Change the Culture Youth Summit Review

Impactful, Inspirational, Transformational

From July 5th – 6th 2019, EKCO Nation teamed up with Leadership Summit Barbados and HFS ELevate to conduct the Change the Culture campaign. The campaign comprised of a series of events seeking to inspire youth to be leaders of positive change as well as educating them and parents on the impact of social media and music on youth mental health and behaviour.

Prior to the events, several radio interviews were held to drive awareness of the mental health challenges social media addiction may present, especially as it relates to the self-image and self-esteem of young women. Key presenters over the weekend included Ms. Joanne Nicholls, a clinical and behavioural psychologist, and music and make-up artist Yelena whose music and background story is an inspiration to young women especially.

Youth Leadership Summit

The Youth Leadership Summit was held on Friday, July 5th and saw over 400 young people being challenged to take the risk to make a positive difference. Throughout the night, youth were treated to inspirational video presentations, live interviews with young leaders and entrepreneurs, and positive performances by music artists. The feature presentation was done by Carla Harris who inspired youth to be their authentic self and to not be afraid to take risks in order to make a difference as a leader.

Carla Harris is Vice Chairman, Managing Director and Senior Client Advisor at Morgan Stanley. Ms. Harris was named to Fortune Magazine’s list of “The 50 Most Powerful Black Executives in Corporate America”, Fortune’s Most Influential List, U. S. Bankers Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Finance.

Pure Music After-party

The Pure Music after-party was held right after the leadership summit and featured performances from several young and upcoming performers including Omari Oneil, Jermyn Demetri, Phillip K, Sherryann Maughan, Bethel Youth Dancers, AJ Ryan, DJ Ty King, the Kingdom Spinning DJs and Yelena. The performances highlighted positive messages that complimented the theme of the night such as being “ready for success”, “being winners through Christ”, “having a strong self-image, being beautifully and wonderfully made”, “overcoming obstacles” and more.

Thank You

THANK YOU to all our sponsors, partners and volunteers who joined with us for our Change the Culture events. Special thanks to Leadership Summit Barbados, HFS Elevate, Courts Barbados, Intermixz Boutique, Best Efex, Skymall and to all the artists, musicians, singers, dancers and facilitators who partnered with us.