Scotiabank committed to helping Trinidad and Tobago's youths

THE Scotiabank Trinidad and Tobago Foundation says it remains committed to its continued partnership with Families in Action on various youth development programmes aimed at equipping young people with knowledge and skills to help them prepare for the future.

The bank and the NGO have been collaborating for the past ten years and to date, over 450 young adults have benefited from various youth development programmes.

The Adulting 101 Programme, which was introduced in 2019, is a two-week initiative for young adults between 16 and 20. They engage in sessions focused on topics such as interview preparation and office protocols for young adults; developing effective communication skills; financial planning; social media management; entrepreneurship; and the importance of paying it forward.

With the onset of the pandemic, the programme has been held virtually since 2020.

Sasha Rauseo, project lead, youth, at Families in Action. said, “Even though this year’s programme is not yet concluded, the changes within the participants are very noticeable and impactful. Their confidence in themselves, willingness to participate and leadership skills have grown immensely as they take charge of a social issue that they are passionate about.”

The financial planning workshop was facilitated by Sameer Mohammed, chief accountant and comptroller at Scotiabank who shared guidance and insight on saving, budgeting and investing in an interactive session with the young adults.

“The experience taken from the financial management session definitely opened up my financial drive to budget wisely and invest my income to secure long and short term goals,” said Jay Mohammed, 19, one of the participants.

“The session was very interactive and I was pleased to be a part of it. I intend to be consistently budgeting, educating myself and learning from experiences, since I am young, I can take advantage of the power of compounding by investing early” stated 20 year old Shinkinah Ferguson, another participant in the 2021 programme.

Scotiabank remains committed to helping provide young people with opportunities to discover their full potential and become well rounded individuals who contribute positively to their communities.