From prisons to classrooms, Amar Panday and his grassroots team are reshaFOR most of us, when we think of a humanitarian, we picture community outreaches in the most remote regions of Guyana. But there is immensely impactful humanitarian work happening right here in the heart of the country. Amar Panday and his team at Empower Guyana are spearheading humanitarian initiatives—with a difference.

Empower Guyana is a grassroots organisation with national reach, structured around a powerful mission. Led by historian Amar Panday, Empower Guyana strives to build leadership, empower youth, and uplift communities through training, education, and service. Founded in 2000, it has grown into a dynamic initiative with three clear arms: corporate training, youth leadership, and humanitarian service.

“Empower Guyana is registered as a company. We did deeds and registry,” Panday explained during his interview with Pepperpot Magazine. “Empower Guyana has three arms. The corporate arm that does training with government and private sector agencies. The youth empowerment arm, and the humanitarian arm.”
The organisation’s corporate arm is its engine, generating revenue to support its vital social work.

“We provide training in the areas of leadership, professional ethics, strategic management, monitoring and evaluation, customer service,” Panday added. “Some of our clients include the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Prison Service, Fire Service, and a number of other businesses in the private sector.”

But beyond the revenue, Empower Guyana’s purpose has always been about people. At its heart lies the youth empowerment arm and the humanitarian outreach that reaches deep into communities, from the coast to the hinterland.

“The youth empowerment arm—we provide youth leadership training, especially in the land and outlying areas. So that those young people can assume leadership roles in their communities, in their region, even at the national level,” he said.

While many NGOs focus solely on schools and traditional community centres, Empower Guyana has taken a more inclusive and ambitious approach.
“At Empower Guyana, we visit all the prisons of Guyana. And we provide anger management and personal development training to the gentlemen who are incarcerated,” Panday shared.

Highlighting the impact of this work, Panday added:
“Many of the gentlemen who participated in this training and were subsequently released are now members of Empower Guyana under the youth empowerment arm. They now travel with me to different places where we host workshops and training.”

This model—one that transitions inmates into mentors—is unique in Guyana.

“So, Empower Guyana is the only organisation which has that arrangement, that allows prisoners who are released, who have served their sentences, to now be part of an empowerment project,” he shared.

Alongside their prison work, Empower Guyana has also established a platform for national awareness and civic education. A historian by training, Panday has led the charge in using the organisation’s reach to inform citizens about the Venezuela border controversy—an issue he believes is not discussed enough in Guyana.

“Empower Guyana is the first organisation to hold a public forum on the Guyana-Venezuela border controversy. All the way back in 2021, we held it at City Hall.”
What began as a one-off forum grew into a travelling education initiative, moving to the densely populated townships of Bartica and Linden.

Empower Guyana’s youth empowerment arm is the largest youth network in the country, with representation across all ten regions. But beyond its size, it’s the philosophy of how the organisation works with youth that sets it apart.

“Our youth empowerment work is always ongoing. We are always engaging communities. We are always engaging young people,” Panday explained.
Even the humanitarian efforts, which include visits to children’s homes across the country, are youth-led.

“When we go that day, we take over the kitchen. We cook for the children, engage them in educational activities, recreational activities. The young people who are part of the youth empowerment arm—they plan and organise the humanitarian activities.”

The idea is to cultivate responsibility, compassion, and leadership—not just through training rooms, but through action. The primary way Empower Guyana achieves this is through its Youth Ambassador Programme.

“We have a youth ambassadorship programme that falls under this arm. It’s actually the largest youth organisation in Guyana, with young people from all regions of Guyana.”
Empower Guyana works closely with local government bodies to expand their reach.

“We work closely with the regional community councils in places like Region 10, Region 7. We work closely with the municipalities. But we haven’t partnered with any agency per se. We work closely with any agency that is willing to partner with us to achieve the vision, the mission, the core values of Empower Guyana.”
Empower Guyana continues to expand its influence through consistent on-the-ground work in classrooms, council halls, prisons, and homes.

On the matter of next steps, Panday shared:
“We don’t have any activity planned per se. But the work in these three arms is a continuous one.”

And perhaps that’s what makes Empower Guyana stand out: a model that is steady, expansive, and quietly transformative. Whether training police recruits, rehabilitating former inmates, or mentoring young leaders from Lethem to Linden, the organisation is quietly building the next generation of leaders—and giving them something even more powerful than skills: purpose.
ping leadership and lifting communities