The Young Caymanian Leaders Foundation announce the five finalists for the 2018 Young Caymanian Leadership Awards (YCLA).

The YCLA Selection Committee chose the finalists after a careful, in-depth review of the nominations put forward this year by the community.

Chairman of the Selection Committee, Jonathan Tibbetts, said, “We are delighted at the nominations we received and while they are all notable we have identified five finalists who exude the core of the YCLA.”

He also said the committee was impressed with the level of achievement, both personal and professional, that all the finalists exhibited.

The committee said, “Each nominee’s candidacy must be vetted from a number of different perspectives to meet several key criteria, all of which combined describe a well-rounded young person who demonstrates strong leadership skills and the ability to serve as a role model to Cayman’s youth. Among the qualities sought are outstanding moral character, personal and professional achievement, volunteerism and community involvement, and a strong overall commitment to mentoring young people.”

The five finalists for YCLA 2018 are:

Wilbur Welcome,

Staci Scott,

Samuel Young,

Kimberly Conolly,

Kacey Mobley

More details about each finalist will follow later this week.

“Each year, the recipient of this prestigious award is asked to give generously of their time and talents to meet and speak to young people all over the islands. Our 2017 YCLA recipient, Faith Gealey, has spoken to thousands of young people during her year with a challenge to our community to rise up as mentors for the young and rising leaders in our community,” the committee said.      

 The YCLA 2018 gala celebration will be held on Saturday, 10 November at the Kimpton Seafire and the recipient of the award will be revealed during a live broadcast online and on television.

Director of the Young Cayman Leaders Foundation, Chris Duggan said, “This long standing programme wouldn’t be possible without the support of our loyal sponsors who support us and partner with us each year to show the country the fantastic young leadership we already have in our midst. We are grateful for each one of them and look forward to partnering with them and new sponsors in the years to come.”

YCLA sponsors are: Dart, KPMG, Progressive Distributors, Walkers, Kensington, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and many others.

For more information on how you can become a sponsor for this year’s event and/or purchase tickets, please contact Brianna Wilkerson at [email protected].