THREE young leaders from Guyana have been accepted into the US Department of State’s Young Leaders of Americas Initiative (YLAI) Fellowship Programme, the US Embassy in Georgetown said in a release on Monday.

Launched in 2015, YLAI empowers emerging entrepreneurs from the Western Hemisphere to realise the full economic potential of the region’s citizens. The 2022 programme will begin in January and close in July, bringing together 280 young leaders from 37 countries in Latin America, the Caribbean and Canada for a fellowship, the release said.

The three Guyanese are Akola Thompson, Jermaine Slater and Ulex Smith and they were accepted from a list of over 2,000 applicants.

Thompson is a gender-based violence (GBV) specialist who leads a community of feminists in becoming stronger leaders in their homes and communities.

Tamùkke Feminists provides information to women and girls on issues relevant to their social, economic, and mental development with the aim of promoting the formation of a network of feminists, who are leaders in their homes and communities. Coming to the YLAI Fellowship, Akola’s top business challenge is law and policy, the release said.

Slater owns a tutoring service and a gaming business called Slaters Gaming. The company’s pilot card game is called Jus Drink, which is based on the Guyanese Creole language. The game provided entertainment and education for local Guyanese customers, and it brought back memories of times spent in Guyana for migrant customers. The company is unique because there is no other business that produces Guyanese card games, the release said while pointing out that coming to the YLAI Fellowship, Jermaine’s top business challenge is finance.

The other Guyanese is Ulex Smith, founder of the Signature Move Marketing Agency. Ulex informs small businesses about the importance of brand awareness.

“The agency provides digital and social media services, sales and marketing strategies, simple corporate graphic designs, and more. The Signature Move Marketing Agency is unique, as it is more about customer and client satisfaction than money – ‘your business is our business.’ Coming to the YLAI Fellowship, Ulex’s top business challenge is finance,” the release said.