Menzies executives with K1 Britannia Foundation.
PHILIPSBURG--A team of eleven delegates from Menzies Aviation have been on island for the past week completing their cultural leadership challenge. The challenge was designed to connect high-performing managers from across the network to participate in a series of challenges while working with a community team or charity.
The executives hail from the United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, Scotland, Africa and Australia.
For this challenge, they chose to work alongside K1 Britannia Foundation and the Little League Player Development afterschool programme, but the challenge began before they arrived, as the selected participants were tasked with finding creative ways to raise funds for K1 and Player Development; while some executives chose to run five kilometres while singing, others dressed up as clowns and performed for passengers at one of their stations.
Fundraising continued throughout their stay as they posted daily blogs about their experiences and encouraged their peers to contribute to the cause.
“I was very touched by the humility, openness, and enthusiasm to help that was exemplified by the Menzies executives and I know that it’s something that has touched our hearts and will encourage us for a very long time to come,” said K1 co-founder Priya Thirumur on Tuesday.
Elena Flynn, Head of Training from the UK, learns how to install a doorknob and lock from a NIPA student.
The team visited K1 to learn about its different projects, specifically its second-chance programme which aims to provide skills, training, job and life opportunities, and mentorship for vulnerable youth. They then continued on to the Little League Ball Park, where they met the children attending the Player Development afterschool programme, taught them about their countries of origin, and played some baseball.
“The children loved the folks from Menzies. They really liked hearing about different places in the world like South Africa and Australia. The children were really excited to learn about airplanes and build model planes with the help of the plane people,” said Tom Burnett of Player Development.
Gregory Skinner, a general manager of Menzies from Australia, added, “To hear the passion from the people that work here, and the lengths that they go to with the youth, is truly inspirational.”
The executives accompanied K1 to National Institute for Professional Advancement (NIPA), where they were paired with students who taught them masonry, electrical work, carpentry, and more. The execs continued their day by visiting Player Development once more to read, write stories and play games.
Gordon Simpson, Insurance Manager at Menzies reads with boy at Player Development.
The group repeated the workshop on Monday, which covered resumé-writing, job interview skills, and maintaining a job after being hired, this time for the public as well. The workshop was followed by a graduation for the participants and the world premiere of their short film “The spirit of St. Maarten: Paradise after the Storm,” which they produced themselves as a part of their challenge.
“What you will find in this movie is something from the bottom of our hearts and what we’ve really been able to reflect on during this week. And like I said, it’s really the commitment and the teamwork and the consistency that you present every day on this great island,” Jesper Fredmark, a manager from Sweden, said about the film he helped to produce.
Among those present for the launch of the short film were invited guests from the Court of Guardianship, UNICEF, The Foundation Judicial Institutes St. Maarten SJIS, Princess Juliana International Airport, Menzies Aviation and Delta Airlines.
Beside organising the workshops, their innovation hackathon, and filming and editing throughout, the team was also tasked with communal cooking and taking turns hosting wellness sessions for their delegation. They took time over the weekend to enjoy the island, go hiking and enjoy “The Flying Dutchman” at Rainforest Adventures as well.
“The week was inspirational, humbling and encouraging and we are appreciative for all the hard work put it by the Menzies executives and their fundraising efforts back home and the time and effort they put in to connect with local youth and share their experiences and knowledge,” said K1 Britannia Foundation project manager Chiaira Bowers.
The daily vlog of their stay can be seen via
https://culturalleadershipchallenge.home.blog .
To find more information about K1 Britannia Foundation and Player Development visit website
www.k1britanniafoundation.org and Facebook at “Player Development SXM”.
