Building bridges through mentorship
J’can PhD candidate among invitees to Clinton confab
JAMAICAN COMPUTATIONAL biologist Camir Ricketts has been invited to attend the 12th Annual Clinton Global Initiative University (CGIU) meeting to be held at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland in April 2020.
Ricketts, the founder of Minds Of Jamaica (MindsOf ), which provides a mentorship platform between successful Jamaican nationals and students preparing to start their professional journey, will join more than 600 students from around the world at the prestigious event to be hosted by former United States President Bill Clinton and his daughter Chelsea.
“When I was notified of being accepted, it gave me a feeling of being recognised for a simple idea that you brought to life and the fact that they saw it as something that deserves to be a part of their programme,” Ricketts told The Gleaner last Friday. “Then there is excitement knowing that it will provide me with the mentorship needed for us to take MindsOf to the next level.”
Launched in 2007, CGIU is a leadership development programme for undergraduate and graduate students from around the world who meet each year with industry experts, academics, and other influencers to develop their Commitments to Action, which are social impact projects that address pressing social, economic, and environmental challenges that students face on campuses, in local communities, or globally.
Ricketts, a 26-year-old PhD candidate in computational biology and medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine in the US, said that he developed the idea for the mentorship initiative after giving a lecture at The University of the West Indies (Mona) on how technology is changing medicine and other aspects of his studies on cancer genomics at Weill Cornell Medicine. He told The Gleaner that he noted a level of uncertainty on job future among even final-year students.
He would have a similar experience, after a presentation to sixth-form students at his alma mater, Herbert Morrison Technical High School, a few weeks later.
“It’s really about engaging with those students after the lecture and the kind of questions asked, with many still not sure what they wanted to do,” he said.
“It’s a common challenge ... . Many students have never had the chance to relate with individuals in different roles and professions who have had similar challenges to get advice on the direction that they can take.”
Ricketts is a recipient of numerous awards over the years, including the 2019 Ignite Caribbean 30 under 30 Change Makers Award and the Prime Minister’s Youth Award for Excellence for 2018. He has served as president of the Tri-Minority Society, where he used the position to empower minority students. He also started the annual summer research programme for minority college students on the campus, and, along with the Office of Student Diversity, started Weill Cornell’s first minority mentorship programme, Esprit de Corps, for first-year minority graduate students.
“The culture of mentorship that has been cultivated in developed countries with strong economies is something that is lacking in the Caribbean,” Ricketts argues. “Many students feel unequipped to make career decisions because they only have limited information about the careers available to them. Many students also feel that they would have to leave the Caribbean to find success.”
“The main goal is to identify students. Secondly, we will develop a scholarship database that will allow us to equip students with opportunities to find financial support tailored to their career goals. Thirdly, we will establish a virtual internship platform that is provided to MindsOf Initiative members so that students can get tangible exposure.”
ONLINE RESOURCE
The Minds Of Jamaica initiative was launched in September 2019 and currently offers an online resource with some 20 local professionals as mentors (affectionately called the ‘Minds’), ready to assist students in need of advice and mentorship.
The group has also forged partnerships with schools and youth organisations to create platforms for interaction and has signed off on an agreement with an education technology firm to provide virtual internship.
The LASCO Chin Foundation has also come on board to collaborate with the MindsOf Initiative in providing access to mentorship starting in 2020.
The projection is that within 24 months, the group is expecting to see 70 per cent of students in active mentorship relationships and has already set sights on rolling out the MindsOf Initiative in Barbados and The Bahamas.
Despite all his accomplishments, Camir Ricketts’ most pleasing moment comes from knowing that his achievements serve as a reward for the support from his parents, Consuelo and Neville Ricketts.
“It is where it all begins,” he added. ‘The support that the student receives lays the foundation or is the springboard towards your successes.”