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Nestlé ‘Up and Live’ digital series prepares youth for the working world

Published:Friday | November 8, 2019 | 12:16 AM
Garfene Grandison (left), general manager, Nestlé Health and Wellness Foundation, moderates the panel discussion from the ‘Up and Live’ session held last week Friday with (from left): Chris-Anthony Salter, senior trade marketing manager, Nestlé Jamaica; Solomon Sharpe, chief executive officer, Main Event Limited; Randy McLaren, chief dream maker, Bresheh; and Rayharna Wright, acting director, Employment and Career Services, HEART Trust/NTA.
Contributed
Garfene Grandison (left), general manager, Nestlé Health and Wellness Foundation, moderates the panel discussion from the ‘Up and Live’ session held last week Friday with (from left): Chris-Anthony Salter, senior trade marketing manager, Nestlé Jamaica; Solomon Sharpe, chief executive officer, Main Event Limited; Randy McLaren, chief dream maker, Bresheh; and Rayharna Wright, acting director, Employment and Career Services, HEART Trust/NTA.

The Nestlé Needs YOUth programme hit a major milestone this month with the digital broadcast of its innovative ‘UP and LIVE’ series, promoted and streamed live across the company’s online platforms – Instagram and Facebook – with a live discussion on topics surrounding youth and unemployment.

This year, Nestlé aired three episodes. The first two, ‘Who is Managing Your Career?’ and ‘How to Stand Out in a Very Competitive Job Market’, featured guest ­speakers Yaneek Page and Dr Terri-Karelle Reid, who were on hand to answer ­participants’ questions in a highly interactive and lively discussion.

The final episode, an Alliance for Youth Forum, discussed youth employment initiatives and steps to end youth unemployment in Jamaica under the Nestlé Needs YOUth ­banner. This episode, which aired on November 1, the beginning of Youth Month, explained the Nestlé Alliance for Youth pledge, which sees partner companies committing to employing youth 18 to 29 years old within their operations and providing career development opportunities such as internships and skills-based training to young people, among other initiatives.

According to Garfene Grandison, general manager of the Nestlé Jamaica Health and Wellness Foundation, “‘UP and LIVE’ is part of the global mission of the Nestlé Needs YOUth programme, which seeks to provide platforms to ­prepare young people between the ages of 18 to 30 for the world of work. Encapsulated in that vision is to prepare them for life in general but to do so through practical, engaging teaching, ­covering topics that are relevant to them today.”

The Nestlé Needs YOUth initiative was launched in Jamaica in May 2016 with the aim of helping to tackle the issue of youth unemployment in Jamaica. Nestlé Jamaica is publicly committed to hiring youth until 2030.