FORTY young, local entrepreneurs were awarded on Thursday, April 25, under the Brand, YOUth inaugural Forty Under Forty Entrepreneurial Awards.

The event was held at the National Cultural Centre, under the theme: “Building Bridges, Passing Batons.”

“It strengthens me when I see young Guyanese entrepreneurs today. I am encouraged that young people are taking personal responsibility for saving themselves; creating their own work,” Founder of Brand YOUth Selwyn Collins, said: “What Guyanese youths deserve is respect and recognition for their efforts in entrepreneurship and making sure Guyana gains global recognition through sports, music, technology, and innovations.”

Mid last-year, Collins related that he took a break from his weekly web broadcast. This was to enable him to work on his vision to see the end of poverty in Guyana, to get rid of hunger, realise gender equality, and because of its natural resources, to see Guyana become the bread-basket, and ‘Silicon Valley’ of the Region.

In so doing, he encountered many of the young entrepreneurs who were honoured and was filled with hope that all 40 of the awardees would continue their work in ensuring that these goals are achieved.

“We are seeing more and more how, when given the opportunity, resources, and support, young Guyanese can rise to any occasion, compete with the best internationally, and raise their standards to the highest levels of excellence,” he affirmed.

Brand YOUth is a movement rooted in excellence, unity, community and self-empowerment, and is a Conversation with Selwyn (CwS) initiative. Conversations with Selwyn is a New York- based webTV broadcast that was created by author, broadcaster, motivator and mentor, Selwyn Collins, in 2012. This CwS platform invited young people to appear on the programme every Sunday afternoon to share their stories.

In 2016, a five-part series, Guyanese Youth in Business, and late 2017, a seven-part series, Guyanese Youth in Review, was produced.

“It is from those series that Brand YOUth evolved out of a vision to see an end to poverty in Guyana, eliminate hunger, realise gender equality and see Guyana rise to its full potential to become the breadbasket and ‘Silicon Valley’ of the Region,” a release from Brand YOUth highlighted.

“Most of the 40 being honoured would have appeared on the CWS platform,” the release also noted.

Attending the event was Minister of State, Dawn Hastings-Williams; Minister of Public Telecommunications, Catherine Hughes; Opposition Member of Parliament, Gail Teixeira; and Canada’s High Commissioner, Lilian Chatterjee; among others.