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Kevon Foderingham is an Arts for Social Change advocate; Executive Director of Caribbean Fashion and Arts Feature Festival and Founder of EAST YARD. He is also the designer of the Green Violet accessory line and a Personal Brand Visioning Coach. At 37 years, he has decided that he wants to dedicate the rest of his life to promoting social change. Before that clarity of purpose came, he spent years doing other things. Check out what he told MENtions about his journey:

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I am an Arima boy through and through. I attended Arima Boys Government Primary School and then Holy Cross College. I still live in Arima. As I look back, I can honestly describe my childhood as idyllic. I was blessed to have had two parents who allowed me to dream. I don’t think there ever was a time when I felt like I had to do or be anything in particular: other than giving my very best. We weren’t rich but we lacked little. The stability that I experienced and learning the value of hard work, have had the most tangible and lasting effect on how I navigate the world today. I truly believe in the formula that hard work pays off and that we must do the work in order to reap the reward.

Unlike my mother who knew from a young age that she wanted to become a nurse and did that happily for her entire work life, I never knew exactly what I wanted to be. What I did know, however, was that I wanted to be creative and also help people in some way. In school, I was great at languages, literature, social studies and business subjects. I was also very good with people and socializing. Because of these skill sets, I headed to London to study Hotel and Catering Management and Social Sciences and at age 20, I became one of the managers of a trendy American soul food restaurant which was headed by a celebrity chef and frequented by celebrities. It was there that I caught the arts and entertainment bug.     

I returned home after almost five years in London, started another restaurant management job and did freelance entertainment and artist management work alongside my brother. We even ventured into local publishing with our own magazine, R.A.S.H (Rage Art Soul Heart) with a group of equally talented young people. We also launched a successful open-mic night series called Eu-forum at Euphoria Lounge at that time.

“There wasn’t enough social good in what I was doing”

A short time after, I started to feel a bit disillusioned: as if I wasn’t doing enough to really help people. I was pursuing creative projects but I didn’t think that there was enough social good in what I was doing and that really bothered me. I eventually took a sabbatical from the arts and entertainment sector and began teaching at YTEPP. Soon after that, I was chosen to sit on the board of the YMCA in Port of Spain and began volunteering with other NGOs. In 2011, I started working at non-profit organization, PSI-Caribbean, where I became Marketing Manager with responsibility for the communications and marketing of the organization’s public health initiatives in eleven Caribbean countries.

My time at PSI-Caribbean ended in 2017 and since then, I started my own non-profit, Caribbean Fashion and Arts Feature Festival (CFAFF). I also created EAST YARD, a community arts centre in Arima. CFAFFs main aim is to utilize the arts to promote social change. It took me a while but I am finally doing what I really wanted to do – something creative that is helping people.        

“My parents encouraged my wild ideas”

Since my youth, I have always believed that if an opportunity didn’t present itself in the way I wanted it to, I had to create it myself. My wildest ideas never seemed that wild because my parents never thought my ideas were wild. In fact, they encouraged my ‘wild’ ideas. They (along with other people) inspired me and allowed me to be open to trying different things. Experience has been my greatest mentor and my parents were the facilitators of it.

I have finally found what it is I intend to do for the remainder of my career and have started engaging people who I would call ‘mentors’. It is my view that mentors abound and are eager to support so for young black men especially, I encourage you to look to anyone who you think is doing something positive that interests you.  This is the first step to a positive engagement with mentors.            

“Leave your mark on it”

It is important to note that there isn’t an ideal standard for choosing a career: however, the formula for success must include hard work. Therefore, I would tell any young person: Don’t be worried if you don’t know exactly what you want to do but ensure that whatever you do, be the best at it. I believe that wherever we find ourselves and whatever we find ourselves doing, we should leave it better than we found it. Leave your mark on it. Try things, take risks and learn skills. Eventually your path will become clear and you will be equipped for the trek.

Establishing my own non-profit is just the beginning of what I know will be my magnum opus: one that my experiences have prepared me for. CFAFF and EAST YARD’s growth and development in the past 3 years have astounded me. Both organisations have provided me with the opportunity to now use my skills and experiences to effect great change.

At 37 years, I feel like the best of my career is still yet to come and because of the cornucopia of skills and experiences gained over the years, I am more prepared than I have ever been.

Bring it on!

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Kevon recently launched a personal professional website www.kevonfoderingham.com and started For Common Good, The Podcast, an interview series that allows him to speak to creative luminaries from around the globe to learn about their initiatives that are using the arts to promote social change.