TurksThis weekend I was honored to be one of the facilitators at United Way's Canape and Conversations. This initiative provided guests an opportunity to learn more about why "Literacy is Everybody's Business." 

After an initial information session, participants were split up into 4 groups: Literacy in Early Childhood and the Classroom, The Psychosocial Effects of Low Literacy, Literacy and Crime and Literacy in the workplace. 

In addition to a beautiful venue, tasty canapes and stimulating conversations, participants left with a sense of ownership of solutions. The final question posed to each participant, was "How can you be part of the solution?" Everyone's contribution may look different, but everyone has an opportunity to help.

Congratulations to the CEO of United Way, Claudine Ewing, and her team for a phenomenal event that has raised awareness of an important problem that needs action. 

For more information about how you can do your part, visit United Way Turks and Caicos.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of presenting at a phenomenal event, the Turks and Caicos Island Economic Empowerment Conference. This conference, which was hosted by Epic Events, had a variety of speakers and panelist and that dove deep into topics that provided the audience with a wealth of knowledge, advice and potential action points.

I was honored to be a keynote speaker. My keynote focused on Wealth Disparities, Generational Outcomes and Mindset.

Happy International Women's Day!  I am honored to be recognized on this important day by the Human Rights Commission for Innovation and Technology. Thank you!

This week is Education Week in the Turks and Caicos Islands and we were invited to read a story to the Grade 5 students at Thelma Lightbourne Primary School in Providenciales. Once the request came in, Mrs. Guilmise and I both knew exactly which book had to be read! "Christopher, Please Clean Your Room" has been a favorite of mine for more years than I can count! It's written by Itah Sadu, a Black Canadian author and chronicles the struggles of a little boy named Christopher that just doesn't like to clean his room and faces some unexpected consequences!

One fun fact that many people don't know about me is that in while attending university I was a Children's Librarian part time with Montreal Children's Libraries. I was one of two librarians at the Richmond Hill Branch, located in Tyndale St. George Community Center in Little Burgundy, one of Montreal's historic Black Neighborhoods. This was a favorite book at the library and was one while I taught in the classroom.

Mrs. Guilmise made this book come alive today, and the children had a fabulous time! Thank you to the Grade 5 teachers at Thelma Lightbourne Primary for the invitation and we hope it sparked not only interest in a new book, but desire for your students to learn and grow as readers and storytellers! 

On Saturday Mrs. Guilmise spent some time with a group of young leaders at the Edward Gartland Youth Center. During their time together, they focused on exploring the Qualities of a Leader. Special focus was put on discussing Responsibility and Accountability. 

At Learn and Lead, we love to learn through play. The young leaders enjoyed playing Minefield, which is a great game that we use to illustrate essential principles of leadership.

Earlier this week I was honored to be part of a panel to discuss Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the LIME Live 2 Lead Conference. This conference, which was a John Maxwell Conference, was a combination of live panels and virtual speakers. There was both a Live and virtual audience. So many great learning moments in this conference! I especially enjoyed John Maxwell and Patrick Lencioni's contributions.

The DEI panel was moderated by Samuel Dormeus, and the other panel members were Darron Turnquest, from The Bahamas, and Larraine Kennlock.

Yesterday I was excited to take part in "Nurturing Young Minds, Building a Strong Foundation." This workshop. a joint initiative between the Early Childhood Department of the Ministry of Education and UNICEF, targeted parents and teachers of children between birth and 4 years of age. The day began with Mrs. Lakeisha Gardiner - Wilson, Nutritionist, from the Ministry of Health. She presented on the "Importance of a Healthy Diet for Young Children."

Learn and Lead focused on some of our favorite topics - Early Stimulation, Positive Discipline and Self-Regulation. The first 1000 days of a child's life are so crucial to their development and their overall emotional, social, academic development.  This was a great initiative by the Department of Education and UNICEF.

This morning it was so great to be in Grand Turk working with the Department of Youth Affairs facilitating a Youth Skills Workshop with the 4th form students at the HJ Robinson High School. As we did in South Caicos and North Caicos, we looked at "Celebrating Diversity and Building Resilience Through Human Capital."

Topics covered at the workshop included:

• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
• Human Capital and Resilience
• Time Management
• Interpersonal Skills
• Resume Writing

Students were reminded of the importance of taking ownership of their development and their learning to be the best they can be.

Today we had an awesome morning working with the @departmentofyouthtci facilitating a Youth Skills Workshop on their behalf in North Caicos. The Raymond Gardiner High School students spent to morning exploring “Celebrating Diversity and Building Resilience Through Human Capital”.
Topics covered at the workshop included:

• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
• Human Capital and Resilience
• Time Management
• Interpersonal Skills
• Resume

Yesterday evening Learn and Lead hosted its first parent workshop since 2019! It was such a pleasure!
Jumpstart 2023 is a positive parenting workshop that focuses on:

• What is Positive Parenting
• Mindset
• Understanding Emotions and Behavior
• Defining Your Family Dynamic

We look forward to more parent workshops in the future!