The UWI Regional Headquarters, Jamaica W.I. Thursday, December 19, 2024—The University of the West Indies (The UWI) is pleased to announce the launch of the One UWI Research Cluster on Resilience Through Entrepreneurship. This transformative initiative aims to promote sustainable growth and development throughout the Caribbean. 

The Cluster unites a diverse network of researchers, policymakers, and practitioners dedicated to enhancing socioeconomic and environmental resilience through innovative entrepreneurial practices. Its goal is to become the leading authority on entrepreneurship research in the Caribbean. It will focus on influencing policy and practice through impactful, data-driven insights and actionable research. Additionally, the Cluster will create a centralised repository for entrepreneurship data to address critical knowledge gaps, strengthening sectoral, national, and regional resilience.

At the virtual launch event held earlier this month, Dr. Indianna Minto-Coy, Chair of the Cluster, emphasised the importance of collaboration in tackling regional challenges, stating, “The challenges facing the Caribbean require collective solutions. Through this Cluster, we aim to connect industry, government, academia and other civil society organisations to foster innovative approaches to resilience and development.” 

Dr. Minto-Coy further welcomed researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to join in pursuing the mission – “Together, we can ensure that entrepreneurship becomes a cornerstone of resilience and sustainable development in the region.”

Co-chairs Dr. Priscilla Bahaw and Dr. Ambica Medine established the foundation for the Cluster, stressing the importance of entrepreneurship as a pathway for building resilience. While much attention has been placed on start-ups, they emphasised the importance of a broader understanding of entrepreneurship, including sustainable, social, corporate, inclusive, international and public, and entrepreneurship among SMEs. The team highlighted the gaps in practice, the literature and general knowledge of the experiences of Caribbean countries and the need for Caribbean voices, hence the need for the Cluster.

Pro Vice-Chancellor Graduate Studies and Research, Professor Aldrie Henry-Lee, congratulated Dr. Indianna Minto-Coy and her co-chairs on establishing this important initiative. She expressed her eagerness to see the results of the interdisciplinary collaboration among academicians, government and non-government partners, stakeholders in business, technology, students and community members as they tackle questions that demand innovative solutions. 

The launch event, hosted by the School for Graduate Studies and Research, featured an expansive lineup of speakers and members of the research cluster, including Mr David Roberts, Acting Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Sport and Community Development in Trinidad and Tobago; Ms Ayanna Young-Marshall, Coordinator of SEED (Student Entrepreneurial Empowerment Development) and Lecturer at the Cave Hill Campus; Dr Marcia Brandon of the Caribbean Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Livelihoods; Dr K’Adamawe K’Nife of the Mona Campus; Dr Edward Dixon and Dr Karen Murdock of the Five Islands Campus; Dr Natasha Ramkissoon-Babwah and Dr Talia Esnard of the St. Augustine Campus; and Ms Colleen Davis, Civil Society Organisation Champion. 

Among the attendees was Arif Zaman of the Bloomsbury Institute, London, who shared insights on Commonwealth initiatives and emphasised connections between global entrepreneurship and the Caribbean ecosystem. The event also attracted attendees from the University of Guyana and institutions from outside the Caribbean, including the publishing house Springer Nature and universities in Canada and the US. 

The Cluster builds on a significant body of work, including: 

• The publishing of a book on social entrepreneurship and advancing plans for additional research and publications on SME, corporate, social, sustainable, international, minority and diaspora entrepreneurship.
• The development of practical tools like the Transformational Theory of Change Model to strengthen social enterprises and community resilience.
• The creation of a regional data repository to centralise entrepreneurship research, generally ensuring access for policymakers, academics, businesses and practitioners.
• Encouraging cross-regional studies and collaborations to maximise the impact of shared knowledge, including in shaping social and business policy and practice.

For more information or to join the One UWI Research Cluster, visit https://sites.google.com/view/rteclusteruwi/home.  This initiative represents a bold step toward fostering resilience through entrepreneurship and positioning the Caribbean as a global innovative research and development leader.