The Tribune

Baha Mar has doubled enrollment in its Leadership Development Institute (LDI) to 395 students, six of whom have Intellectual and Developmental Disorders (IDD).

Some 150 students graduated from LDI’s first class in May, and the latest session saw enrollment increase to 162 students.

Since the programme was first announced, LDI has received strong community support and been hailed as an initiative that is improving the community because it provides many young persons with an opportunity to change their course in life.

“Baha Mar is a transformative project that is making a real difference in the Bahamas,” said Baha Mar’s chief operating officer, Paul V. Pusateri.

“This unprecedented programme is touching lives and making it possible to provide chances for a career in hospitality that may have otherwise been out of reach. There is nothing else like this in the Bahamas.”

“This will be the best day of the rest of your life,” added Mr Pusateri, who welcomed the students during a special orientation session.

Through a partnership with Best Buddies International, LDI is also allowing individuals with IDD the same chances to succeed as other employees. Each IDD student has been paired with a ‘student buddy’ in LDI for the duration of the 16-week class session.

During the class sessions, LDI students will learn functional and technical skills, service skills, leadership training and life skills, part of the overall vision to create opportunities for all Bahamians, including those with unrealised potential.

The students were encouraged to not only exceed the expectations of others, but to also exceed their own.

All students in the programme will be held to the same standards, said LDI executive director, Jeffrey Lloyd.

“Lateness and missed days will not be tolerated,” said Mr Lloyd. “Bahamians can do it if given an opportunity. We believe that you can do it.”

A parent described the opportunity as an amazing one to introduce young people to the hospitality industry.

“This evening is the beginning of their journey, one step at a time. You’re not going to become a hotelier overnight, but as Confucius says, the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step,” they added.

LDI student Joanne Gibson, expressed excitement about entering the programme.

“I don’t just want to work with the company; I want to grow with them because I know it will be a success,” she said.

“It’ll be a wonderful, once in a lifetime experience.”