$25k Digicel grants to five influencers

Five social media influencers have been awarded $25,000 each by the Digicel Foundation to execute a personal passion project that will ignite positive change in their communities.

“This is a dream come true, all praise and thanks to God. I’m so thankful for such an amazing opportunity, the whole experience was amazing. I love changing people’s lives and this opportunity will help me reach more,” said Jessica James, a personal trainer with the handle @1stladyfitnesstt on Instagram and one of the grant winners.

Last month, the Digicel Foundation invited social media influencers to vie for one of five project grants as part of its ‘Making Christmas Wishes Come True’ campaign.

The candidates registered to participate in a treasure hunt where they completed four challenges and documented their journey via Instagram. Ten influencers were then shortlisted to share more about their passion project on social media to make it clear why they felt their wish should come true.

On December 20, a release said, after reviewing all ten shortlisted applicants and looking at the engagement rate on each post, a team of judges voted on the top five. They selected the following social media influencers and projects to receive the $25,000 grant:

* Daniel Lewis @pablofitaddicts_ravers who will use his funding to partner with the CREDO Foundation for Justice.

* Jessica James @1stladyfitnesstt who will use hers to empower and transform a group of women through fitness and general wellbeing.

* Meriah John @meriahjohn who will deliver a series of workshops on content creation for other influencers.

* Josette James @panteronacosplay who will conduct a series of school tours promoting alternative careers.

* Odunmbaku Somorin @theadeshoga who will use his $25,000 to develop a space for creatives to make their dreams into a reality.

“Working on this project was inspiring, and seeing our social media influencers really put themselves out there in the service of others made it worthwhile. We’re excited to see the projects unfold,” said Cindyann Currency, Digicel Foundation Head of Operations.

As a digital operator, Digicel is in the business of delivering powerful digital experiences 1,440 minutes of each day to customers – that’s every minute, all day, every day.

Through its world-class LTE and fibre networks, together with its suite of eight apps spanning sports (SportsMax), music (D’Music), news (Loop), local radio and podcasts (GoLoud), TV streaming, (PlayGo) enhanced messaging and marketplaces (BiP), cloud storage (Billo) and self-care (MyDigicel app), Digicel is the only operator in its markets that can deliver the complete digital experience.

Serving consumer and business customers in 32 markets in the Caribbean, Central America, and Pacific with investments of over US$7 billion and a commitment to communities in Haiti, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea, and Trinidad & Tobago, the Digicel Foundation has contributed to positive outcomes for over three million people to date.

With its Better Together brand, Digicel is promising “simply more” to its customers and communities as the company’s 7,000 employees worldwide work together to make this pledge a powerful reality day in, day out.