30 groups meet in first Diaspora Organisations Conference

The Consulate of St Vincent and the Grena­dines welcomed 65 members from 30 diaspora organisations to its first ever Diaspora Organisa­tions Conference recently.

The day began with breakfast catered by Allona Bristol of Vincillona’s. Consul General Walters welcomed everyone and Pastor Cornelius Olive from Trinity Apostolic Church gave spiritual words and prayers.{{more}} Rosalind Jackson-Goodluck served as the moderator for the day and set the tone for an interactive exchange of ideas. Karon Campbell-Williams, owner of Red Pill Consultants, a management consulting firm that deals primarily with not for profit organizations in the areas of capacity building services including strategic planning, board development, executive coaching and general management assistance, began the series of discussions by providing a forum for organization representatives to introduce themselves, their organizations and its accomplishments over the last few years. She generously agreed to provide free consultation to the organizations that were present.

The other sessions were the introduction of the Consulate’s diaspora website and national calendar which aim to provide an opportunity for registered organizations to note their activities and events, so as to attempt to eliminate multiple events occurring on the same day and to give another level of marketing and exposure to the entire US diaspora.

CG Walters and Fadhilika Atiba-Weza made the presentations. Dr Atiba-Weza displayed a calendar and explained how it would be advantageous to register for this service. Atiba is the Chief Client Strategist and Principal consultant at DynaTeckSolutions, which provides services in the areas of strategic planning, organizational and leadership development, resource allocation and personnel management.

After lunch which was catered by Steve Minors Catering, Colin Liverpool of Liverpool Law Office, P.C., a law firm which provides full service immigration law advice, and landlord-tenant disputes, delivered a presentation on how to attain 501c3 not for profit status and its responsibilities. After a discussion on Nationalism, led by CG Walters, the day ended with a spirited discussion on the possibility of acquiring a “Vincy House” in Brooklyn. It was the general consensus that a community center for Vincentians,owned by Vincentians was very much needed and the Consulate should spearhead the exploration of making that a reality.

The conference brought together for the first time a majority of diaspora organisations leaders from South Florida, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Boston and Brooklyn and the vast majority present agreed that it was a great step towards working together towards the common goal of nation building.

The event was held at St Francis College in Downtown Brooklyn on Saturday February 20 and was co-sponsored by Vincy Day USA, Inc., Jacob Nursing and Healthcare Employment Services Agency, Inc., Trinity Apostolic Church, Liverpool Law Office, P.C., and DynaTeck Solutions. The Conference team consisting of Camille English, Rosalind Goodluck, Colin Liverpool, Waveney DePass, Celia Ross-Latham, Marsena Ballantyne and Roxie Irish worked well together to make sure the day ran smoothly.