Finance Experts Visit BVI High Schools
During BVI Financial Services Week, BVI Finance brought industry experts into classrooms across the territory, engaging roughly 150 senior secondary students about career opportunities in financial services, digital finance and fintech. The outreach aims to encourage local recruitment and build a stronger pipeline of Virgin Islanders into the sector as visits continue later this year.
BVI Finance took its message directly into classrooms across the territory during the recently concluded BVI Financial Services Week, meeting with roughly 150 11th- and 12th-grade students to discuss careers in the territory’s most important industry. The outreach sessions were led by Rhodni Skelton, BVI Finance’s Director of Business Development and Marketing, and included visits to the Virgin Islands School of Technical Studies, the Bregado Flax Educational Centre on Virgin Gorda, and the Claudia Creque Educational Centre on Anegada.
Students were introduced to the role of financial services in the BVI economy and to emerging areas such as digital finance and fintech. BVI Finance said the classroom engagements were designed to highlight the range of career paths available in the sector and to encourage young people to consider opportunities locally rather than only overseas.
The organisation described supporting the local community and inspiring the next generation as an ongoing priority, particularly as the industry evolves technologically and operationally. For BVI residents, the outreach underscores two connected priorities: promoting awareness of the financial-services sector among young people and expanding the local talent pipeline.
The industry remains the backbone of the territory’s economy, but it has faced criticism for a heavy reliance on expatriate professionals. Community leaders and industry voices have repeatedly called for stronger pathways to train, recruit and retain more Virgin Islanders in financial services roles.
Sessions in the schools covered not only traditional roles—such as trust and corporate services, compliance and administration—but also newer opportunities in fintech, digital operations, information technology and related support functions. Organisers stressed that a variety of skills are needed, from technical and IT competencies to regulatory knowledge and client services.
BVI Finance indicated the school visits will continue, with plans to engage additional secondary schools later this year as part of a broader effort to connect students with internships, training programmes and entry-level positions in the sector. For families and educators, the outreach provides a prompt to consider local credentialing options and career guidance that link secondary education to financial-services pathways.
Strengthening local participation in financial services could help reduce the territory’s dependence on imported talent and ensure more residents share in the economic benefits of the sector as it modernises. BVI Finance’s outreach is one step toward that longer-term goal.
Primary source: BVI News