TRANSCRIPT

NATHAN JONES

This month, we head to the Cayman Islands to meet Dr. Sylvia Wilks, who currently serves as lead consultant for Caribbean Youth Assets. Dr. Wilks shares, among other things, how utilizing developmental assets is impacting and bringing hope among youth across the region. 

I'm your host, Nathan Jones, and once again, thank you for joining me on this episode of the Inspiring Stewards podcast.

Dr. Wilks, thank you again for your time. I would love to just start with – give us a bit of your background, where you're from, your family origin, that sort of thing.

SYLIVIA WILKS

Well, I'm from the Cayman Islands, the beautiful Cayman Islands. And I'm the daughter of the late evangelist Gloria Wilks and Bishop Clovis Wilks. And I have three siblings, three brothers, no sisters. And I've lived here all my life, besides the time when I left to study overseas.

So, my family was quite well-known because both my parents were ministers of religion. Because my mother came here to Cayman Islands as an evangelist, met my father, and the rest was history as it relates to coming together. And he was deacon in our church and worked his way through.

I became Christian when I was very young, just before I started secondary school. And I remember it very distinctly. My mother came to me on a Sunday evening and said that my two younger brothers – my older brother was in Jamaica at the time and my two younger brothers – she said, “They were having baptismal service,” and she was like, “They made a decision. Are you going to make a decision, as well?”

I was the oldest one at home at the time, and I was like, “I can't make my brothers make that decision and I don't make that decision as well.” So I was like, “You know, we've grown in church all our lives. And, you know, we've always been a part of the church life.” So, I was like, “Okay, I'll make the decision.”

This was a Sunday evening just before school started on the Monday and so this was the last day to get your beach time in. So, we had baptism at the beach. And so, we get to the beach. The whole beach is full of people. So, we had baptismal service. My mother, she decided to drive us to school that Monday morning. And she went through, “You’re Christians now. And you know, this is what you do. This is what you don't do.” Oh, we got the talk!

And so, I went to school with everybody knowing that I was baptized at Smith Cove Beach. So, it wasn't just because they knew my parents were ministers of religion. And then, because Cayman is very small too, word gets around very quickly. So, when they were ordained and the church was being dedicated. It was in newspaper and, you know, our family was highlighted. So, that's my background right there.

NATHAN

Yeah, that's great. So right in the middle between three brothers. It must have been a fun, fun upbringing.

SYLVIA

Yeah. So, I have an older brother and we were close, like a year apart, kind of. And then, my younger brother,the one that followed me is like about two years. And then, the youngest one is like a year after him. So, they weren't wasting any time!

NATHAN

Well, the impact coming to a personal relationship with Lord, you were young but how did that affect your trajectory in life then?

SYLVIA

You know, they came a time when I had to decide whether I was going to continue this faith that I was grown into. So, it wasn’t like I was introduced to it and then decided to follow Christ. But, you know, it was kind of like an adopted thing, a thing that we did. 

So, I remember, I used to do a lot of reading, especially the wee hours of the morning. I was nocturnal from very long. And there were a lot of questions I had, a lot of things that I wanted to understand. And so, I did a lot of reading on end times. And I don't really like history that much, but I like to know what has happened and what was happening and how that affects what we do now. 

So, I did a lot of that when I was much younger. And because I did a lot of youth work in my teenage years, I wanted to make sure I was delivering what the young people needed at the time.

NATHAN

What was the nature of that work?

SYLVIA

We didn't have a children church at the time. The kitchen was to the back of the church and so I was like, “Ok,I'll just get the kids together.” So, I used to gather the kids together for children church and used to get materials, resources just to keep them engaged, you know, during service, because there were times when they weren't understanding what was happening during service. So, I was like, “I'll just get them together and do that.”

So, I spent some time, you know, doing that. I was youth director at one time or assistant youth director at one time. And so, that's where my interest with working with youth started.

NATHAN

So, walk us through your professional journey and where you got to and what you are doing now today.

SYLVIA

Well, I did some work at the hospital. I was a nursing assistant for a while, but I didn't do too well there. So, I decided to go in another area of civil service. I was at the immigration department and I became an immigration officer for some time and did that for a while. Did law enforcement for a while because I was a special constable at one point.

And my youth pastor kept encouraging me to go into something youth related. And so, I did some studies, my social studies, and decided, “Ok, let me go into something in that area.” So, I ended up working Youth Residential. And because I went into Youth Residential, there was a time when I was not just not the night shift supervisor, but I went into doing some case management. 

And when I was doing case management, I did some research on the developmental assets. The idea was to have some kind of tool to help me track the progress of the young people that came into care. And so, I discovered the research institute, which is in Minnesota. Their developmental assets – afforded developmental assets – that's how I came about starting the Cayman Islands Youth Development Consortium with the intention to promote the different things that help our young people to succeed. So, rather than being in a reactive place, I wanted to be in a proactive place to promote these different things.

So, in 2006, I decided to start this organization. And it was around the time too that I was working on National Assessment of Living Conditions, which afforded me the opportunity to work with consultants and going to different communities and meet people in their vulnerable states. And so, that was an eye opener for me and that was a good reason to continue the work I started. 

Then, my youth worker at the time was terminally ill. And I shared with him my vision for the organization. And he encouraged me and said, “Don't make it be something that you start, and you don't finish.” Because I had a habit of starting things and not finishing it. So, he's like, “Don't make this be something that you start and you don't finish.”

NATHAN

So, what is your role today?

SYLVIA

So, I just completed my doctoral studies in strategic leadership with an emphasis in global consulting. So,everything global now comes to me. Everything, you know. So, when I was introduced to Global Trust Partners, I was like, “Okay!”

That's what happens when you put on your Facebook “globally minded” or you decide to study an emphasis in global consulting, right? You know, everything global comes into your email now. People are introducing you to global initiatives now.

I find that God has been leading me to do more work with leaders, more work with organizations as it relates to administration and so forth. So, I'm getting ready to actually launch a company in leadership and professional development. Really excited about that. I touched base with a friend of mine in Trinidad that has accreditation and so forth. So, that should come out really soon.

But other than that, I have a company that allows me to do consulting throughout the Caribbean. So, what I've done here, I want to duplicate that with other countries in the Caribbean. So, my final project was really around that as well. My final project was “An Analytical Overview of the National Youth Policy and Asset Building Efforts of Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos, and Bahamas.”

In the next couple of months, I want to go and set up something similar to what I've done here with the Cayman Islands Youth Development Consortium. That was my intention for doing conferences and inviting theministerial representatives. So that, you know, hopefully if I treat them good, they're like, “Okay, come!”

As a matter of fact, Turks and Caicos wanted me to come before I finished my studies. When I was interviewing them, I said, “You guys just need to allow me to just finish my studies and then, you know, we'll see what happens there.” So, you know, I can loop around again and say, “Listen, guys. You wanted me to come from then. What's happening now? Let's do it. Let's do this!”

NATHAN

A couple of follow up questions: When you think about afforded assets, what are some that rise to the surface that you're seeing predominant or lacking in your area that gives you a target to be able to begin to address?

SYLVIA

I could start with the first set of assets, which is family support, which, you know, provides high levels of love and support, as well as positive family communication. Because one of the things that we do, we do a summer camp. It's a leadership and prevention camp. We introduce the kids to the assets and we always ask them to rate themselves from 1 to 10.

And those are some of the assets that tend to rate low, you know, positive family communication, especially when you start telling them or asking them, “Are you able to speak to your parents about sex or violence or drugs?” Those tough topics that they're, you know, engaging in conversation with their peers about.

We also see religious community tend to be one of the areas that’s low. Serving others – they tend not to be involved in activities that allows them to serve other people. Those are the external assets.

The internal assets, the ones that tend to be low is commitment to learning. Some young people are not as committed as they should be. As well as the positive identity set of assets, you know, not having a hope for their future.

That’s where the mental health aspect comes in. Because if self-esteem is low, if they don't have a hope for their future and they don't see their future as being bright, then they tend to be involved in activities that they shouldn't be involved in.

And so, I promote it because the more assets a young person has, the more likely they are to succeed and the less likely they are to gravitate towards drugs and violence and things that they shouldn't be involved in.

NATHAN 

That's amazing, so much to dive into there. Let me pivot with this question. You know, this is the Inspiring Stewards podcast. How are you seeing the concept of stewardship play out in your life?

SYLVIA

You know, when I met Dr. Hoag, I was really blown away by the information I was gleaning during his time here last year in the Cayman Islands. And I was locked and sold into the idea. Because when he was going through the materials, I was like, “Man, there's a lot of areas that my organizations need to tidy up on.” And I'm like, “I'm sure there's other organizations that can do well with improving.”

The thing drew me to it as well was the idea of for sustainability, and I'm like, “Okay, how does that work?” And so, I told them at the launch event that we had recently, I said, “Listen, I tend not to be a selfish person. And the wealth that I have is mostly in information and knowledge. And I like to share things that help people to be able to be their best, do their best.”

And so, when I decided to take on the role as Country Coordinator for Global Trust Partners, that was because there was a wealth of information through the website, a wealth of information from Dr. Hoag and Mr. Roomes.And I was like, “You know, this needs to be shared. People need to be blessed.” You know, the more you are equipped, the better you are to be able to deliver and steward the gifts that God has given you.

He just doesn't give you the gifts, but He expects you to be wise about how you deliver the gifts that you are given.

NATHAN

That’s beautiful! And now you're able to scale that to other organizations with some of the professional work that you're doing. That's phenomenal.

How are you seeing God at work around you whether it's locally, regionally, globally? You've spoken to all of those different levels. I'd love to hear.

SYLVIA

I think that I'm global and local. I am really grateful for the opportunity I've had to meet key people – whether government or leaders of different initiatives and so forth.

I remember when I went to do the training in Minnesota. I was telling these persons that I was writing at one point, you know, about my experience and what I was doing and they were like, “You know, you have a gift of connecting with leaders.” I was like, “You know, I never thought of that before.” And that is true!

I just have a way of connecting with very important people. I don't think it's my charm. I think it's the Holy spirit. I think it's just the passion that I have. And I was part of the civil service. I did a several training that allows me to be professional and be able to engage with these individuals. 

And because I like to build relationships as well, I love to, you know, introduce myself. So, I think that I have quite a bit ahead of me as relates to stuff within the region, just being able to engage. 

And God has connected me with different people, you know, like for example, Family Foundations. I'm a coordinator with Family Foundations International Caribbean, which is headquartered here in Cayman. Through that, I was connected to a guy in Turks and Caicos who is the Director of Education in Turks and Caicos. He was able to connect me with the Minister of Education who keynote at our event last year.

So, it's just these different connections with being a part of different initiatives that connect me to other people. It’s great! It's awesome where God is taking me. And I'm being patient and being encouraged by Dr. Hoag, “Go slow so you can go fast. Start slow so you can build and go fast,” and I'm like, “Okay!”

NATHAN

This is wonderful. Well, you know, as we're kind of wrapping up, we could go in a lot of different directions, but we'll put a bow on the end of this conversation. But I want to just ask you one final thing. What additional advice, information, anything you'd like to share with those listening today?

SYLVIA

God has a way of orchestrating things and connecting you with the right people. You have to be able to identify the season that you're in. You need to be able to identify where God is taking you in a moment because there's different things that’s going to come to you and some of them are not going to serve the purpose in which you have right now.

And you have to be able to let some things go. You have to be able to say “no” to some things, as much as it may be difficult. You know, I think of not being involved with some of the things as it relates to my local church and I get the information late or I'm not in the circle. And I'm like, “But you have to decide whether you want to serve in this capacity or just show up in this capacity or serve effectively in a bigger scope of things.”

So, you have to be okay with where God is taking you and trust where He's taking you as much as it may seem as if things may not necessarily be coming through. Some limitations here and there, but you have to be in a trusting place of faith.

I have three core values I try to live by: innovation, faith, and excellence. I know Dr. Hoag picked up on the fact that I can be a perfectionist at times. And so, I’m going to scale back to not try to be a perfectionist but in my quest of excellence to deliver well. I have a time when, if I do not have bells and whistles, I’m like, “Oh! It didn’t go well.” But I’m like, “No, not everybody know the bells and whistles. I knew the bells and whistles.”

NATHAN

That’s a good word! Well, Dr. Wilks, thank you so much for this time. This has been tremendous.

SYLVIA

Thank you, too, for the opportunity. This has been good.