From:TheBahamasWeekly.com
Bahamas Millennials Society Holds First Future Leaders Forum
Apr 5, 2015 - 3:00:42 PM
Nassau, Bahamas -
On March 18th,
2015 over 100 persons gathered at the Balmoral Club for the first ever
Future Leaders Forum, hosted by the Bahamas Millennials Society (“BMS”),
a voluntary membership based association comprised of young persons
between the ages of 21 to 35.
The Hon. C.V. Hope Strachan, Minister of Financial Services, gave the
welcome address urging attendees to ”foster a spirit of excellence.”
Aliya Allen, CEO and Executive Director of the Bahamas Financial
Services Board (BFSB) said of the event, “It was an inspiring afternoon
for all in attendance. In an industry that requires constant change
and evolution in order to thrive, it struck exactly the right tone and
resonated with the audience.”
The
international guest speaker was Lisa Chau, Founder of Alpha Vert
Enterprises, a private consultancy focusing on social media and
cross-platform marketing. Ms. Chau addressed the topic of the importance
of “soft skills”, networking and relationship building. She urged
attendees to push past their comfort zones when networking and to
develop a short elevator pitch to neatly encapsulate the value they can
bring to the relationship.
Three
interactive and informative panels followed Ms. Chau’s presentation.
The first was moderated by Taran Mackey of IPG Family Office and led by
Atul Lele, Chief Investment Strategist of Deltec International Group and
Jane Siebels, Owner of Green Cay Asset Management. Attendees were given
the opportunity to pose questions to the two panellists, on a wide
variety of topics. To one such question, Mr. Lele responded “Hard work
is the one thing I’ve found that can consistently get you ahead.” Ms.
Siebels stressed the importance of leading with integrity and
creativity, and said “to be a leader you have to think outside the box”.
Another
popular segment was the “Risking It All” involving a panel of three
successful millennial entrepreneurs, including Alanna Rodgers, Founder
of Tru Bahamian Tours; Mervin C. Sweeting, CEO of Switcha Bahamas Ltd.;
and Khalil Braithwaite, Director of Business Development of Leno
Corporate Services. Moderated by Zachary Lyons of BSI Overseas
(Bahamas) Limited, panelists shared their unique insights on the
challenges and opportunities in entrepreneurship in The Bahamas and the
key attributes necessary to succeed in this environment.
Rounding
up the event was the Cross Generational Roundtable with Millennial Dr.
Iyandra P. Bryan, Managing Director, Lyford Tree Legal; GenXer, Kevin
Burrows, Senior Vice President of CFAL; and Boomer Suzanne Black,
Managing Director of Black & Associates Limited. All shared the
wisdom gained in the course of their respective diverse and interesting
careers.
Concluding the programme was a networking cocktail reception at which
millennials were able to meet with speakers, moderators and peers in the
financial services industry. Said one attendee of the forum, “This is a
fantastic initiative and as you can visibly tell by the attendance
today, so many bright, ambitious young Bahamians are so hungry to have a
forum for these types of discussions and simply to be all together in
the same location for a few hours.”
BMS
is the brainchild of BFSB and according to its CEO “a key initiative
for developing people, the single most important resource in a
knowledge-based industry like financial services.”
© Copyright 2015 by thebahamasweekly.com -