NASSAU, BAHAMAS — After more than a decade of empowering the Eleuthera community, the One Eleuthera Foundation is hoping to see other islands transformed by replicating its success in community development through its non-profit accelerator program.
Keyron Smith, President and CEO of the One Eleuthera Foundation and Center for Training and Innovation (CTI), who will be a speaker at the upcoming Eleuthera Business Outlook, slated to be a two-day event on April 18th and 19th, says that with the right people and the right chemistry, emulating One Eleuthera’s success is certainly possible.
Founded in 2012, OEF is a nonprofit that aims to empower Eleuthera’s communities, transforming them into thriving, self-sufficient ecosystems through various programs and initiatives. One Eleuthera is a sponsor of this year’s Eleuthera Business Outlook.
Previewing his outlook presentation, Smith says, “At the outlook, I will be speaking about some of the work we have been doing over the past two years, the future outlook with some of the community partners we have, where we are going as a foundation and just really emphasizing impact. I am going to talk a bit about the impact of our training and human resources, speaking about our food security project, our learn-to-swim project, and several initiatives to help persons who are entrepreneurs.”
He adds, “One Eleuthera is a very unique organization, founded in 2012 by Shaun Ingraham and other persons in the community, focusing on education, the environment, the economy, heritage, and health. It is based in Rock Sound Eleuthera. We have a campus and have developed a Center for Training and Innovation (CTI) that focuses on vocational and technical training, doing a lot of work in food security, and we are working on a non-profit accelerator program. Given our unique model, we want to replicate and share our successes so other organizations can develop in other family islands. I believe it’s achievable by assembling the right people with the right chemistry. You just need the right team to make connections to help drive development for your island.”
According to Smith who took over the leadership of OEF from co-founder Shuan Ingraham in July 2023, his transition to the helm of the One Eleuthera Foundation has been a good one. “The transition has been good, working with the organization for the past four years. It’s been a lot of lessons learned. I’m just excited about the new opportunities. Being able to work with Shaun has given me a lot of insight into what we want to achieve over the next few years. For me, I think the transition has been great. Overall, my experience has been good.”
Smith will be a speaker on the first day of a two-day Eleuthera Business Outlook. The first day will be held at The Eleuthera Business Outlook will be held at the Eleuthera Business Hub in Rock Sound on April 18 where Central and South Eleuthera MP Clay Sweeting, the Minister of Works and Family Island Affairs will deliver the keynote address.
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