Since its formation in 2011 by the World Economic Forum, the Global Shapers Georgetown Hub, which places and encourages young persons to become leaders in their various societies, has had some questions thrown their way over the projects they are doing and the image they represent.First beginning with the founding curator Selwin Asafa George and six shapers, the Georgetown hub has morphed into a multiethnic socially and economically diverse platform where young men and women are constantly trying to make a difference in their country.

Incoming curator of the Global shapers, Sondra Cheong commenting on what makes the group different from other ones said that the diversity is one of the strong points of the group, “not only in race but in terms of skills, employment and socioeconomic backgrounds.”

Since they have been in existence, the global shapers have carried out a number of projects both in and out of Georgetown, as while they are listed as the Georgetown Hub, they do not restrict their efforts to the city.

Some of the projects they are most proud of are the stationary drive for hinterland children, which was their first initiative and an annual event, and a library that is near completion in the community of Sophia.

Commenting on the projects, outgoing curator Hubert Forrester said that he’s proud that they managed to charter some projects. Explaining the origins of the headstart stationary drive, Hubert said that they noticed that hinterland communities often do not benefit from activities in Georgetown which focus on children going back to school and so they wanted to give that opportunity to children in those communities as well.

“When we started the stationary drive there weren’t many persons doing it and then about a year after, everyone began doing it. One of our supporters, Food for the Poor told us that so many small groups and communities were now doing stationary drives also and we felt like we encouraged people to find ways to encourage their own communities and that’s good.”

However, he added that while they are making good progress on the projects they do and the yearly themes they plan around, they have been guilty of biting off more than they can chew. Being a small group with funding only from sections of the business community, and also the time constraints from active careers and families, has caused them to try to not focus on too many things at once.
For this year, said Hubert, the group is focusing on the stationery drive and the library.

“We’re focusing on planning projects properly so when it comes to execution, it goes smoothly. Last year we set too many projects for ourselves and we quickly got burnt out.”

Realizing however, that changing their focus every year can often rob them time to sufficiently cover an area, the group has decided to go on a three-year plan in which they would focus on a maximum of two issues. As of now, they are focusing their energies on projects around the areas of education and mental health.

In an attempt to be self-sufficient and “not go around the place begging,” the business community, the Georgetown hub through a combination of out of pocket contributions, personal connections and fundraisers, are able to carry off most of their projects successfully.

Last year the group hosted a fundraiser named BLINGO, which Hubert stated is “BINGO with a twist,” as persons were encouraged to wear jewelry and dress up so as to come play bingo for a worthy cause. It was such a huge success that they were able to carry out a smaller one shortly after the first one last year and are hoping to do one this year.

It is their diligent project planning which has earned the Georgetown hub the reputation of being the “most active hubs in the Caribbean,” and with past projects such as their series of mental health workshops in communities in Region 2, future projects of a library in either Fairview or Matthews’ Ridge, and computer training for Paramakatoi, they are working diligently to keep their status.

However, despite all the work they plan to do, Sondra stated that they do need more members to complete all their works, as over the years several shapers have left for a variety of reasons such as studies and migration and as such, registration to join the group will open soon.

Sondra took the opportunity to encourage persons to register and come see “the softer side of global shapers” as there is a tendency for people to believe it is an “elitist” group.

“The requirements are a bit stiff but we want young people that are progressive and I guess that’s where some of the elitist comments come from. We ask for so many things but we want to ensure they are serious about the group. We don’t want people who can’t make the effort – we’re here to help, guide and do projects that will have an impact on society.

“Every group is the same way, we merge into a family and people are sometimes surprised and say, oh, they can be like that,” she added.