Organisations and companies in the private sector are being encouraged to provide a greater level of support, and put money behind creatives across Barbados.
This appeal was made by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office with responsibility for Culture, Senator Dr. Shantal Munro-Knight, as she delivered remarks during the presentation of prizes to winners of the Marcus Garvey Entrepreneurship Pitch at the National Library Service’s Bridgetown branch last Friday.
Monique Hinds emerged as the winner; while Nathan Agard and Carseen Greenidge, were second and third place runners-up, respectively.
Noting that the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) and the Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme (YES) had participated in the current competition, Dr. Munro-Knight said there was a need for greater partnerships from within the private sector.
“We are hoping that more organisations, more companies, will come forward to mentor and to put tangible resources behind the Pitch as well. The intent is that we create a space where we put money behind our creatives.
“We are intent on building out a creative economy, and we must then capacitate our creatives in order for them to be able to deliver…[and] they need resources to do so,” the Minister stated.
She added that the vision for the Marcus Garvey Entrepreneurship Pitch was that creatives would be able to walk away with money to support their vision and initiatives.
Senator Munro-Knight noted that recent statistics from The University of the West Indies indicated that the creative economy post COVID was growing by 14 per cent annually.
The Minister said while the National Cultural Foundation (NCF) provided funding for the just concluded competition from their grant funding, it was hoped that the prize money would be doubled by next year.
This year’s competition saw a total of $30,000 being up for grabs with Ms. Hinds capturing a $20,000 award for her entry.
Executive Director of the BCCI, Misha Lobban Clarke, explained that the Marcus Garvey Entrepreneurship Pitch was built on the foundation of Marcus Garvey’s philosophy of entrepreneurship as a key to self-resilience and creating economic opportunities for our people.
The Marcus Garvey Entrepreneurship Pitch is a collaboration with the YES, in the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment; the NCF; and the BCCI.
Four private sector entities were identified to mentor the three awardees. Armstrong Agencies and Abeds will mentor Ms. Hinds; Signia Global will work with Mr. Agard and LCI Consulting Inc. will provide guidance to Mr. Greenidge.
The winner and runners-up will receive mentorship advice, training in business development, as well as advice on financial literacy and financial planning from members of the BCCI.