Good day and welcome to the Central Bank of the Bahamas's awards announcements for the 2025 T. Basel Donaldson research competition and the Get Money Smart video essay competition. Two very important youth initiatives here at the central bank. I'm Latoya Smith, manager of external relations.
Good day. I'm Latasha Campbell, assistant manager of the external relations unit. By way of background, the T. Basil Donaldson research competition was established in 2017 by the central bank in memoriam of Mr. Timothy Basil Donaldson, the central bank's first governor. Given Governor Donaldson's keen interest in recognizing the value of higher education and technical skills, an aim of the competition is to identify and encourage young Bahamian scholars at the undergraduate and graduate levels both locally and abroad whose research in economics, finance or business could contribute to scholarship and national development of the Bahamas. The competition helps to foster research capacity among Bahamian youth, combining academic rigor with real-world relevance to national issues. Now, the scholars are required to submit an unpublished research paper on a topic directly relevant to the Bahamian economy. The evaluation process includes three levels of assessment by central bank officials as well as external reviewers in academia both locally and regionally. After the conclusion of the second level review by the assessment committee, the finalists are identified to advance to the third and final round. At such time, the finalists are invited to present their papers at a research seminar hosted by the central bank and facilitated by professors from the University of the West Indies. The seminar is a prestigious platform wherein the finalists are able to showcase their studies and research, but they're also able to get mentorship from the university professors who are published and very experienced in the field of economics. Based on the feedback received during the seminar, the finalists are given the opportunity to revise their papers and then resubmit them for final review. During 2025, there were 21 submissions in the competition with nearly half from local institutions, mainly the University of the Bahamas. The remainder were from colleges and universities in the United States and the United Kingdom. The fields of study represented varied and included economics, accounting, law, finance, technology, public administration, and environmental science. The top three papers with scores greater than 70% advanced for participation in the seminar. Generally, the topics were diverse with some authors exhibiting a good grasp of the subject matter while incorporating various analysis. Some papers included a good thesis, statistical analysis, clear hypothesis-driven approach, and well-aligned methodology and techniques. Overall, the papers evidence some improvement in quality when compared to the prior year's submissions in 2024. The central bank acknowledges all the participants who submitted papers during the 2025 iteration of the competition. To all the scholars, your time and effort invested in your research paper has not gone unnoticed. The central bank appreciates your interest in the competition and you are encouraged to consider participating in future opportunities.
Now before we move on to amongst the top scorers, the governor of the central bank, Governor John Rolle will share his remarks.
The central bank is proud to continue to honor the late T. Basil Donaldson through the facilitation and sponsorship of this competition. This competition is not just about recognition. It is about building a culture which embraces intellectual curiosity, excellence and service to country. That is the standard that Governor Donaldson represented and it is a legacy we aim to pass on to every participant. Thank you for stepping up to the plate, reading deeply, asking serious questions, and producing original and thoughtful research. Whether you received an award or not, you've strengthened your skills and should be proud. To our judges and mentors, thank you for safeguarding the integrity and rigor of this year's competition and for investing your time into the next generation. Indeed, your careful evaluation, expert insights, and commitment to maintaining the highest standard have been essential to upholding the integrity of the competition. And to our students, don't give up. Keep refining your research. Keep sharpening the methods. Keep writing because research is more than an academic exercise. It is a form of national service. Congratulations again to our finalists and I want to encourage you when you enter these types of competition to present and refine work that you're already undertaking in your studies and to take full advantage of the feedback that you would have received from your instructors and academic supervisors at the university level. We also encourage you to do research for a competition that uses topics and approaches for which you have an ample amount of data points to analyze. So, please bear that in mind. That said, the central bank is proud of you and we look forward to the impact that you will make on the world and the Bahamas.
Thank you, Governor. So, let's proceed with the announcement. Following a thorough evaluation process of the revised papers, the judges notified the central bank of the final scores based on the results which were improved from last year. The decision was made to name three honorable mentions for the 2025 T. Basel Donaldson research competition.
The central bank is proud to recognize the achievements and applaud the effort and insight brought to this year's competition. The first honorable mention is awarded to Miss Aaliyah Marizia on her research paper titled Human Capital and Economic Growth: Assessing the Role of the Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education on the Bahamian Economy. Kudos to you, Aaliyah, and congratulations on your commendable performance. This achievement reflects your academic discipline and meaningful contribution to national scholarship. As the first honorable mention, Aaliyah is awarded a cash prize totaling $6,500. The second honorable mention is conferred to Mr. Theo Dawkins for the completion of his paper, Bridging Financial Gaps with Fintech, Behavioral Analysis on FinTech Adoption and Inclusion in the Bahamas. Theo, we congratulate you on this achievement. Your submission demonstrated thoughtful analysis and this accomplishment is a testament to your spirit of innovation and critical thinking that the competition seeks to promote. Congratulations for your hard work Theo and you are being awarded a cash prize of $5,000. The third honorable mention is bestowed upon Miss Madison Haynes for her research paper on the topic economic growth and income inequality in the Bahamas. How can we grow together? Madison, the central bank celebrates you on this milestone. Your research stood out for its relevance and depth of analysis. This recognition speaks not only to your academic excellence, but also to your commitment to advancing knowledge that can positively impact the Bahamas. Congratulations, Madison. Madison is awarded a cash prize in the amount of $5,000. These papers will be posted to the central bank's website in the coming weeks and we really encourage you to read them once they're posted. Once again, congratulations to all of the scholars. Please stay tuned to our next awards segment for the 2025 Get Money Smart Financial Literacy video essay competition. Thank you for your time and attention.
Welcome back. I'm Carlisa Bell, the digital media and PR specialist here at the central bank.
And I'm Latoya Smith, the manager of external relations here at the bank. So, following the bank's objective to improve financial literacy and awareness, the Get Money Smart Financial Literacy video essay competition was started in 2020. In this year's competition, we asked participants across the Bahamas from primary school, junior high, senior high, and even college and university to tackle the topic: Artificial intelligence will help to boost the local Bahamian financial services sector. Our goal for this competition was to see how the next generation viewed AI. Will it improve financial sector efficiency, productivity, and inclusion? Or will its impact be negative and pose more challenges to the economy? There was really no wrong answer or no wrong position. These entries we received were nothing short of brilliant. And while we will not show the full clips, we will be highlighting our overall winners. Let's get straight to the results. So for our primary school category, even though this topic was technical in nature, these students did not disappoint when it came to making the topic relatable. For their dedication to the theme and creative execution, we begin with our honorable mentions. Congratulations to Amia Alry from Williamstown Primary School in Exuma and Azura Curry from St. Andrews School in Exuma. Moving on to our second place winner. This student showed a deeper understanding of how AI works, its tools, and how it can truly benefit when it came to financial planning and even fraud detection. Congratulations to Dylan Macintosh from Palmdale Primary School. And now the winners for our primary school division. These students' entries were stand out for their clear vision of how AI can boost services in the financial sector. The winners are...
My name is Casey J. Smith, a fifth grader at Temple Christian School. Artificial intelligence will help boost local Bahamian financial services. This summer, right here in Nassau, I attended a STEM camp. To tell you the truth, I was not thrilled about it. My mom said, 'You're on your tablet all day anyway. Might as well learn something.' After the first week, I was super happy she made me go. I learned about math, personal finance, coding, robotics, and artificial intelligence.
