A bridge between talent and opportunity

Twenty Bermudian students have won scholarships from the 2022 Association of Bermuda International Companies (ABIC) Education Awards (ABICEA) worth $605,000 to support their further education.

ABICEA, which is funded by donations from Bermuda international companies, is one of the Island’s largest and longest-running post-secondary scholarship programmes. Now in its 45th year, the programme has supported more than 720 qualified Bermudian students pursuing undergraduate or graduate education in areas related to international business.

Recipients are selected on a combination of financial need and academic achievement. Over the past 10 years alone, ABIC member companies have donated more than $6 million to the programme.

Dominique Richardson, senior underwriter of professional liability at Markel Bermuda, an ABIC board member and an ABICEA awardee in 2011, was the guest speaker. She advised the 2022 recipients to step outside their comfort zones, embrace failure and be their authentic selves.

“Outside your comfort zone is where the magic happens,” Richardson said. “When you push yourself, you become more confident, more creative and more adaptable.”

Failures were inevitable learning opportunities, she added. “It’s not the mistakes that define us or make us what we are, it’s what we learn from them. Can you take a failure and turn it into a stepping stone to success?”

Michelle Seymour Smith, chair of the ABICEA board, paid tribute to Greta Peters and Richard Winchell, ABIC’s administrator and executive director, respectively, who will both be retiring at the end of this year. In their honour, the ABIC postgraduate scholarship will be renamed the Peters Winchell Postgraduate Award.

Seymour Smith said: “Greta is passionate about the awards and her commitment has always been to the welfare and success of our students.” She added that during Winchell’s eight years of administrating the awards, 160 scholarships had been awarded, a mentoring programme was developed and financial support increased.

Seymour Smith described Winchell, who became ABIC’s first executive director in 2006, as “an eternal optimist” with boundless commitment and energy. His accomplishments include the growth of ABIC’s membership to 126 companies, implementing curriculum in schools to educate students about international business, supporting the Bermudascholarships.com website and promoting diversity, equity and inclusion through ABIC’s support for WeSpeak and the Association for Corporate Racial Equality.

Peters said: “What I love about the education awards is being able to follow the academic journeys of our recipients and being a conduit for network events, internships and entry-level jobs once they return. The best thing is when alumni ask us how they can ‘give back’ to ABICEA.

“There are opportunities to be on careers panels in public schools, to be mentors and eventually, a scholarship interviewer, appearing in promotional videos for Bermuda Business Week and www.bermudascholarships.com. I’m proud to help the next generation of leaders in any way I can.”

To find out more about the ABIC Education Awards visit abic.bm