During an extended stay in Barbados at the height of the pandemic In 2020, I had the opportunity and interact with students at the University of the West Indies (UWI) in the Computer Science department. They were eager to learn about my journey to Microsoft and were keen to understand what lead to that career path. I had been contemplating a way to give back to the place that molded me into the person I am today, and this was a great opportunity. I started a mentoring ring with the help of Mechelle Gittens, focused on preparing UWI students for the life as a software engineer within and outside of Barbados. I had no idea what I was doing but I wanted to make sure these kids had every opportunity to showcase their talent on the international stage. From that first group of students, 2 landed permanent jobs at Microsoft. I’m proud to say that our 2nd cohort minted 3 Microsoft internships this summer! This is the first time that we’ve had students intern directly from UWI in the Caribbean and I’m proud to have been a part of that. It takes a village and I had lots of help! @KamaraSwaby @shonique_thomas @captainsafia @jeffsteinbok @therealcodgi (they are more but not all on X). Below is a picture I took yesterday after I got to meet these kids for the first time in person at Microsoft after their orientation.