Scotiabank, York University partner in youth development
By VonDez Phipps
Reporter-SKNVibes.com
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Dimitrios Adamopoulos, Country Manager for Scotiabank St.Kitts-Nevis, Associate Vice President for International Affairs York University Dr. Adrian Shubert
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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – Scotiabank has partnered with the third largest university in Canada, York University, to engage over 60 students from across the region in discussions and activities on the challenges of leadership in a global world, in an effort to prepare them for active leadership roles.
The four-day event, designated “Scotiabank-York University Emerging Global Leaders Programme” (EGLP) was established in Canada almost ten years ago and has grown to be adopted by many countries in the region over the last four and a half years.
In an exclusive interview, Associate Vice President for International Affairs at York University Dr. Adrian Shubert told SKNVibes that the university has had a very good relationship with Scotiabank. He informed that the EGLP started solely as a University initiative and was conducted on a smaller scale and for a shorter time period. In recent years, with Scotia Bank’s great investment, he said the programme “has grown bountifully”.
“I am pleased to announce that through Scotiabank’s sponsorship, we have been able to extend this to be a two-year cohort model. Next year we are bringing back the next set of people so that we can measure their progress over the course of two years.
York University is in Toronto, which is said to be the most multi-cultural city in the world and our student body is as diverse as it can possibly be. So, this is representative of who we are in terms of diversity. ”
~~Adz:Right~~In detailing the changes that were made possible due to the financial support of the bank, Dr. Shubert said, “Because of the extra funding we have, we can do a fuller programme, we could have more students. The first year, we had students only from St. Kitts-Nevis, but with Scotiabank’s support, we have been able to bring in more students from 8 countries and extending it from two days to four.
It has really allowed us to be more ambitious and do some of the things that we wanted to do.”
Dimitrios Adamopoulos, Country Manager for Scotiabank St. Kitts-Nevis indicated that the institution is dedicated to education and youth development.
“The EGLP was tested first in Canada and it had such success that it has been adopted in other countries, and came to our region about four years ago. During those four years, Scotiabank has supported the effort from York University and we have seen tremendous results.
“Three years ago, Scotiabank created the Bright Future programme which is directly geared toward education and youth development. We make money from the community and so I always say that we have to give back to the community.”
Adamopoulos added that the long-term vision of Scotiabank is to see the region become independent and strong. He said he views youth development as “an extremely important responsibility”.
Dr. Shubert emphasized that “a huge amount of work goes into this [EGLP], but when you see the enthusiasm, passion and energy that these young people put in, and you hear their sophistication and eloquence and see that they are getting something out of this, you have to feel good!”
