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Volume No. 1 Issue No. 49 - Friday October 03, 2003 |
1st Caribbean Diaspora Empowerment Conference
 by Valuead Solutions Inc
The Caribbean Diaspora Empowerment Foundation (CDEF), in collaboration with its strategic partners CARICOM, Howard University Caribbean Students Association, The Linden Fund and ValueAd Solutions Inc., presents the 1st Caribbean Diaspora Empowerment Conference (CDEC ) in Washington D.C April 12-14, 2004.
A conference with a strong economic empowering focus will emphasize both the importance of speaker and delegate participation in executing Action Plans for increasing the influential and economic power of the Diaspora within a Caribbean Styled Format.
Both CDEF and its partners attach great importance to the event as globalization mandates entities to integrate and exist in partnerships and networked relationships.
Delegates will participate from their organizational level and will include businesses, Governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGO) and regional entities from across the US, UK, Canada and throughout the Caribbean.
The overall purpose of this conference is I) poverty eradication and ii) Regional Development through harnessing the power of the Diaspora in support of Regional Integration.
Great emphasis will be placed on the value of a common Caribbean Identity in collectively economically empowering participants at a personal, organizational and regional level. The framework of Conference will facilitate contributions from both the speakers and delegates in generating the next steps. Among speakers expected are Regional Heads of State.
The main objectives are to increase the influential organizational power of individual entities by promoting the formation of networks and partnerships within those organizations and business with similar interest while their autonomy is retained and to raise the level of awareness of conference delegates of their vital role as a solid base of Diaspora support for Caribbean Candidates interested in political office.
The Conference theme is �Harnessing Diaspora Power through Partnerships, Networks and Story Telling.� The event will officially be opened by CARICOM Ambassador Colin Granderson who has expressed the critical need for the involvement of the Diaspora in the success of the CARICOM�s integration process and has pledged his support during his address at Caribbean Voice CARICOM Day dinner on July 26, 2003 in New York .
This conference seeks to strengthen the Caribbean Identity, which comprises of many cultural groups including Amerindian, African, Portuguese, Spanish, French, English and East Indian.
A culture rich fabric when operating in maximum unity will yield an unimaginable power creating great influence and economically empowering the Diaspora in a three-dimensional manner through an individual, organizational and regional levels while strengthening the Regional Integration Process.
Over 2,000 delegates are expected to be in attendance. The conference will address economic, social and political issues from the perspective of highlighting the influential and economic benefits of partnerships and networks support in reducing the vulnerability of small size in the fast growing and highly competitive environment of the Caribbean Region and globally.
�Iwokrama� a gift from the region to the world, a natural forest laboratory given to the world for scientific global research on biodiversity and sustainability will be again presented. A major highlight of the Conference is the Caribbean Music Night, which will be held on April 13, 2004 where the best of Young talent will be showcased.
Follow up activities will comprise of three workshops for the formation of task groups to solidify the implementation processes directly derived from the conference.
The follow-up workshops will be constructed in a business networked partnership model to practically and efficiently demonstrate the geometric success of the network approach. The necessary Action Model will be built as a Diaspora intervention and support resource for the Region and CARICOM.
The Conference will be launched October 9, 2003 at the Hilton Washington Hotel with a Voters Registration Campaign as a charge to the Diaspora to register one million new voters by April 2004.
� The Caribbean Spirit� will be the official book of the Conference, written by Kwesi Oginga, a Caribbean Visual and Performing Artist whose career spans more than 30 years.
Also to be released is a tribute to the great achievements of Caribbean Women in the Diaspora by Sharon T. Freeman Ph.D, author of the books : �Conversations with Powerful African Women Leaders: Inspiration, Motivation and Strategy� and �Exporting and Importing and E-Commerce. A How to Guide for Minority, Immigrant, and Women-Owned Firms.�
The pre-conference date is March 8, 2004. Included in the community supporters are Caribbean Creative Circle and All American Small Business Exporters Association Inc. (AASBEA). Among the Platinum Sponsors are Jay Bee Medical and Travel Service, owner of the Guyanese hotel Chateau Jenee, and Maryland�s Caribbean Delight I & II Restaurants.
For more information on CDEC, contact ValueAd Solutions Inc.
240-461-9954 or 240-899-8069 or email: [email protected].
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