It is easy to mistake the Young Caymanian Leadership Foundation as a once a year live broadcast awards event and dinner. In truth however the people who are nominated are constantly, and at times thanklessly, working behind the scenes to serve the community and make Cayman a better place. Young Caymanian leaders are everywhere and are making this Island a better place through their endless goodwill service to the community. Last year’s 2015 finalists were Rebekah Jefferson, Robbie Cribb Jr, Dr Taylor Burrowes, Stephen Walter, and the Recipient was Mrs. Kellie Sandy (McGee). What have they been doing for the past year?

Rebekah Jefferson:

It has been a busy, exciting, and rewarding year for Rebekah Jefferson as she continued to serve her community and to challenge and inspire the youth of the Cayman Islands, particularly through the performing arts.   Last December, Rebekah once again coordinated and directed two Christmas Musicals for Sir John A. Cumber Primary School in West Bay. The Infant Department staged the “super cute” mini musical “Busy, Busy Bethlehem,” all about a little Roman soldier who after being very rigid and cold is forever changed by meeting the Christ child. The Junior students worked tirelessly alongside Ms. Jefferson, teachers, and parent volunteers to put together, an unforgettable full-scale musical entitled “Happy Forever After”, in which enchanted character types go on a pain-staking journey to find the “Shining Kingdom.” This musical featured the SJACPS Drama team, who was coached and costumed by Ms. Jefferson, as well as the SJACPS Junior Choir, who sang with beautiful harmony all of the songs featured in this musical. The SJACPS Choir, accompanied by Ms. Jefferson, also shared their message of hope and cheer in the community through song during the yuletide season.Rebekah also continues contributing to her church through various efforts such as narrating for the Annual Christmas Cantata.   The New Year rang in with Rebekah taking on the role of lead singer for the Flamenco Group “Flamenco Caribe,” performing in a language foreign to her native tongue (i.e. English) and immersing herself in a style of Spanish music that is just as challenging as it is unique.During the month of March, Rebekah’s Music Class was awarded “Classroom of the Month” by Cayman First Insurance and Office Supply. She went on to prepare two choirs and a number of Infant and Junior soloists for the National Children’s Festival of the Arts where all of the Junior items were awarded gold awards, four in total. Later she worked as judge for the Junior High and High School Vocal Solo and Choir Competitions for the National Children’s Festival of the Arts. Rebekah also served as one of the three judges for the Lion’s Choir Competition in May.   Also in May, the SJACPS choir sang for a special Child’s month local church service. In June, Rebekah organized and directed a Father’s Day Video Presentation involving numerous church attendees sharing priceless memories of quality time spent with their fathers. Her final contribution to the school for the 2015/2016 school year was to organize and direct an Annual Hollywood-themed Talent Show at the school on June 29^th 2016. Rebekah also decided to share her vocal talent by preparing a 70’s style trio comprised of two Year 6 students and her. The talented three sported afros and shimmery bellbottoms as they “wowed” the crowd with their impressive 3-part rendition of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.”In addition, this summer Rebekah became heavily involved in the Wesleyan Holiness Church’s Noah-and-the Ark-themed Vacation Bible school, where she played Mrs. Noah alongside a cast of savvy young people who depicted the Biblical events in a fun and interesting way. In August, she accompanied two talented young people to “Camp Broadway” at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Downtown Miami, where they had the privilege of working with Broadway professionals for a whole week to further their talents in the areas of singing, acting and dance.

Dr. Taylor Burrowes:

It has been an exceptionally busy year for Dr. Taylor Burrowes, reaching milestones in service, leadership and community participation. She worked as a committee member for both Health & Wellness and Legal Affairs Committees for the Business and Professional Women’s Club of Grand Cayman. She facilitated mental health law trainings with police officers and other essential personnel and created a focus group about mental health policy. Taylor has also been busy participating with sports coordinating a beach volleyball league and NORCECA 2016 beach volleyball tournament. She rebranded the Cayman Islands Volleyball Federation’s image and logo using her social media and marketing skills. Due to these combined efforts the Cayman Islands Beach Volleyball made it further than ever before in pre-Olympic qualifications, with the last leg in Mexico in June, 2016. Taylor participated on a Government scholarship panel for psychology and the social science fields, and participated in many radio/television interviews and paper articles for community education, awareness and advocacy. She organized an “Interpersonal Violence Summit” in 2015 focusing on child abuse and organized the 2016 edition on “the development of the criminal mind” (August/September 2016). Her drive for leadership motivated her to start CayMind, which is Cayman’s first mental health foundation. Taylor is the founding director of CayMind, Taylor also worked as a Mental Health Commission Deputy Chair collaborating on several mental health initiatives. By actively mentoring Prep School students to develop a mental health advocacy youth group she supports her Cayman Youth into a greater understanding and action. Taylor started a therapeutic group therapy for survivors of breast cancer with the breast cancer foundation and separately facilitated a critical incident debriefing with Cayman Fire Service. Taylor established a Crisis Centre’s suicide hotline through collaboration with BPW, Mental Health Commission, and The Mental Health Foundation, then presented at a Kiwanis meeting on child abuse/protection, and topped off her year by travelling to representing Business and Professional Women’s Club of Grand Cayman in Egypt at International Congress.

Robbie Cribb:

Robbie Cribb the quiet “giant” actively supporting successful leadership through participating in his athletics, spiritual endeavors, family life, and professional career. He was integral in organizing the Cayman Rugby 7s team holding the first annual youth clinic at Truman Bodden Sports Complex in December 2015 which was a huge success working with about 150 kids ages 4-17. This clinic, says Robbie will be an annual event in December. In the first weekend of September 2016 Robbie will be organizing and hosting an athletic 7s fundraiser and the Rugby 7s team has the ultimate goal of getting a local high school 7s series implemented. As Robbie describes it, the idea is for two or three players from the 7s team to coach at a local high school followed by a series of tournaments held in different parts of the island over 4-5 weekends. By giving the youth of Cayman an outlet to participate in their own community all around the island it will provide a sense of team, respect, responsibility, and discipline. Robbie is involved in the East End Church of Christ benevolence team who are currently working towards providing school supplies to kids within the East End community. This team has a focus of seeking out the needs of the community and then finding ways to meet those needs, whatever they may be.

Stephen Watler:

According to Stephen Watler, his past year has just flown by. He has taken on more responsibility in his professional life as an associate at Maples and Calder, while still continuing to be actively involved in various educational and community initiatives. As a member of the Board of Governors of the University College of the Cayman Islands (UCCI), he has been actively involved in various projects. In particular, his work on the Corporate Governance Subcommittee focuses on updating and streamlining UCCI’s policies and procedures to ensure that the highest standards of governance are maintained and adhered to locally. After launching the Seminar Series for the Caymanian Bar Association (CBA) in 2015, a further nine Seminars have been conducted this year, focusing on local laws and regulations as well as litigation, advocacy and mediation. The Student Chapter of the CBA, comprised of over 130 Caymanian law students and articled clerks, has taken on a key role in organising these Seminars. They also held a Summer Social last month with an emphasis on the British referendum to leave the European Union and its implications for Cayman’s financial industry. At Maples and Calder, he has the pleasure of working with numerous articled clerks and junior associates. The firm also offers annual summer internships to law students and he was given the opportunity to provide them with a glimpse into his line of work, via a presentation on Mutual Funds. Their enthusiasm and motivation shows great potential for a career in law and illustrates a promising future for Cayman’s legal profession. The firm is also involved in many community initiatives, such as the “Walk a Mile in her Shoes” fundraiser launched by the Cayman Islands Crisis Centre. Winning the title of “Best Team” which Stephen was on, Maples and Calder raised over CI$14,000, the most of any corporate sponsor. Being one of the 70 men that participated, he single handedly raised over CI$1,300 walking in his wife’s high heels. Unfortunately, he reports, the high heels did not survive the entire walk.  These, and other local initiatives, serve a vital role in our community and Stephen avidly looks forward to continuing to participate in and support such worthy causes.

Kellie Sandy (McGee)

Since October 17, 2015 the Young Caymanian Leadership Award recipient Ms. Kellie Sandy (McGee) has addressed more than 10,000 people in Grand Cayman alone, and has reached others in the sister islands.  She has spoken at 34 official events sharing her inspiring and positive message of leadership and positive values. Kellie speaks about the value of mentorship in her life, and how she attributes all of her current success to mentors who saw potential in her even when she didn’t see it herself. Red Bay Literacy week was the start of her speaking and mentoring engagements. Since that time she has spoken at fifteen schools and three separate graduations. Athletic Clubs, Duke of Edinburgh, Girl Guides and local church rallies have all been attended and supported by the positive message provided by Kellie. No crowd is too small or too great; Kellie makes time for them all and engages them into their own community missions through her motivating message of leadership and action. She has been on television and many radio stations locally spreading the message to all who will listen. From West Bay to North Side, Kellie has been preparing interesting, informative, and motivational speeches each one talking to the specific audience in attendance. Her employer Ironshore Pharmaceuticals has been very supportive of her YCLA commitments, even though it has also been an incredibly busy year with her work. She travelled to Washington to meet with American Professional Society of ADHD & met with the American Psychiatric Association at a conference in Atlanta. Next month, she will be in New York for the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Conference, and also looks forward to the exciting privilege of working on a new drug in early development for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. Regardless of her already active schedule she still remained heavily involved in Rotaract Blue Cayman Islands as a director of international service and was also the fundraising chair for the Open Arms Gala, which raised $20,000 for organizations committed to enriching the lives with special needs individuals. Kellie helped create and participate in the vision of the 5050 program for the Special Needs Foundation of Cayman. This initiative included 50 runners coming together to raise 50,000 dollars for the organization during the Intertrust marathon. Not only did Kellie help to get runners involved, but she also ran herself and intends to run the half marathon this coming year. The final monetary outcome surpassed the goal that was set.Through all this excitement, Kellie feels that her biggest news in 2015/16 was her marriage to her wonderful husband, who supports her active leadership adventures. She and her beloved enjoyed the chance to do some personal travel as they road tripped around the Scottish highlands and coastal towns in northern England with friends, and spent time travelling around Italy for their honeymoon. YCLA has been very well represented again this year, and the shoes for the 2016/17 recipient will not be easy to fill.

IMAGE: stephen watler in her shoes.