By Kisean Joseph
Two Antiguan and Barbudan entrepreneurs have been selected to join the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI), a prestigious program that connects emerging business leaders from the Caribbean and Latin America with counterparts in the United States of America.
Tech entrepreneur Canice James and disability advocate Joshuanette Francis will participate in the program, which includes intensive training modules and a six-week stay in the USA. Both leaders see their selection as an opportunity to transform their respective sectors and create a lasting impact in Antigua and Barbuda.
James, who founded Cyberhawk, envisions revolutionizing the local software development industry. His journey began in 2014 as a freelance developer, but he quickly recognized the need for greater collaboration and scale.
“I found it difficult to kind of get to accomplish as much as you wish you could accomplish with a team,” James explained. “Very quickly I got more work than I was able to do by myself.”
This experience led him to establish Cyberhawk, with the aim of creating opportunities for the next generation of tech professionals. “I hope that the next generations to come along would have a far easier time of this in a much more established software industry with key players and a thriving market of both impactful people, talent, businesses, and digital products,” he said.
Currently, Cyberhawk is undergoing a significant transformation to enhance its market reach. James reveals they are “in the middle of changing business models to be far more mass market and allow us to execute the kind of projects that take us months to do in just a few days instead.”
For Francis, who founded Good Humans 268, the YLAI selection represents a milestone for disability advocacy in the region.
“There are 288 delegates, just about, and there are only three of us with regards to disability action,” she noted. “However, we’re there, and that is three different individuals with three different perspectives, three different regions coming and we’re talking about disability work.”
The program has already begun shaping their leadership approaches through various modules and assessments. Francis, who identifies as an “East leader” with visionary qualities, offers a profound perspective on leadership.
“Leadership is about being stressed out, heartbroken, anxious, disappointed and tired, scared and lonely … however, finding the strength to get up, plan, coordinate, shape, listen, smile, laugh, communicate, understand, be compassionate, and complete the mission.”

Meanwhile, both entrepreneurs stressed collaboration as essential for achieving their goals, and James highlighted the program’s international network as a key benefit.
“One of the three impactful things about YLAI networks is being able to meet with other persons doing similar things in other countries across the Caribbean, Canada, and Latin America, to be able to share that knowledge across borders in order to help our growth,” he said.
Francis, on the other hand, cited teamwork as a core value of her organization.
“Good Humans 268 doesn’t work without people,” she said. “I do not think I can do this alone. I do not want to do this alone. I have no intention to try and do this alone.”
The program is helping the participants to address key challenges in their organizations and Francis said that YLAI’s structured approach to problem-solving is particularly valuable. “One of the things that YLAI is focusing on is what they call the solution pitch. I like that they’re not so much focussing on the problem — they’re trying to get you to think. You have a problem, but how are you planning to solve that problem?”
As they prepare for their stint at the conference, both leaders are optimistic about the program’s potential impact on their organizations and the community at large.
Francis plans to make the most of this international platform. “What needs to happen is the world needs to know that there are individuals with disabilities in Antigua and Barbuda and we are making a change. We’re doing things to help ourselves,” she said.