$20 challenge gets continued boost

The Barbados Entrepreneurship Foundation (BEF) $20 Challenge is proud to have its perennial sponsor Scotiabank returning as the title sponsor for the recently launched new community summer programme.

Ryan Carrington, Manager at the Scotiabank Haggatt Hall Branch, attended the recent launch and lauded the BEF for the sterling job they have been doing with the programme over the years.

In reconfirming Scotiabank’s commitment to support the $20 Challenge and the newly launched summer programme, he said: “While today’s event looks a little different than those in the past, one thing remains the same: we are here to make a difference and help shape the lives of many young people across Barbados.”

Scotiabank has been an indispensable sponsor and pwartner to the $20 Challenge over the past seven years and is now joined by new partners the Optimist Clubs of Barbados, Sagicor Cave Hill School of Business & Management (SCHSBM) and the Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme (YES), to ensure that the programme which is themed “Igniting the Entrepreneurial Mindset” will focus on enabling innovation and embracing more technology.

“As an organisation, we believe our success is inherently tied to the success of the communities in which we operate. We are guided by our purposes, for every future and are committed to making an impact and investing in a better future for everyone,” said Carrington, noting that the refashioned and re-imagined collaboration and the community engagement challenge aligned with Scotiabank’s model.

This new $20 Challenge summer programme, which started from June 24 and will continue to September 18, 2021, hosts entrepreneurs via the 12 Optimist Clubs of Barbados, with students ranging in ages 18 to 25 and provides not only an opportunity for young entrepreneurs to showcase their products and services, but the opportunity to refine their skills and to test their entrepreneurial endeavours in the public space.

Commenting on the importance of participating in and sponsoring such events, BEF $20 Challenge Chief Executive Officer, Celeste Foster said: “At the BEF $20 Challenge, we recognise that part of our role is to continue to strive towards achieving our obligations owed to our young people to ensure their sustainability and to provide them with better opportunities to develop the knowledge and practices – outside of the actual services and products – that will be supportable for them in the future.”

Foster explained that the pilot summer programme is an extension of the usual $20 Challenge but focuses on tertiary students as opposed to the secondary school students.

“These students who are participating in this pilot programme would have already started a business without knowing the fundamentals, so our objective is to help refine their ideas. They will be turning what they have started into real business ventures.

“The programme seeks to bridge the gap for tertiary students to explore their entrepreneurial endeavours – a first of its kind in Barbados – so having dependable and long-standing sponsors, like Scotiabank is a rarity especially in these economic times.

“We are extremely grateful for the years of commitment from Scotiabank to the objectives of the $20 Challenge while embracing and supporting our new ideas like the Pivot Series last year and this pilot programme for the summer.

“We also take this opportunity to thank our new sponsor – the Optimist Clubs of Barbados, who is the backbone to this pilot programme, as well as our other new sponsors – SCHSBM and YES – because without any of their support we would be unable to give these young people the opportunities and the skills they deserve where they can ignite their entrepreneurial mindset,” said Foster. (PR)