Loop Information
April 12, 2023 2:55 PM ET 
Celia McLaren Reid confronted what she described because the hardest problem of her life when her two-year-old son was identified with renal most cancers in 2020.Â
The extent of care that he would require meant {that a} common 9 to five can be close to not possible, so the mom of two determined to create an incomes path that might give her the pliability to take care of her little one full-time.Â
N.C.B. Basis’s Degree Up Grant got here simply in time, and Reid rapidly enrolled within the brief on-line coaching programs supplied by way of the programme.
After graduating, Reid wasted no time constructing her on-line digital assistant platform and rapidly grew to become one of many high earners from her cohort. Â
“I’m so grateful for the Degree Up Grant programme and the chance it offered me to construct my very own digital assistant enterprise,†stated Reid.
“With out it, I wouldn’t have been capable of create a versatile work schedule that allowed me to take care of my son whereas additionally offering for my household.†Â
With long-term purchasers from everywhere in the world, Reid stated that what began as a brief answer has since grown right into a viable technique of incomes a dwelling for her household. The most important bonus – her now five-year-old son being declared cancer-free in November 2022.  Â
“Celia’s total expertise is actually inspiring,†shared Nadeen Matthews Blair, CEO of N.C.B. Basis.
“She is proof that buying digital expertise and changing into a digital producer is just not solely a viable avenue for incomes a dwelling but in addition one which can provide individuals the liberty and suppleness to earn in a method that matches their life and desiresâ€, Matthews Blair stated.Â
Talking on the 2023 Degree Up Grant Commencement occasion held on April 3, Matthews Blair additionally famous: “The programme’s success is greatest illustrated by the inspiring tales of our graduates, like Celia McLaren Reid, who’ve overcome private challenges and emerged as high earners, whereas placing a wholesome steadiness between work and life. Our Degree Up Grant programme has empowered Jamaicans to create the lives they as soon as might solely dream about.†Â
Now in its third 12 months, the N.C.B. Basis has invested over $75 million into the Degree Up Grant programme. The muse and its companions Web Revenue Jamaica and iCreate Restricted began the Degree Up Grant throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
By way of the programme, grant recipients can full brief on-line programs in specialised digital areas reminiscent of social media administration, transcription, digital assistant and distant name centre help, digital advertising and marketing, graphic design, grant writing, enterprise communications, disaster/trauma/grief counselling, and small enterprise administration.Â
Over 9,000 individuals have since graduated from the Degree Up Grant programme, with the subsequent cohort set to enrol in July 2023. Â
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