Reported By Allison Skeete

Special to NAN

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. May 31, 2019: A Grammy Award winner Caribbean roots singer is set to be in Brooklyn, NY this Sunday, June 2nd for the launch of the Guyana Innovation Prize Venture Fellowship.

Melanie Fiona, a Canadian-Guyanese, is slated to be part of the Brooklyn, NY launch of the Fellowship, the brainchild of the Guyana Economic Development Trust CEO, Oslene Carrington.

The event aims to support paradigm-shifting innovative enterprises launching out of the University of Guyana under the theme: ‘Awakening of the Jaguar.’

Fiona, the winner of two Grammys for Traditional R&B Performance and Best R&B Song “Wrong Side of A Love Song” said she is supporting the initiative because:

“I am the only first generation born Canadian in my family, but my Guyanese heritage is the foundation for my life.”

“It steers my sensibilities about my place in this world. Diversity and culture inspire me – Our music, our food, our people. My mother’s cooking is my favourite part. Our history and cultural make up is like that of no other on the planet. My Guyanese heritage is a honour I wear proudly, everywhere I go,” she added.

Oslene Carrington, meanwhile, says she wants to impact investing in ideas with commercial promise from talented students, alumni and faculty of the University of Guyana.

The Guyana Economic Development Trust, she says, is an independent philanthropic organization that incubates and supports projects that develop the workforce and boost the private sector of Guyana.

GEDT, according to Carrington, wants to trains Guyanese in the technical skills for internships and placements with locally operating international firms associated with Guyana’s growing Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sectors.

Its aim is to connect business founders who are passionate and hardworking but lacking the experience about running a business, she added, explaining that The Founder Coach project pairs start-up founders, particularly those in the tech sector, with U.S. based executives in the same industries and uses tested apps and virtual meetings to support Guyanese start-up founders in building the skills to succeed.

For more information about the Guyana Economic Development Trust, visit https://theguyanatrust.org/

Tickets for the event are available HERE.

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