Youth Business Trinidad and Tobago Represented at Caribbean Regional Mentoring Workshop

Youth Business Trinidad and Tobago Represented at Caribbean Regional Mentoring Workshop

For Immediate Release               JANUARY 20, 2015

 

YOUTH BUSINESS TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO REPRESENTED AT CARIBBEAN REGIONAL MENTORING WORKSHOP

Port-of-Spain, January 20, 2015 – Eight representatives from seven Caribbean countries participated in an advanced ‘train the trainer’ mentoring workshop, as part of an international development programme in the region, funded by USAID.

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Hosted in Bridgetown by The Barbados Youth Business Trust (BYBT) and Youth Business International (YBI) the workshop facilitated development of the capacity of participating organisations within the Caribbean to train volunteer mentors who are essential to the success and development of aspiring young entrepreneurs.

The event was part of a much larger and ongoing programme that aims to generate sustainable employment in the region and drive the creation of a shared community of best practise among the regions longstanding community of Youth Business Trusts (YBTs).

YBI Head of Mentoring, Hoang-Anh Thi Le and YBI Mentoring Consultant and Subject Matter Expert, John Cull, conducted the workshop which aimed to help the Caribbean participants of various Youth Business Trusts to work together to build strong, structured Mentorship Programs in their respective organisations.

Lead trainer John Cull set the main objective for the week’s workshop: “We hope to share best practices, skills and information on how participants can build the best business mentorship programmes in the world.”

Youth Business International (YBI) is a global network of independent non-profit initiatives designed to foster youth entrepreneurship. Active in more than 40 countries around the world, the YBI network helped in excess of 14,000 young entrepreneurs to start businesses last year.

Youth Business Trusts throughout the Caribbean, many of which were founding members of the global YBI network, offer training, financial and mentorship support to young entrepreneurs to build their own businesses, thus allowing them to become self-sufficient and key contributors to their respective economies.

Volunteer mentors donate their time and expertise with these YBTs to support young entrepreneurs with their start-up businesses. Retaining a motivated group of mentors is essential for all the participating organisations and   The YBI training session YBTs provide the necessary training, guidance and support to help mentors be the best forms of support they can be to young entrepreneurs.

“I hope to apply all I have learnt to improve the effectiveness of our Mentorship Programme when I return to the Youth Business Trinidad and Tobago (YBTT).  I hope to spread the love of mentorship to all,” said training participant, Gina Granado, Marketing and Communications Officer at YBTT.

Other participants included Gregory Fergusson and Cardell Fergusson (Barbados Youth Business Trust), Mauricia Fessal (Youth Business St. Vincent and the Grenadines), Brendan Defoe (Dominica Youth Business Trust), Dyrud Lionel (St. Lucia Youth Business Trust), Tanesha Patterson (Jamaica Youth Business Trust) and Hyacinth (Get Set Entrepreneurial Programme).  Also present, was one observer, Ana Gessaghi, from Fundacion Impulsar, Argentina.

The Youth Business International continues to work closely with each member organisation within the Caribbean region to help them improve the effectiveness of their services and to ensure learnings are shared and best practices are applied.

From L-R: Hoang-Anh Thi Le, Gregory Fergusson, Cardell Fergusson, Tanesha Patterson, Brendan Defoe, Hyacinth Augustine, Mauricia Fessal, Ana Gessaghi, John Cull, Dyrud Lionel and Gina Marie Granado.

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About Youth Business International:  Youth Business International helps young people to start and grow their own business and create employment. We are a global network of independent non-profit initiatives operating in over 40 countries.

For further information: Please see http://www.youthbusiness.org/get-involved/mentoring-and-volunteering/ for more on YBI or contact Gina Marie Granado (Youth Business Trinidad and Tobago) at ginamgranado@ybtt.org or call   1-868-781-8231.