A group of ten Guernsey students have been given the opportunity to take part in the prestigious Directors of Tomorrow initiative by the Ana Leaf Foundation.
Directors of Tomorrow aims to inspire young people to become the island’s future leaders and the unique experiences offered by the programme help to motivate the students to achieve their goals.
The ten students, from The Ladies College, Blanchelande College, Elizabeth College, The Sixth Form Centre and the College of Further Education, were selected by their teachers due to their interest in business, economics or current world affairs.
The initiative, now in its eighth year, saw leading environmental economist at the Bennet Institute for Public Policy, Cambridge University, Dr Matthew Agarwala hold a discussion with the students at a special lunch held at the OGH. Dr Agarwala’s work focuses on wealth-based approaches to measuring and delivering sustainability, wellbeing and productivity. With him, the students discussed the key topic of sustainability and how it is integral to the island’s global brand and the wider economy, each raising different ideas as to how as a community we could make Guernsey more sustainable.
Following this, the students attended the Guernsey IoD Convention in the evening where Dr Agarwala gave a keynote presentation to the Island’s business, community and political leaders. The students also heard from a range of local experts and Tom Rivett-Carnac, one of the architects of the Paris Climate Agreement, a founding partner of Global Optimism and co-author of The Future We Choose.
Lily Dorey, a student at the Grammar Sixth Form Centre, said: “I found the entire night at the Convention not only exciting but also extremely insightful hearing from a range of environmentalists on how much potential our little island has to influence change. One of my highlights of the day was getting the opportunity to sit down with keynote speaker Matthew Agarwala and being able to ask him a range of questions to which he responded with his wealth of knowledge. None of this would have been possible without the Ana Leaf Foundation and their Directors of Tomorrow initiative, to which I’m very grateful for this amazing opportunity.”
Wendy Dorey, chair of the Guernsey IoD said: “The IoD annual convention is our flagship event, offering business and community leaders the opportunity to listen to world-class experts and discuss key business issues. This year our theme was sustainability, and it was fantastic to meet such engaged, intelligent and forward-thinking students, and to see how engaged they were on this subject. We are looking forward to seeing what they can achieve as Directors of Tomorrow.”
Hayley De Putron, a trustee of the Ana Leaf Foundation, said: “The Ana Leaf Foundation is very proud that our Directors of Tomorrow initiative continues to give young people the opportunity to engage with the island’s leaders of today. They learn a great deal about what it means to be a director; and they contribute in a meaningful way to important discussions about the future of our community. We are looking forward to seeing what this year’s cohort will make of their experience in the programme.”
