Thousands of young Caribbean people go through a youth development programme every year: vocational training, entrepreneurship workshops, digital skills bootcamps, leadership academies. Many teach the right things. Most graduates then return to much the same circumstances, because the programme gave them knowledge and perhaps a certificate but did not change their economic position.
These programmes stop at the point where someone has to take a financial risk. They prepare young people to start something and leave them without the money to start it. The Genius Project closes that gap by giving graduates an equity stake and seed capital, and this piece explains where that idea came from, how the programme runs and why so few programmes copy it.
Where the idea came from
I grew up with neurodivergence and learning disabilities. Jamaica's school system, like most, was built for one kind of learner and one pace, and I did not fit it. For long stretches the message I received was that I was not someone who would build things or solve hard problems.
People changed that. A teacher who found another way to explain something, a family member who refused to accept the school's verdict, an artist who showed me that the way my mind connected ideas was useful, and a person with money who took a chance on a young man the usual measures did not favour.
That mix of family, school, the arts and business is what I built into the Genius Project. My experience, and what I have seen since, is that intellectual development, community support and financial backing each fail on their own and work together.
Talent is evenly distributed. Opportunity is not. The Genius Project is built on the conviction that the right response to that inequality is to move the opportunity, not wait for the talent to find it.
How the programme runs
The Genius Project has three phases, in a fixed order.
Phase 1: foundation curriculum
Practitioners teach critical thinking, artificial intelligence and technology. The critical thinking is applied reasoning: breaking a complex problem into parts, separating what you know from what you assume or guess, and changing your conclusion when the evidence changes without caving to social pressure.
The AI work uses real tools on Caribbean problems. Participants do not need to become machine learning engineers. They need to recognise a problem AI can help with, frame it well, judge a proposed solution and use the tools competently. The technology module covers data, networks, platforms, product development and how technical businesses make money.
Phase 2: applied project
Each participant picks a real Caribbean problem, proposes a technical approach, builds something testable, tests it and presents the results. Assessment is on the thinking, not on whether the idea worked: whether the problem was stated clearly, the approach chosen for good reasons and the results read honestly, and whether the participant can say what they would change.
Most programmes test whether students learned what was taught. This phase tests whether they can do something new with it.
Phase 3: financial backing
Graduates who complete the programme receive two things:
- An equity stake in a collective venture vehicle that shares in the success of Genius Project ventures as a group, so graduates have a financial interest in each other's success.
- Seed capital for their own initiative, not restricted to set uses, given on the expectation that they use it as any early founder would: to test an idea and gather evidence that it can work.
Why most programmes stop short
Giving young people equity and capital costs more and is harder to run. An education programme scales on teacher time and curriculum. Financial backing needs actual capital, a legal structure to hold it and a commitment that lasts beyond graduation.
It also depends on funders. Most are comfortable paying for education, because it produces figures they can report: students trained, hours delivered, certificates issued. Capital for young founders produces uncertain returns years later. The Genius Project needs funders who accept that uncertain, delayed returns are normal for early-stage investment, whoever the founders are.
The economic case
Youth unemployment and underemployment cost Caribbean economies every year in lost output, social spending and emigration, as young people with skills leave for markets that will pay for them.
A young person who starts a business may hire other young people, pays taxes and shows neighbours that building a company at home is possible. On that view, the equity and capital are an early-stage investment in young founders, with a return that comes back to the region if their businesses survive.
The part of this model I cannot yet prove is the return. Early-stage ventures fail at high rates everywhere, and the project has not run long enough to show how many graduate businesses survive past three years. That is the figure that will show whether the approach works, and I intend to publish it.
Where this fits
The Caribbean's AI economy will be built mainly by young people now in its schools and universities. Depending on the preparation they receive, they will either build that economy or be displaced by it.
I grew up in a system that did not know what to do with me, and a few people worked it out anyway. The Genius Project is how I pass that on at a scale that reaches more than a handful of young people.
What to do next
- Young people and parents: check the current cohort dates and eligibility at beagenius.org, and ask at enrolment what completing each phase requires.
- Participants approaching Phase 3: before receiving seed capital, write a one-page test plan stating the customer you will approach first, the price you will ask and the result that would make you stop.
- Parents of participants under 18: ask how any equity stake will be held until your child comes of age, and keep copies of every document you are given.
- Businesses and investors: offer a named mentor or a pilot customer contract to one graduate venture this year. Early paying customers help a young founder more than extra cash.
- Funders of other youth programmes: set aside a share of your next grant for seed capital to graduates, and report survival of the resulting ventures alongside the usual training numbers.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is a stake in a collective venture vehicle different from owning shares in your own company?
Your return depends on how the whole group of ventures performs, not only on your own business. That spreads risk, because one success can carry several failures, but it also means your stake may be diluted as new graduates and investors join. Stakes in private vehicles like this usually cannot be sold easily, so treat them as long-term holdings and ask for the rules on dilution, voting and payouts in writing.
Can someone under 18 own equity?
Usually not directly in a way they can deal with themselves. In Jamaica and most Caribbean countries, minors have limited capacity to make binding contracts, so shares or interests for under-18s are normally held by a parent, guardian or trustee until the young person comes of age. Families should ask exactly who holds the stake and when it transfers, and take legal advice if the amounts are large.
Is seed capital from a programme like this taxable?
It can be, depending on the country and on whether it is paid to the individual or to a registered business. Some grants are treated as income, while money invested into a company may be treated as capital. Ask the programme for a written description of the payment and check with the national tax authority, Tax Administration Jamaica in Jamaica, or an accountant before spending it.
What should a young founder spend a small amount of seed capital on first?
Spend it on finding out whether anyone will pay, before building anything expensive. That means small tests such as a simple landing page, a sample product sold to ten real customers or a short paid pilot with one business. Keep receipts and a simple record of every result, because the next funder will ask what the first money proved.
Where else can young Caribbean founders find support?
In Jamaica, the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) offers advice and training for micro and small businesses, and HEART/NSTA Trust runs entrepreneurship and skills training. Most Caribbean countries have a similar small business agency, and many commercial banks and development banks run youth or MSME programmes. Compare what each asks in return, because loans, grants and equity carry different obligations.