As the Executive Director of the Guyanese & American Business & Professional Council (GABPC), Shanie Persaud works tirelessly to develop stronger ties between Guyana and the United States in an effort to forge a closer relationship between the business and professional communities of both nations.
GABPC is the first and leading Guyanese-American business organization that provides a vast array of services aimed at promoting and advancing business relations between Guyanese and Americans.
Persaud move to the United States in 1999 with the expressed purpose of networking the Guyanese population with the greater community. She helps to connect advancing Guyanese entrepreneurs to all of the networks they need to succeed in the business world. This includes investments, marketing and technology.
Persaud began her public service career while still living in Guyana. At 18, she started working with the Guyanese media as a reporter for the national newspaper. She went into television as a weekend news anchor and augmented her work within the community by involving herself with economic development and health education. By the time she left Guyana at the age of 23, she was the marketing manager for the state television network. Her first stop in America was Texas, where she gave birth to her son, C.J. Persaud. Before joining GABPC, Persaud was the CEO for El Dorado Media and Marketing, which focuses on reaching the Guyanese American community with direct-to-consumer messaging services.
Aside from her work with GABPC, Persaud has also been on the York College President’s Advisory Board since 2006. In 2010 she was one of 40 young professionals who were honored with the Rising Star Award by the Queens Courier for exemplify outstanding leadership skills, not only in their chosen fields, but also in their community.
GABPC provides many unique platforms to promote business brands, services & products to a high-level audience at its Educational, Health, Financial and Business Seminars and Workshops, Business Expos and Trade Shows; Networking Events.
“A group of us, both Guyanese and Americans, put it together,” Persaud said. “It formed primarily for that and to give more prominence to the Guyanese community over here and to allow Americans to market themselves for this community.”
Persaud put her media experience in both Guyana and Queens to good use, using her ability to make contacts as a way to drive together the Guyanese community with organizations, such as the Queens Chamber of Commerce, the Queens Economic Development Corporation and the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation. “More and more, I try to partner with other organizations within the community to bring services to our members and the business community at large,” she said. In addition to business and career services, the New York-based GABPC also works with charities, doing activities like raffles to assist the American Cancer Society and others.
For the future, Persaud said she hopes that GABPC’s membership will continue to grow and that the organization will be able to do even more to help members of the Queens Guyanese community. While she lives in the U.S., her heart is still in Guyana. She tries to visit her family as often as possible, but when she cannot, she relies on technology to connect her with loved ones. “My heart and soul has always been Guyana and always will be,” she said.
To learn more about the Guyanese & American Business & Professional Council (GABPC), visit their website at: http://www.gabpc.org
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Great! Keep it up.
Proud of my aunty always❤️