Ambassador Matthew Wilson (second from right), Barbados’ Ambassador to CARICOM, David Commisiong (fourth from left) and Director General of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Donna Forde (fourth from right), with Executive Director and Founder of Developing Young Leaders of Tomorrow Today (DYLOTT), Candies Kotchapaw (third from left), and the executive management of DYLOTT. (S. Forde-Craigg/BGIS)
Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Barbados to the United Nations, World Trade Organization, and other International Organizations in Geneva, Matthew Wilson, was awarded earlier this week by Black Diplomacy Global Summit for his leadership and continued commitment to inclusive global reform.
Last October, at the inaugural Black Diplomacy Global Summit held in Ontario, Canada, an announcement was made that Ambassador Wilson would be awarded for his leadership in the field of diplomacy during the first United Nations Decade of People of African Descent.
The Executive Director and Founder of Canadian-based Developing Young Leaders of Tomorrow, Today (DYLOTT), Candies Kotchapaw, and a delegation from the organisation, who were in Barbados for CARIFESTA XV, presented the award to Mr. Wilson at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Culloden Road, St. Michael.
Ms. Kotchapaw said: “We sincerely appreciate what you have meant to us as a black leader, and as an ambassador to the world and as a comrade.”
Ambassador Wilson thanked DYLOTT for the honour, stating: “I am incredibly proud to receive this recognition. This is about being a comrade; this is about partnership and working together for the betterment of our people, our society, and our world.
“At a time when diversity and inclusion are under attack and we are told to make ourselves small, this is a reminder that we have a voice, a position, and a perspective, and we’re here to make ‘good trouble’.”
DYLOTT is a leadership incubator that delivers a variety of youth programmes, intentionally designed to ensure young Black leaders have the tools to excel in the current and emerging Canadian and international job market.
The programmes are designed to address barriers to social inclusion in employment, education, and the broader social context, specifically in diplomacy, by providing culturally responsive supports and services, including mentoring and mentorship opportunities, intensive training and skill development, and innovative sector-specific knowledge.
DYLOTT’s vision is to create empowered Black communities where youth participate with elders in decision making, building a collaborative and lasting legacy of intergenerational knowledge sharing and mentorship, to ensure continued progress.
Author: Sheena Forde-Craigg
Source: https://gisbarbados.gov.bb/blog/ambassador-wilson-awarded-by-black-diplomacy-global-summit/
