Latest update March 28th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jan 19, 2020 News, Special Person
Driven by the desire to see Guyana transformed to the point where it can easily slide into the status of being the financial mecca or even the Silicon Valley of the Region, Selwyn Collins has been helping to steer Guyana’s future entrepreneurs and influencers in the right direction, one project at a time.
Grown popular for introducing initiatives such as Conversations with Selwyn, a New York-based weekly webTV broadcast, and for founding apolitical organisations the likes of Brand YOUth, Collins has indeed been seeing the fruits of his labour.
For this he wears a smile, not a plastic replica that far too many of us have grown so accustomed to flashing through phases of life, but the kind that sprouts from a place of contentment deep within the soul.
The 56-year-old Collins is not only passionate, but focused on the mission he believes is his destined forte – to give back to a country, a community that not only mentored him when he was young, but helped to fashion him into the productive human being he is today. “I have a personal interest in Guyana, when I was growing up, a lot of people mentored me who I respect, and it is on their shoulders that I stand, and I feel I have a duty and a responsibility to give back,” said Collins when doing this interview.
A WEAVER
Our ‘Special Person’ is convinced that Guyana is on the cusp of greatness, a belief he’d embrace long before any announcement of ‘black gold’. In fact, it must be asserted that Collins isn’t a follower rather he is a weaver – a metaphor he uses for leader – and already he has been able to weave the minds of many youths into accepting that they have within them what it takes to conspicuously position Guyana in a positive light on the map.
In recognition of the fact that he alone cannot accomplish the desired goal, Collins has long been able to secure the backing of a like-minded team, which helps to guide the work of Brand YOUth.
“We need some people who can take the strands and weave them into a fabric of impact, a fabric of purpose; that’s what we need. Yes, there are many gaps that exist in Guyana: we have ethnic gaps, economic gaps, we have all these gaps and what we need to do, we need to build bridges across these various gaps, but not just build the bridges but encourage each other to cross them,” Collins quipped.
Born and raised in Campbellville, Georgetown, a focused Collins migrated in 1985 in hopes of taking hold of the American dream. In so doing, he was able to land employment on Wall Street and even worked a spell at Time Inc., a mass media corporation.
But being a visionary, Collins couldn’t merely settle for sitting around in a Corporation, he opted to venture out to establish his own business – consulting on web development. He even found time to engage in other ventures including authoring a book – The Earth Heart Knows.
Although just a quinquagenarian himself, Collins has already envisioned that “it is possible if we encourage young people and we give them the tools that they need; it is not just throwing money at them. The tools can at times come as moral support; it could come in the form of policymakers looking at some of the policies we have that negatively impact businesses and see how we can come together,” Collins explained.
A FIRE IS KINDLED
The fire he embodies to help young people build capacity to take the reins of economic development was first kindled many years ago. Introducing ‘Conversations with Selwyn’ back in 2012 certainly helped to chart the path he wanted to go. With episodes being broadcast twice weekly, Collins said, “I’ve interviewed people from all over the world; I have interviewed a lot of prominent people in Guyana too: Joseph Harmon, Raphael Trotman, Cathy Hughes, a whole lot of folks, including the Chief Justice,” Collins shared.
It was from his many interviews that he was gathering data, data that helped to steer his enthusiasm in the right direction. “By 2015, I realised that something was happening, I realised that a lot of people in the Diaspora, a lot of my generation and older, were saying that Guyanese youths are just sitting around waiting for handouts; they feel entitled, they are not really pulling their weight,” Collins noted.
He admitted though that from his vantage point this was not the prognosis.
“That was not my experience,” said Collins who decided to focus greater attention on the young population by creating another show which he dubbed a Sunday Afternoon Special. Through this show, he intended to show the worth of Guyanese youths.
The show was one during which young people were asked to share their respective stories. The show, expectedly, became a hit serial.
But this was only the beginning of a phenomenal evolution of a well-crafted plan.
“A friend of mine who was visiting in Guyana at the time, a motivational speaker, Sherry Ann Dixon, she was there and I asked her: ‘Can you do a conference with some of the young people who appeared on the show?’ She said, ‘Sure, why not!’
To make a long story short, we ended up putting on a show at the Cultural Centre that over 100 and something people attended…I wanted to bring the more mature generation together with the younger generation so that both of them could learn from each other,” Collins revealed.
The event turned out to be such an astounding success that Collins was encouraged to host an International Women’s Day event which he did with the finesse of a seasoned pro. “That was so successful,” Collins said, as he recalled that as part of his seven-year anniversary for ‘Conversations with Selwyn’, he kept the focus on women by hosting a women’s empowerment event at the Umana Yana.
“It was later I found out I was the first guy to have done a women’s empowerment event where I sat on stage and interviewed 10 women who I had interviewed over the years. I actually moderated the conversation…Several people flew in from around the world for that event,” Collins reflected.
REACHING OUT
But it hasn’t only been the privileged that Collins has been giving attention to. He has visited those who are incarcerated and has even travelled to Indigenous communities to let the youths there know of the role that they can play in the envisioned transformation of the nation.
To attach even greater meaning to his plan, Collins in April of last year introduced the Brand YOUth’s 40 Under 40 entrepreneurial award, which is said to be the first of its kind to be held for Guyanese youths in the Region.
Brand YOUth, Collins explained, was created with the view of bringing an end to poverty in Guyana by suitably equipping the nation’s youths to thrive. The award ceremony was understandably held under the theme: ‘building bridges; passing batons’.
Forty young people under the age of 40 were recognised at an auspicious event that saw the attendance of several dignitaries including the Ambassadors of the ABC countries, a UN Representative, and even the likes of the City Mayor, Ubraj Narine; Member of Parliament, Gail Teixeira, and business mogul, Stanley Ming.
“We had prominent people and people known in the community hand out a baton to young persons and then we had 12 young people who had special awards in addition to their batons,” Collins recalled.
To facilitate all these projects has seen Collins travelling frequently between the US and Guyana. In fact, in November, he returned here for yet another project aimed at catering to the transfer of knowledge to youths. On this occasion, it was a Tax Forum, which was graced by the Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan and Captain Gerald Gouveia, both of whom were presenters, in addition to a representative of the Guyana Revenue Authority and a few young honourees.
“That event was the first of its kind too and the Minister was impressed…As a matter of fact, I am in the process of transcribing the forum so that we can prepare a policy document to present to the Ministry of Finance,” said Collins.
BRAND YOUth
Collins has been able to reach unprecedented heights and entered unchartered territory by virtue of his introduction of Brand YOUth. “At the core of me is giving back, and giving back to Guyana is not just as a cliché, because I want to give back to Guyana, I believe that Guyana is a blessed nation and it is poised for greatness and all we have heard growing is that Guyana has a lot of potential…this was long before the discovery of oil,” said Collins.
But he had decided years earlier that he would not simply be another adult who sees Guyana as only a ‘land of potential’. “There was a famous mantra that eased into conversations: better must come, I tweaked that a little bit and I said here is what I believe: I think the better that we are waiting to come lies in us. We have the better that needs to be present. When we become better, then better will be here… So we are the ones who have to create this better, and I also realised that in order for Guyana to rise to its true greatness, we have to be inclusive in all that we do,” Collins intimated.
Moreover, he noted that Brand YOUth in essence is a diverse network, which has as its aim “to encourage a community that is inclusive where members, entrepreneurs interact with each other, but more importantly do business with each other and encourage and empower each other.”
In fact, Collins abides by the notion that “If each of us put country first; if we put our community first, then everything else takes care of itself. So we have to sort of shift the mindset that it’s about me, me, me, me, me to we… ‘And how do we do that?’ We make sure that we leave no brethren behind…make sure that my sister, my brother, whoever they may be, whatever ethnicity they might be, are not left behind.”
By starting thought-provoking conversations, Collins believes that changes can be made in society to help young people get a needed foothold that will propel them to greatness. This he sees possible if education, values, skills and talents are wielded in the ideal way.
“If these qualities are developed, they can use them to move the needle a little bit more towards greatness for Guyana. I push this because I believe that one day, with all the migration that is happening in Guyana, Guyana is going to change; its demographic is going to change and change drastically, and what I hope one day will happen is that the people who are in the chambers of power are Guyanese – the people who run the big businesses, the big conglomerates, our key decision makers in the big corporations, are Guyanese. And if they happen to be from the younger generation that is even better,” a hopeful Collins mused.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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