From left: Senior Youth Commissioner and Coordinator of the I AM Conference 2023, Ms. Elizabeth Bowen and Minister of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment, the Hon. Charles Griffith, during the presentation.

Senior Youth Commissioner and Coordinator of the I Am Conference 2023, Elizabeth Bowen presented Memory Boards and other memorabilia from the conference to the Hon. Charles Griffith, Minister of Youth Sports and Community Empowerment, Mr. Charley Browne, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment, Mr. Cleviston Hunte, Director of Youth Affairs and Kariah Scantlebury, Youth Speaker at the I Am Conference.

During the presentation Ms. Bowen reiterated that the I Am Conference was an opportunity for young people to empower and transform their lives. Bowen stated that the “conference was intended to allow young people to reaffirm their identity, to start thinking positive about themselves, to hear testimonies from other young persons about their success whether it be enterprise, agriculture, finance, to motivate young persons who attended the conference.

Minister Griffith expressed his thanks for the memorabilia and stated that the conference was a success. He said that he saw 'I am on my journey' on the memory board and that this is what the Ministry was about - 'Helping young people to be on a positive journey.'

He added that “2023 is the Year of the Youth in the Commonwealth and there is no better occasion to have the youth through Will Gaffney, bringing a programme to impact our young people on island.”

The I Am Conference took place from November 13th to15th, 2023 at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre (LESC). The three day conference also focused on providing tangible outcomes for its attendees. Young person’s attending the conference had the opportunity to open accounts, apply for their identification cards and create tamis numbers.

Presentations were made by Kariah Scantlebury -Youth Speaker I Am Conference, Hewley Watson – Youth Programme Consultant, Aisha Belgrave – Administrative Consultant, Donnecia Mayers – Marketing Consultant, Hasani Newton – Youth Programme Consultant and Michelle Harding – Project Consultant.