Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands – Seventeen young men and women celebrated their success in the Passport2Success programme at a graduation ceremony last week. The event was a culmination of 12 weeks of classes, internships, site visits, community service, guest speakers and workshops hosted by The Wellness Centre in partnership with the National Workforce Development Agency (NWDA).

This is the 20^th Passport2Success cohort since the initiative was introduced to assist school leavers and unemployed young people with gaining practical skills, work experience and finding employment. To date 378 people have gone through the programme. Seven of the graduates from this most recent group have obtained full or part time employment, including Kimberly Scott and Kayla Stewart who were informed at the ceremony that they had been awarded apprentice positions at Health City. Health City and the NWDA recently announced that the two entities were partnering to provide three Caymanians with the opportunity to become qualified support-level healthcare administrators. Scott and Stewart will be trained as Medical Receptionists while Christine Foster, a past graduate of the Passport2Success programme, was selected for the position of Medical Secretary. The other graduates are working with NWDA’s Ready2WorkKY to secure full time employment while some have indicated that they are interested in pursuing further education.

Minister for Education, Employment & Gender Affairs Hon. Tara Rivers was on hand to present the group with their certificates, and congratulated them on their accomplishment. The Minister also encouraged the graduates to use the self-confidence gained through Passport2Success to help them carry out their daily responsibilities, overcome challenges and achieve even the smallest of goals.

“This newly gained self-confidence, along with the tools and skills you have gained as a result of your participation in Passport2Success, will open doors for you; they will assist you in not only getting a job but with keeping that job,” said Minister Rivers. “The skills you have learnt during the programme are only the start of what should be your life-long learning and development. Keep pursuing opportunities to grow and keep gaining skills that will help you climb the employment ladder of success. Be proactive and utilise any on-the-job-training that is available to you.”

Rivers told the audience of sponsors, family members and supporters that statistics have shown that even 12 months after a group has completed the Passport2Success programme, there is a significant increase in the number of graduates that have gained employment.

“This is a testament to the success of the programme and indicates that the skills learned by the participants stay with them and help them achieve the goal of employability well after they have completed the programme,” she added.

Some of the graduates shared emotional reflections on their time in the programme and spoke of increased confidence and self-awareness; all of them thanked facilitators Shannon Seymour, Khadija Chisholm and Anne-Marie Diaz of The Wellness Centre for their support throughout the process. Special awards sponsored by Kirk Freeport included Most Tenacious (Abbi-Gayle Phuran), Most Professional & Proactive (Alexis Carlson) and Most Effort/Determination (Robert Terc).

Companies that participated in the programme were Titan Development, Digicel, Fidelity, Dolphin Discovery, Wyndham, Subway, Cayman Islands Tourism Association and Cayman Enterprise City. Sponsor Webster’s Tours provided transportation for the participants and Butterfield gave them bank accounts in which to deposit their weekly stipends.

The 21^st cohort begins in September 2016. For more information about Passport2Success log on to www.passport2success.ky or contact the NWDA at 945-3114.

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Photo 1: Hon. Tara Rivers, JP, Minister for Education, Employment & Gender Affairs (front, second from left), Ms. Dianne Conolly, NWDA’s Manager Training & Development (front, at end), Ms. Khadija Chisholm and Mrs. Anne-Marie Diaz, Passport2Success and The Wellness Centre Facilitators (second to last, and last on right) and Mr. Kenrick Webster, Sponsor, Webster’s Tours (back at end on right) with the Passport2Success Cohort 20 graduates.

Photo 2: Left to right: Ms. Dianne Conolly, NWDA’s Manager Training & Development, Ms. Kimberly Scott and Ms. Kayla Stewart, recipients of the Health City Apprenticeships and Hon. Tara Rivers, JP, Minister for Education, Employment & Gender Affairs.