NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Eeden Farms founder Lincoln Deal will lead the Bahamas chapter of For(bes) The Culture, an organization aiming to transform communities through entrepreneurship, philanthropy and leadership.
The orgnanisation partners with global media company Forbes and was formed at the 2017 Forbes Under 30 summit for people of color who break barriers in various ways.
The Bahamian chapter of the orgnanisation will be launched in August.
“It’s an exciting opportunity,” Deal said yesterday. “I actually connected with Forbes in 2016 when I was invited to the under 30 summit.
“It was at that time that I started to kinda make these connections.
“I maintained a good relationship with the group and so that was the reason they saw the value in this appointment.”
Deal said members of the chapter will be able to tap into Forbes’ international network.
“We would be able to connect with their international platform, whether that be again through the opportunities in businesses, so for example my container farms, I actually met the manufacturers and owners of that company at the Forbes event through the membership and that’s kinda how it started out,” he said.
“So, it’s going to provide Bahamians direct opportunities to connect with global l business leaders.
“There will be opportunities to access funding.
“I have a colleague of mine that’s already accessed a lot of funds through this membership to start his business in the US and it’s really flourishing now.”
Deal said people will soon be able to apply to join the chapter.
“It’s really just finding the brightest and most disruptive Bahamians who are doing amazing things in any space,” he said.
“Forbes will be down to launch.
“Forbes over the years has been trying to expand and they’ve been trying to increase their reach from a US-based platform to more of an international platform, so The Bahamas is one of their first Caribbean chapters where they’ll be here in a few weeks to launch it.
“For(bes) The Culture will be able to provide Bahamians opportunities in entrepreneurship, philanthropy, leadership through conferences, mentorships, access to funding, being able to be exposed to other platforms like BET, iHeartMedia and things of that nature through its membership in the chapter. There’s no cost to begin the membership but there’s an application process and stuff like that.
“I’m trying to advocate for them to have an international conference in The Bahamas.
“Forbes is very well known for their conferences and their speaker line-up which are often some of the most renowned entrepreneurs, philanthropists, people like Jeff Bezos and whether it’s NBA players, whatever it is, they command a lot of respect in that market and I hope that when they come down and as we continue to build this chapter there is that possibility and some consideration where they would look at The Bahamas as a potential place to house or host one of their many events that they have throughout the year.”
