NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Celebrated globally on the fourth Thursday of April, Girls in ICT Day was held on April 27 under the theme "Digital Skills for Life", and BTC gave its full support to females attending a local event commemorating the day by encouraging high school seniors to consider careers in the STEM field.
Every year, the Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) partners with BTC and other licensees to host a Girls in ICT event to inspire and encourage females to pursue careers in this field. This year's event, held at Club Crush of the Atlantis Resort, featured professional speakers in the field of ICT and hands-on workshops.
The BTC booth at the event included an interactive display for students to learn more about the steps taken to install fiber internet, Flow TV, and landline services.
Also sitting on a Girls in ICT panel was BTC's Go-To-Market Senior Executive, Alphanique Duncombe-Spence, who encouraged the high school students to follow their dreams and not be deterred from a field because it is mostly dominated by men.
"No matter how old you get, don't stop dreaming. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't be something or you can't make it somewhere," Spence said.
"Don't think of your own personal challenges as a bottleneck, as something that stops you from being what you want to be. I've always pushed myself beyond my parents' expectations to get to where I am today, so don't allow the challenges, even in your home, to stop you from making it big."
BTC's CEO Sameer Bhatti said the company is always open to embracing girls who are interested in the STEM field.
"These are fields that are mainly dominated by men, but at BTC, we are trying to create a balance as we embrace equality and equity, so it's very important to have events like Girls in ICT for our young girls to realize that there are glass ceilings that can be broken by women in the STEM field," Bhatti said.
Presently, some 60 percent of the BTC team is comprised of women with 12 sitting on its executive team.
High Schoolers visit the BTC booth at the Girls in ICT day event.
In addition to supporting Girls in ICT, BTC also commits to publicly highlighting colleagues who are making strides within the Company every International Women's Day. The company is also providing an opportunity for students to apply for a 4-week BTC internship to learn more about the inner workings of the telecoms industry.
Last year, BTC and its parent company, Liberty Latin America, embarked on a Future Tech Stars initiative which provided over 20 weeks of training in modern technology and mentorship for girls across the Caribbean and Latin America. Over a dozen Bahamian students graduated from this program after learning more about digital + crypto literacy, web development, and programming in python. Students were also exposed to a mentorship program, where they had the opportunity to learn more about the field of technology from some of the key movers and shakers in the business.
BTC also recently launched a graduate program that provides mentorship and support and places the graduates in a rotation program to learn insights into core business areas. According to a press release, the initiative is aimed at building a bench of leaders to take on management roles, in the hope of positioning the company as the employer of choice in the telecoms market.
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