Rotary Central has helped introduce Cayman’s future business leaders to the importance of business ethics by providing volunteer support to Junior Achievement’s high school program, JA Business Ethics.

Year 12 students at the Cayman Islands Further Education Center (CIFEC) completed the seven-week course through highly interactive sessions aimed at introducing students to the basic terminology, theories and concepts common to the study of ethics.

Rotarian Mario Ebanks, head of Rotary Central’s Ethics Committee said it was encouraging to see how quickly students grasped the concepts of the course and recognized its significance for the business world today.

“Ethical and responsible business practices are the backbone of a thriving community,” he said. “One of the objectives of Rotary is to encourage and foster high ethical standards in business and professions so participating in this program was a natural fit for us.”

“Our Rotarian volunteers used their life and business experiences to demonstrate the concepts and principles and help guide Cayman’s future leaders to factor in ethical considerations when making business decisions,” Mr Ebanks said.

“One of the hallmarks of Rotary is the “4-way Test” – a blueprint for making ethical decisions and a standard for ethics in business management today,” Mr Ebanks said. “Collaborating with the Junior Achievement team through this program has meant we have hopefully passed on to these young people one of the core fundamentals of the Rotarian spirit.”

Mr Paul Byles, President of Junior Achievement of the Cayman Islands said the JA Business Ethics program had been created to instill a culture of responsibility among future corporate leaders.

“Events in recent corporate history show that the JA Business Ethics program could not be more relevant or important to the sustainability of business around the world,” Mr Byles said.

Rotary Central volunteers participating in the program included Len Layman, Dr. Naude Dryer, Paul Arbo, as well as David Kirkaldy of Rotary Grand Cayman and Mike Garofalo of BDO.

“We hope the JA Business Ethics program will have a long-term impact on the lives of these young people and will result in a better community and economy for these Islands,” Mr Ebanks said.

Junior Achievement is celebrating its 20th Anniversary in the Cayman Islands in 2012.  It is supported by many corporate sponsors including its seven Corporate Ambassadors; Rotary Central, HSBC, Chamber of Commerce, Dunkin Donuts, Caledonian Global Financial Services, Maples, and BDO.