The newest cohort of young activists graduated yesterday from a three-week course focused on how to make a difference in their communities.

A graduation ceremony was held for the Future Leaders Class of 2025 in a Bermuda College auditorium filled with family and dignitaries.

Two students were also granted the $500 Sister Laverne Furbert Award for showing self-expression, honesty and personal development.

Seon Tatem, the director of the programme, praised the students for their commitment and growth.

He said: “It’s really something to see these young people come in on day one a little timid, maybe thinking their summer’s wasted, and by the third week having so much respect for one another.”

The Future Leaders programme is a summer course open to high school-aged children.

It teaches youngsters about the conditions that led to the world they live in and how they could rewrite inequalities through activism.

The theme this year was “when the youth are empowered, the future is secured”.

The 17 young people broke into groups to deliver presentations on what they had learnt throughout the course.

Topics included community service, poverty, privilege, leadership and activism.

The students considered the history of inequality and how that led to internal biases and privilege, which they explained was a social advantage.

Presentations also highlighted how the bias impacted social opportunities and how a lack of opportunity often led to crime or drug abuse.

The students explained that anyone could be successful in advocacy and change making, as long as they were determined, fearless and empathetic.

Adriana Burchall, one of the original Future Leaders from the programme’s inception in 2017, told the new cohort that lessons from the course “never leave you”.

She added: “Programmes like Future Leaders empower us, they change us and they remind us that there’s hope.

“Even as we face the big problems in our community, they show us that, while the challenges are real, so are the solutions — and the solutions begin with us.”

She reminded the students to be strong-willed in the face of challenges and encouraged them to make bold choices for both their lives and the future of Bermuda.

McKenzie-Kohl Tuckett, an assistant director of Future Leaders, said that watching the young people grow throughout the three weeks was inspiring.

She added: “I leave each interaction with our students both empowered and inspired, as I’m sure you do.

“I speak on behalf of our entire team when I say that this moment is one that we cherish — when new future leaders are inducted into our community of alumni.”

Ms Tuckett said that the programme trained six programme alumni on being a coach, with two alumni joining the leadership team this year.

She added that, as an alumnus herself, this year had been one of “full circle moments”.

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