When McKenzie-Kohl Tuckett first took part in Future Leaders Bermuda’s flagship programme in 2018 at the age of 15, she was already drawn to public speaking, debate and a future in law.

At that time, she associated leadership largely with senior figures in politics and the professions — people who had already reached the top.

Eight years on, as she takes the helm of the charity that helped to shape her path, Ms Tuckett is seeing leadership from a different perspective.

At 23, she has been appointed its executive director, completing a journey from participant to team member and now organisational leader.

“I can’t say that I expected I would be executive director at 23,” she said. “Anybody can be a leader. It doesn’t matter your age, your profession or your area of expertise.”

As the charity prepares to celebrate its tenth anniversary in 2027, Ms Tuckett is looking to expand the programme with her team by establishing a three-year support model for participating students.

The appointment is a full-circle moment for both Ms Tuckett and Future Leaders Bermuda, an empowerment programme for middle to high school students. It reflects her own growth and the charity’s ability to prepare young Bermudians to return and contribute.

She succeeds the organisation’s founder, Ryan Robinson Perinchief, following his appointment as Minister of National Security and a senator. Mr Robinson Perinchief will remain involved as chairman of the board of trustees.

Ms Tuckett joined the Future Leaders team in April 2019 as a youth assistant director. She later progressed to assistant director, helping to deliver programmes.

There had been no fixed date for a handover, she said, but succession planning was deliberate. She and other younger members of the team were being equipped to lead the organisation.

Now her focus is on preserving what it has been built while giving young people a deeper and more lasting connection to it.

Future Leaders was established in 2017. Its flagship initiative is an intensive three-week summer programme for students aged 13 to 18, exploring Bermuda’s history and civic issues including poverty, crime and inequality.

Students also consider questions about leadership and their responsibilities to the community.

For Ms Tuckett, one of the clearest measures of success is watching the uncertainty in participants begin to fall away.

“As students become more comfortable, they start to open up about their experiences and connect personally with different parts of the curriculum.

“By the closing ceremony, they are presenting what they have learnt. You see a light in them that sort of inspires you as a listener and as an audience member,” she said.

Future Leaders now has 119 alumni from its summer programme. Ms Tuckett said each participant responds differently. For some, the most impact may come from a curriculum topic and for others, it may be the confidence to tell a personal story or speak openly among peers.

As part of the organisation’s strategic vision, the three-week course is to become the starting point for a three-year commitment to each student. The move is partly in response to participant feedback.

Students will be divided into small “pods”, during the summer, supported by members of the Future Leaders team to explore topics including health and wellness, wealth, care, relationships, business and careers.

Mr Robinson Perinchief mentored Ms Tuckett while he was studying law at Durham University in Britain, and Ms Tuckett was considering her own higher-education options. Their conversations about university and the legal profession developed into a broader relationship.

Ms Tuckett completed her undergraduate law degree at the University of Bristol, spent a year at the University of Hong Kong and later completed her Bar course in London. During her undergraduate studies, she undertook a summer internship with a law firm in Vietnam.

Living and studying overseas, experiencing different cultures, political environments and educational systems, taught her the value of cultural awareness, she said.

Those experiences helped to shape her vision of Bermuda as an “opportunity-rich island”.

For Ms Tuckett, that means creating a Bermuda where young people do not feel they must look elsewhere to find a career or life suited to their interests.

She recognises that some pursuing specialist paths may still need to study, travel or gain experience overseas, but hopes young Bermudians can also envisage returning to contribute at home.

“Young people must be connected with opportunities early rather than leaving the island and only then beginning to wonder whether there will be a place for them when they return.”

Ms Tuckett decided she wanted to become a lawyer as far back as primary school and researched the skills the profession required. Communication was high on the list, so she joined debating and public-speaking teams at Warwick Academy.

Future Leaders challenged her belief that leadership belonged chiefly to politicians and senior professionals. Its emphasis on grass roots action showed her that change didn’t always need to begin at the top.

That belief is visible across the organisation, she said.

Former participants have returned in a variety of leadership roles. Seon Tatem, assistant director, taught the summer programme as a youth assistant director before joining the executive team in 2025.

Alumni are also represented on its board of trustees, which recently appointed Adriana Burchall, a 2017 Future Leader, as its secretary.

For Ms Tuckett, their willingness to come back reflects Future Leaders’ impact.

Over the next five years she wants to encourage more alumni to return while strengthening the charity’s visibility.

However, its purpose will remain unchanged — preparing Bermuda’s young people to succeed as leaders.

Asked what her younger self would make of the journey from a 15-year-old participant to 23-year-old executive director, Ms Tuckett did not hesitate. “I definitely think she would be proud.”

• For more information about Future Leaders Bermuda and its upcoming initiatives, or to learn how to support its work, visitwww.futureleaders.bm/support