Six years ago in 2013 UTech student, Neville Charlton had a hunger, to be a part of a solution that would stem the violence and negative culture that was swirling out of control and engulfing his community and society.
He was unemployed and while he wanted an income, it was a hunger to give service that led him to start searching online for opportunities. That’s when he saw a post by JN Foundation calling for volunteers. And the rest, as they say, is history.
He responded to the call and was soon engaged in the JN Foundation’s annually staged Christmas treat at the Golden Age Home in St Andrew with a team of other like-minded volunteers.
Neville so enjoyed the experience which reminded him of his days as a Circle-Ker and Key Clubber in high school that he called up some of his friends, most of whom also had service club backgrounds in high school and they started looking for their own service/volunteer opportunities.
Soon word spread amongst his circle of friends and a fledgeling movement was born.
“What started as just two or three of us soon became an army and that’s how Youth Inspiring Positive Change Jamaica Ltd. [ Positive Jamaica, for short] was formed, ” he noted.
Seven years after that seed of voluntarism was germinated, Neville Charlton is Founder and Chairman of Youth Inspiring Positive Change JA. Ltd | Positive Org, a vibrant 250-member strong registered non- Governmental Organization that engages youth in development, volunteerism, social change, peacebuilding and adjunct fields.
Also strapped across his youthful shoulders is the responsibility of Country Coordinator for the Commonwealth Youth Peace Ambassadors Network (CYPAN) under which the 28-year-old Charlton and his NGO run grassroots youth advocacy campaigns to increase the participation of young people in peacebuilding in their communities, using collective action to promote peace, respect, understanding and preventing violence.
Training
Neville is kept busy training what he calls youth ambassadors for CYPAN. Himself a byproduct of youth development training he had received in London and Panama, Neville says he closely follows the standards in a manual developed by United Nations Youth Network to train young people in multiplier positions within youth organisations, who then disseminate the training outcomes to a wider audience.
Known as Train the Trainer, this multiplying effect strategy has given the organisation enough clout to claim to have reached and impacted 150,000 Jamaicans.
He explains how that works:
“Initially I did all the training, sharing with my members what I had learned from training I had received in London and Panama in youth development. So I trained my Positive Jamaica advocates as trainers of trainers who in turn train others as ambassadors.”
The organization trains young people around social issues, honing their unique skills in creating innovative approaches to tackling Jamaica’s social issues and creating spaces for growth and empowerment of the country’s youth. He has collaborated with several NGO’s working across Jamaica to achieve youth empowerment and representation, gender equality, conflict resolution and developing a culture of peace in volatile urban centers.
To date, Positive Jamaica advocates have mentored 5000 students through the Respect Jamaica campaign, which has equipped them with conflict resolution skills and gives students a voice to speak out against bullying.
Considered a social innovator, Neville is dedicated “to empower, encourage and energize Jamaicans to believe that they can make a positive change in society, and to provide valuable service through volunteerism,” a mission that his organisation stay close to through focusing on issues such as human rights and gender equality, anti-bullying, and peace building in volatile areas.
NGO without Bricks and Borders
Charlton says his NGO does not have brick and mortar office space. They work remotely. Despite this, however, this social innovator is still able to run an influential grassroots movement without borders which has effectively evangelised and mobilised 250 change-agents.
“Through our Ambassador and volunteer programmes, we have continuously strived to make an impact. The majority [of our volunteers] have matriculated to college or have a job through directly volunteering with us,” Mr. Charlton says, drawing attention to the fact that Youth Inspiring Positive Jamaica is a social enterprise.
Few people know that Charlton is a Communications consultant by profession, having graduated from the University of Technology with a Degree in Communications.
Before starting Positive Jamaica, he worked at Digicel providing social media management. After leaving Digicel, in 2018 he decided to use his newly acquired communication skills to engage young people. He provides social media management, communication and graphics services to clients within the social services sector.
Social media communications have been a vital tool for communicating with his volunteers who are concentrated in Kingston and St Catherine where the majority of members reside.
One initiative that has helped it notch up more volunteers is the engagement of volunteers in the Jamaica Hurdles crew, which provides a safe space for young people, aged 15-25 to volunteer while contributing to the positive development of track and field in Jamaica.
Boasting a track record of being deployed for every major track meet in Jamaica since it was formed in 2008, the Hurdles Crew provides ground support to organisers, helping them coordinate a seamless meet befitting international standards.
It’s a symbiotic relationship from which volunteers derive networking opportunities and fun, which helps to keep their interest, he points out. “As you know, young people like excitement and vibes and energy. So at the same time, they are getting back something while giving their time and effort.”
When he’s not running the social enterprise arm of the organisation, the 28-year-old social change jetsetter is attending various conferences in London and Italy, a responsibility placed on him as the Country Manager of Commonwealth Youth Peace Ambassadors Network (CYPAN) and more recently, a youth ambassador for the United Nation’s Global Youth Programme.
In fact, a day after doing this interview Charlton was packing his bags for Italy where he represented YIPJ at a week-long UNDP-sponsored event called “16 x 16”. 16 x16 is a new global initiative implemented by UNDP’s Youth Global Programme launched in April 2019 during its Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum.
According to the Youth for Peace Global Knowledge website, the aim of the initiative is “to recognize, value and support the positive role that 16 young men and women play as leaders of youth organisations, movements, and networks.” Charlton was the only Jamaican among the 16 “impressive and bold young leaders” invited to participate in the preparatory conference on Sustainable Development Goal 16 (SDG16) in Rome, Italy. Goal 16 is to promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies.
Charlton and Positive Jamaica were selected to join other youth leaders because they were esteemed to “on a daily basis . . . advance SDG 16 implementation, monitoring and accountability, and meaningfully contribute to building peaceful, just and inclusive societies at all levels.”
Neville currently serves as the Chief for the Jamaica Hurdles Crew and an ambassador for ‘I Believe’ — a youth empowerment initiative of the Governor General of Jamaica. Hi is the – Country Coordinator of Jamaica for the Commonwealth Youth Peace Ambassador Network and served as a National Youth Parliamentarian. Neville is currently attending the University of the West Indies where he is pursuing his Bachelors in International Relations.
Living by the mantra, “Change Starts With Me”, Neville is a true social innovator!!
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