Housekeeping
- Basic Cookery – intro to theoretical knowledge and practical skills in the preparation of soups, vegetable cookery, fish and seafood, etc. and expose students to sound personal hygiene practice, kitchen safety and accident prevention.
- Food & Beverage Service – intro to techniques in service of beverages and wines and restaurant organization for food service and the basic tenets of food service.
- Quality Customer Care – strategies and techniques designed to maintain and exceed customer expectations and enhance customer value and build customer loyalty.
- Human Relation (Workplace behaviour, business communication and interviewing techniques) – develop interpersonal skills, understanding individual differences, problem solving and decision making.
The ladies trained in EHEP will assist with a variety of life management tasks, including running errands, arranging activities, paying bills, shopping (meal planning, remembering special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries and purchasing gifts) and housekeeping (making beds, regular house cleaning, laundry, etc.). At the end of the course, the trainees have the option of working within the tourism industry or starting a cooperative and marketing themselves as a business.
Weaving and Textile Course
This course is now in full swing!
The students are enjoying the practical course and are hands-on from winding the warp to creating their own patterns on their looms. Spinning our own Sea Island cotton is also part of the training.
Global Entrepreneurial Week 18 – 24 November 2013
Antigua and Barbuda celebrates Global Entrepreneurship Week with the rest of the world.
This is the world’s largest celebration of innovators and job creators who launch start ups which bring ideas to life, drive economic growth and expand human welfare.
For more information click on link. http://ag.unleashingideas.
Business Development Unit – Refreshed!
The Business Development Unit, very recently received a ‘face-lift’ with a colourful new wall and lovely artwork donated by a Friend of The Center. Pictured below is the Business Development Officer, Mr. Johan Oliver, center, with Ms. Brenda Carrott, Public Relations Consultant, left, and Mr. Whitfield Joshua Jr., Youth Entrepreneur, who is receiving business advisory services from the Unit.
