The youngsters ranging in age from 12 to 21, many fresh out of their end of term school exams, took part in the special training hosted conducted by BrightPath Foundation (an initiative of Congress WBN’s Global Communications & Technology (GCT). Bevil Wooding, Chief Knowledge Officer of Congress WBN and Stephen Lee, a senior GCT Team Lead facilitated the training. The training was hosted by the Antigua-based non-profit, Precise Development Foundation.

Wooding shared “The sessions were highly interactive with lots of questions and feedback on how technology is impacting at the personal, corporate and global level. The workshop left everyone with new perspectives on mobile, technology, Congress WBN.”

Wingrove Spencer, Founder of Precise Development Foundation agreed, saying “The experience with the youth of our community has validated our conviction that our young people are filled with the talent, creativity and discipline to define a new future for our country. They can embrace their correct position as producers and not mere consumers in the digital age.”

Spencer added, “We were quite pleased to be able to partner with the BrightPath Foundation for this historic event. Their team did a splendid job in presenting the material to the youth in a way that was engaging and fun.”

The youth were able to identify wrong self-concept, low self-esteem and inaccurate valuing of their own ideas, interests and perspectives as factors that impeded their ability to contribute.  They uncovered wrong ways of thinking that had to be discarded before they could take their rightful place as content producers in their local community, in Antigua and Barbuda and for the wider Congress.

At the end of the workshop some of the comments from participants were:

“This was fantastic! At first I thought it was going to be hard, but the facilitators really made it easy. I can’t wait to get together with my friends to start making our own apps.” Tara

“It was about collaboration and agreement, about how we become one.” Mark

“The sessions really helped us to understand that even though we are youths we have something of value to share with others.” Onecia

BrightPath Foundation is an initiative of Congress WBN, with a mandate to deliver values-based technology and digital content training to youth, communities and governments around the world.

This seminar followed from ATS1 which was held in June 2011. EMPOWER ATS2 took place at the Anapausis Conference Centre in St. Augustine, Trinidad from 8:30 to noon local time.

The title of the seminar indicated the overarching strategic objective which is to both activate and to train Congress members for effective function within the EMPOWER sector.

The specific objectives of ATS2 are:

1. To bring members into a clear understanding of Congress WBN as our macro-context for building projects;
2. To describe the activation and training roadmap ahead;
3. To expound and further develop EMPOWER’s building philosophy and principles.

The meeting will not be streamed to other locations.  However, 2012 will see the preparation and dissemination of material around our world, as well as scheduled seminars in specific locations.

C-WBN is a faith-based non-profit birthed in Trinidad and Tobago in 2004, with operations in over 90 countries. C-WBN initiatives span networks of professional groups, educational institutions, businesses, churches, individual national leaders, university students, and global technology initiatives.

The St Augustine Campus of The University of the West Indies is the venue for the five-day meeting of leaders from all eight Sectors of C-WBN operations. The event brings together participants from Trinidad & Tobago, Antigua & Barbuda, Australia, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Canada, Côte d’Ivoire, DR Congo, England, Ethiopia, France, Ghana, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Kenya, Martinique, Mauritius, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Singapore, South Africa, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, Switzerland, United States, Wales, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Dr. Noel Woodroffe, Founder and President of Congress WBN, has described this year’s IAE as “an historic milestone” for his organisation.

For more information about C-WBN Intensive Apostolic Encounter 2011, join Congress WBN on facebook, follow @CongressWBN on twitter or tune in to www.CanopyRadio.com.

STANDING TOGETHER: Dr Noel Woodroffe (right), President and Founder of Congress WBN, is warmly welcomed by Senator Arthur Williams, Minister with responsibility for the Public Service, as Mr Mark Thomas, GLI Jamaica Director, looks on. This photo was taken at the public launch of the Global Leadership Interlink Jamaica Chapter, which took place at the Kingston Courtleigh Hotel last week. The event brought together over 400 people, including several Government officials, businessmen and professionals, signalling strong potential for broad-based partnerships in future national development initiatives. Photo courtesy: Congress WBN.

KINGSTON, Jamaica – “If you are planning for a year, plant rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; but if you are planning for eternity, plant people.”

In quoting this Chinese proverb, Senator Arthur Williams, Jamaican Minister in the Office of the Cabinet, set the context for the formal launch of the Jamaican Chapter of the Global Leadership Interlink (GLI). GLI is an international non-profit organization promoting values-based leadership and ethical nations-development. Jamaica is the now latest country to join GLI’s network thousands of professionals and university students spread across the globe.

Coming at a time when the nation is about to institute nationwide reforms to its public service, the launch of GLI’s Jamaica Chapter is expected to establish a new standard for professionalism in the largest English-speaking island in the Caribbean. Senator Williams quoted Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding’s rationale for the ongoing effort to transform the public service: “Much of our Public Sector is governed by a structure and a culture that we inherited from the Colonial era. Efficient operations require a flatter structure and the joining of authority to accountability. It requires both a structural and a cultural change.”

“We will need leadership in every sector of society,” Senator Williams added.

His words would not have fallen on deaf ears. The composition of the gathering at the GLI launch—some 400 people, including Government officials, businessmen and professionals—signaled the strong potential for broad-based partnerships in future national development initiatives. In fact, Minister Williams, who has responsibility for the Jamaican Public Service, explicitly welcomed the arrival of GLI in the context of his Government’s commitment to build a dynamic social compact with the private sector, organised labour and civil society.

The keynote address at the high-profile launch was delivered by Dr. Noel Woodroffe, President and Founder of Congress WBN, the parent organization of GLI.  Congress WBN is a Caribbean-birthed non-profit with operations in over 90 countries focused on values-based leadership development and community empowerment. Dr. Woodroffe profiled GLI as a timely response to PM Golding’s cry for a radical shift in national leadership standards and practices.

“Over the last two decades, we have discovered that powerful and effective leadership is the master key to national and regional transformation. GLI is the Sector of Congress WBN in which we build leaders of all ages and network them into a vast body for global collaboration, with the intent to bring beneficial impact upon their lives, their families, their communities, the institutions that they run and, ultimately, the countries in which they reside. This is the attitudinal and the philosophical context of the Global Leadership Interlink,” Dr. Woodroffe said.

Since its inception in Trinidad and Tobago in 2001, GLI has grown to over 40 chapters in over 30 nations. Developmental work on the GLI Jamaica Chapter has been in progress over the past five years and the Chapter already boasts some 117 members. Speaking on behalf of the newly launched Chapter, Mark Thomas, Director of GLI Jamaica, extended a hand of partnership to Senator Williams, saying, “GLI is about advancing Jamaica.”

Thomas, a media and corporate communications specialist, heads the GLI Jamaica leadership team, which includes Christopher Smith, a civil engineer and Construction Project Manager; Saani Fong, an Attorney-at-Law working in the Ministry of Health’s National HIV/AIDS Programme; and Tracey-Ann Thomas, a Human Resource professional.

GLI Global Director, Dr. Farid Youssef, a Lecturer in the Faculty of Medical Sciences at The University of the West Indies (UWI), described why GLI was different from other professional associations.

“While professional organisations gather around their area of core competency, GLI is unique because we gather professionals and students around a core set of values,” explained Dr. Youssef, who heads the GLI Global Leadership Team with Dr. Graham King and Mr. Omo Igiehon.

Youssef highlighted equity, justice, integrity, accountability, collaboration, service and excellence as core values of GLI: “In our experience, we have seen these values find agreement in every corner of the earth regardless of ethnicity, socioeconomic class or religious expression.”

The launch was truly a global event, with GLI members from around the world following the launch via a real time internet broadcast of proceedings at the Courtleigh Hotel and live-blog on Twitter and Facebook. Leaders of GLI Chapters from Fiji, New Zealand, USA, South Africa, Antigua and the UK also delivered greetings to their new Jamaican counterparts via video.

Dr. Woodroffe, in describing his vision for the new Chapter, declared,  “We seek to partner with the Jamaican people to move the nation forward as we are doing elsewhere across the earth. The time is ripe and the nations are looking for new values-based leadership models to chart a new course into the future.”

For more information, visit www.glinetwork.org, join Global Leadership Interlink on Facebook, follow GLI on Twitter, e-mail info@glijamaica.org, or contact Mark Thomas at +876 815 8025 or Fara Ebanks at +876 631 7534.

Global Leadership Interlink (GLI), an international network of professionals and university students committed to promoting values-based leadership and ethical nation development initiatives, is launching its operations in Jamaica this week.

Several Jamaican government officials and over 300 professionals, businessmen and university students will converge on the Courtleigh Auditorium in the capital city of Kingston on the evening of Thursday July 7 for the GLI Jamaica Chapter launch ceremony.

The event is expected to make a resounding statement for a new standard of professionalism in the largest English-speaking island in the Caribbean. It will be streamed live from Jamaica to an international audience.

The birth of GLI in Jamaica comes at a time when the nation is about to institute nationwide reforms to transform its public service to achieve greater productivity and cost efficiencies.

Senator Arthur Williams, newly appointed Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Cabinet, who has responsibility for the Public Service, will speak on the Government’s commitment to a Partnership for Transformation Initiative that seeks to build a dynamic social compact with the private sector, organised labour and civil society.

The GLI Jamaica Launch will feature a keynote address by Dr. Noel Woodroffe, the President and Founder of Congress WBN, the parent organization of GLI.

Dr Woodroffe is a globally recognized leadership development specialist, who has facilitated numerous leadership training, organizational transformation and education-based initiatives with governments and organisations across the globe.

Developmental work on the Jamaica Chapter has been in progress in earnest over the past five years and the Jamaica Chapter currently boasts some 117 core members.

The GLI Jamaica leadership team comprises Mark Thomas, a media and corporate communications specialist currently serving in the public sector; Christopher Smith, a civil engineer and Construction Project Manager; Saani Fong, an attorney-at-law working in the Ministry of Health’s National HIV/AIDS Programme; and Tracey-Ann Thomas, the Group HR Manager of a leading Jamaican manufacturing entity.

GLI is a professional network that spans some 21 countries around the world.

The GLI Global Director, Dr Farid Youssef, is an Executive Director of Congress WBN and a Lecturer in the Faculty of Medical Sciences at the University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine. He heads the GLI Strategic Leadership Team, which includes Dr Graham King and Omo Igiehon.

“In Congress WBN, we believe that righteousness exalts a nation. This means that national transformation can only happen when individuals undergo a process of change at the personal level,” said Dr. Youssef.

“Therefore true change starts on the inside and works its way outwards – this is true both on the individual and corporate level. Congress WBN is focused on effecting individual as well as national transformation. And we are directed by a God-ordained mandate and a genuine commitment to unbreachable ethical principles rooted in the values of the Kingdom of God,” he added.

Dr King underscored the long-term significance of the GLI Jamaica launch: “This launch is an outworking of the GLI tagline, which is ‘Determining the destiny of nations’. Our tagline represents the commitment of Congress WBN to impact human development at every stage of life,” King said.

King is an Executive Director of Congress WBN and a Chartered Engineer from the UK. He has worked extensively in the automotive industry and currently lectures in Mechanical Engineering at the UWI St. Augustine Campus.

For his part, Omo Igiehon believes the launch represents a significant moment in the formation of a broad-based partnership with every sector of Jamaican national leadership. “This Jamaican initiative could become a pattern for the formation of similar partnerships with other countries across the globe”, Igiehon says.

Igiehon is a business consultant and engineer born in West Africa, of Nigerian and Jamaican parentage residing in the Washington DC metro area.

For more information, join GLI on Facebook, follow GLI on Twitter or visit the official website at www.glinetwork.org. Or call Mark Thomas at +876 815 8025 or Fara Ebanks, +876 631 7534, or e-mail info@glijamaica.org.

Members of Congress WBN from across the globe will gather at in Trinidad, West Indies in July as Congress WBN will be hosting the Intensive Apostolic Encounter (IAE 2011) from July 23-29.

The 5-day seminar will prove to be an intense time. About 250 members of primary and secondary leadership of Congress WBN will gather for this important meeting, which will aim to establish a correct understanding and environment out of which all functions and operations must flow.

The sense of care, urgency and effort outlined at the Global Congress Leadership Gathering earlier this year sets the context for IAE 2011 which will once again see a representative body of our wider Congress leadership gather in one location. Also at this year’s IAE, the video taping of the Representation series will be done live. This will be the second block of teachings to be delivered to the entire Congress later this year as part of our movement in 2011 into 2012.

Dr. Noel Woodroffe

About Congress WBN

Congress WBN (C-WBN) is a unique, global, faith-based organisation headquartered in Trinidad & Tobago. The Congress is focused on effecting human, social and national transformation through the propagation of clearly defined moral, ethical, and values-based principles, patterns, and approaches. It is composed of eight sectors of strategic global initiatives involving networks of professional groups, educational institutions, businesses, churches, individual national leaders, university students, and global technology initiatives.

About C-WBN Intensive Apostolic Encounter 2011

The Congress WBN IAE 2011 is by invitation only and will run from July 23-29, 2011 and will be held at The University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago.

The 5-day seminar will prove to be an intense time. The seminar is weighted towards Philosophy & Architecture within the first two days, before moving towards an emphasis on Operations & Functionality; this in order to first establish a correct understanding and environment out of which all function and operations must flow.

“We have planned a curriculum that is concentrated although we will be flexible. In addition to the teaching, there will be various types of practicums, including case studies, analysis of prophetic ministry, small group discussions, and activations which will provide times for participation and application of principles among all delegates.”

Dr. Noel Woodroffe

Among the objectives of the seminar are:-

• To discover together a new understanding of the prophetic
• To create a forum for the identification of Apprentice Prophets and Prophetic Functionaries.
• To activate a process that will lead towards the building of a cadre of competent prophets within Congress WBN.
• To make clear the architecture of the new prophetic dimension within the re-defined parameters of Kingdom Community and the heightened maturity of all believers
• Envision participants on the scope of prophetic operations for effective building within C-WBN.
• Develop genuine personal connections and foster relational strength.

About Global Insight Services

The Global Insight Services (GIS) sector of Congress WBN delivers Insight Services to Governments, Businesses, Institutions, Churches and Individual national leaders in the areas of trend-analysis, future-casting and insightful counseling.

Second Definitive Training Module Event Information

The Second Definitive Training Module is by invitation only and will run from June 13-17, 2011 and will be held at the Wyndham Garden Hotel near the Altanta airport.

(Left to right) Cleveland Thomas, CEO of the Trinidad & Tobago ICT Company; Ronald Hinds, Deputy Chairman of the T&T e-Business Round Table; Arlene McComie, Permanent Secretary in the TT Ministry of Public Administration; Noel Woodroffe, President and Founder, Congress WBN; Bernadette Lewis, CTU Secretary General; Bevil Wooding and Marlon Jameson, Executive Directors of Congress WBN

The meeting which ran from 14 – 16 September was titled the “C-WBN Forum for Ethical Nations Development” with the theme “Strategies for Economic Development & Social Transformation through ICTs.” The event was held in conjunction with Africa ICT 2010 and endorsed by the Governments of both countries.

The Caribbean delegation included Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Administration, Arlene McComie; CEO of the Trinidad & Tobago ICT Company, Cleveland Thomas; Managing Director of Teleios Systems and Deputy Chairman of the T&T e-Business Round Table, Ronald Hinds; and the Secretary General of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU), Bernadette Lewis. The group joined senior officials from Congress WBN in the persons of President Dr. Noel Woodroffe and Executive Directors Marlon Jameson and Bevil Wooding.

In his keynote address, titled ‘Core Imperatives for Successful National Development’, Founder and President of Congress WBN, Dr Noel Woodroffe used the well known account of David and Goliath to highlight the new architecture of leadership that has to emerge if developing countries are to take their place in a rapidly mutating future.

Ms. McComie and Mr. Thomas drew from lessons learnt in Trinidad and Tobago’s experience in national Information and Communications Technology (ICT) development to extract principles relevant to the African context. Their sessions highlighted how ICT is impacting all spheres of national development and also showcased the activities now transforming the relationships between the state, the business sector and individuals.

Bernadette Lewis held up the CTU’s highly successful Caribbean ICT Roadshow as a model for engaging stakeholders in any region and creating sustainable multi-sector initiatives to encourage and support innovation and the innovation use of ICTS across all sectors of society.

The importance of leadership and collaboration were recurring themes in the two day event. The audience, which included officials from the Government, private sector, educational institutions, and civil society, took full opportunity to participate in the highly interactive sessions.

Marlon Jameson and Bevil Wooding approached the role of leadership vision and values-based considerations from different angles, but came to similar conclusions – the success of national ICT initiatives is dependent on leadership commitment. Jameson spoke of the emerging “Ethical Divide” in the global ICT technology development agenda, while Wooding dealt with the factors that hinder the successful achievement of the promise of ICTs.

Participants described the conference as thought-provoking and highly practical. Several delegates from neighboring nations even asked the facilitators to consider bring the Forum to their countries. One official stated “Zimbabwe is very impressed with the models presented by the team from Trinidad and Tobago and we hope there will be further opportunity for collaboration.”

Congress WBN was established in Trinidad in 1993 and now operates in over 90 nations promoting values-based leadership and ‘ethical initiatives’ for nations- development’.

Dr. Woodroffe stated, “C-WBN is committed to values-based development at home and across the nations. We were pleased with the successful outcome of the ICT Forum in Harare. We were also grateful for the opportunity to facilitate this historic event where experts from our home base, Trinidad and Tobago, were able share their experiences with the Government and people of Zimbabwe.”

The C-WBN Forum for Ethical Nations Development has been developed to raise awareness within the public sector, the private sector, civil society and academia, of the importance and priority of values-based approaches to national development.

The event will look at “Strategies for Economic Development & Social Transformation through ICTs” and is specifically designed to highlight the ethical platforms necessary for the effective application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in developing countries.

Through the initiative, Congress WBN is seeking to create a platform that will enable and encourage participants to define a common, values-based pathways upon which relevant strategies for national development can be built.

Dr. Noel Woodroffe, President of Congress WBN, said, “We have a long history of involvement on the African continent. Over the past decade, Congress has worked extensively across African conducting leadership seminars, male empowerment initiatives, community projects and other development interventions.” He added, “Our commitment to the stability and advance of the Continent is based upon our conviction of the potential resident within the rich resource of its people.”

C-WBN will be represented at the Forum by its President, Dr. Noel Woodroffe; Global Directors Marlon Jameson and Bevil Wooding, and Congress Corporate Chairman, Ronald Hinds. Mr. Hinds will be speaking in his capacity as Vice-Chairman of Trinidad and Tobago’s e-Business Roundtable and a member of the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Commerce’s Technology Committee.

Also invited from Trinidad and Tobago to participate in the event are Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Administration, Ms Arlene McComie; Chief Executive Officer of the Trinidad & Tobago ICT Company (iGovTT), Mr. Cleveland Thomas and the Secretary General of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU), Ms. Bernadette Lewis.

The objectives of the C-WBN Forum for Ethical Nations Development include

• Facilitation of open discussion among participants on the values-based approaches to nation-building and social development by presenting tested models, principles and practices;
• To accelerate the effective use of ICT by regional governments in the delivery of public services and transparent governance;
• To build regional awareness among the public sector, the private sector and civil society of the innovative and effective use of ICT by demonstrating innovative use of ICT tools, highlighting the problem solving capabilities and gains in efficiency, productivity and cost savings;
• To foster innovation in the application of ICT to African challenges in government, the private sector and civil society by presenting of case studies in ICT innovation and best practice;
• To bring greater understanding of the challenges to and strategies for widespread adoption of ICT tools by the public and private sector and civil society;
• To forge closer relationships between African stakeholders and their Caribbean counterparts.

The event is being held in conjunction with an ICT Africa Exhibition Conference at an exhibition park in Harare and is expected to attract participants from surrounding southern Africa countries and beyond.

Dr. Woodroffe reiterated Congress WBN’s commitment to development in Africa generally and Zimbabwe specifically. He stated “We see the staging of this event as our God-ordained mandate. We are, therefore, fully prepared to play our part in securing the inheritance of the people of Zimbabwe and the African continent by highlighting the priority of values-based leadership and its practical application to all aspects of national development.”

For more information about the Quarry Europe Seminar, click www.quarry.portedunordglobale.org.