NCB Foundation welcomed more than 200 participants to the second staging of the Youth Empowerment Summit (YES) held on November 19. The hybrid event facilitated in-person and online engagement with the majority of attendees being past beneficiaries of a suite of NCB Foundation programmes including the CSEC National Bursary Programme; Scholarship & Grant Programme; Amber HEART Coding Academy Partnership; Level-Up Grant Programme and Grant A Wish Programme.

Financial expert Kalilah Reynolds, mental health coach Krystal Tomlinson, and digital mogul Alicia Lyttle led engrossing panel discussions with attendees on how to comprehend, manage, and improve their mental health, wealth, and digital skills. The discussions were moderated by youth ambassador and NCB Foundation board director, Emprezz Golding.

Although the Summit covered a wide range of topics, the link between mental and financial health was highlighted. Participants openly discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic had affected their overall mental well-being but reiterated how initiatives like YES helped them to broaden their horizons and explore alternate opportunities especially in the digital realm, which eventually led to some financial success.

“One should not aspire to live from lunch money to lunch money,” said Abishua Johnson, an NCB Foundation beneficiary and panellist during the Financial Wellness session. In an impassioned plea to attendees, he urged them to take advantage of the financial lessons and expertise being offered at the Summit and look for ways to begin saving and investing. He acknowledged that many students may find this approach difficult, especially when they are just starting out. He emphasised however, that everything adds up over time and that students should ‘start small’, sharing his favourite quote from Albert Einstein – “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it; he who doesn’t, pays it”.

“I used to look at other people living their lives, acquiring the things they desired, and my first thought was, I simply cannot afford that. Now I say, “How can I afford that?” because I’ve completely reengineered my mindset,” Johnson continued. He attributes this shift in part to advice he received from NCB team members during his scholarship interview process.

Lucrative Career Options in the Digital Landscape

The day ended with a discussion about Digital Wellness, which looked at lucrative alternative careers, digital earning paths, and internet best practices. Director on the NCB Foundation board and co-founder of Listen Mi Caribbean, Kenia Mattis, foundation beneficiaries and Alicia Lyttle, creator of Pow Social and Internet Income, who joined virtually, led the third and final panel.

“There are so many tools you can leverage to create an online business. It’s up to you to know which skills you can capitalise on to use online. I highly recommend fiverr.com to start your digital career,” advised Lyttle as she closed the digital section of the summit.

As participants took the microphone in the question and answer section, many of them reiterated how exploring digital paths assisted in providing additional income to support their families financially.

NCB Foundation continues to focus on initiatives geared towards improving education, digital and financial literacy across Jamaica, as demonstrated by its total contribution of more than $1 billion in this area since its inception.