This Trelawny-born humanitarian, Aquarian, Fredrick Antony Young, is a man that rose from humble beginnings to now hold the position of client relations manager at JN Small Business Loans Ltd, a subsidiary of Jamaica National Group.
Mr Young’s life is much larger than being a client relations manager, as his time and energy are also devoted to service and dedication to others, through various roles and capacities, whether as president of the St Mary Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Kiwanis Club of St Mary or as a justice of the peace (JP).
“I believe in doing good to most people, if not all and respecting the ordinary man. These are the persons who need your help and those are the persons who can help you in ways nobody else can…” said Mr Young in an interview with The Times.
The chapters of Fredrick Young’s remarkable story began to take form on January 28, 1962 when he was born to Michael and Winnifred Young (now Cummings) in Bunker’s Hill, Trelawny. He had five siblings. “I lost my father at age eight, so my mother was the principal person at home, before she remarried two years after and my stepfather (Uriah Cummings) helped to nurture us, but my mother was the main breadwinner throughout these years,” Mr Young said.
He indicated that he never knew what it was like to be poor as his stepfather did small farming, along with his mother, who worked in the tourism sector.
His early education started at the community basic school in Bunker’s Hill and then Unity Primary School from where he went to Muschett Secondary School.
In February of 1979, while in Grade 11 at Muschett Secondary, Fredrick left to attend the newly opened Elim Agricultural School in St Elizabeth.
He says his stint at Elim broadened his interest in agriculture. He graduated in June 1981 with a certificate in general agriculture. Later he supplemented his educational qualification, graduating with an associate of science degree in general agriculture from the College of Agriculture (now College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE) in 1991 and a Bachelor of Technology degree in Environmental Studies from CASE in 2008. Mr Young has also received several other certificates at various fields in his profession.
THE YEARS IN EDUCATION
Along Fredrick Young’s journey was the time he spent teaching. He taught as a pre-trained teacher for a year at Muschett Secondary School (his Alma-mata) and later as agricultural science teacher at Port Maria Secondary School (now Brimmer Vale High School) in St Mary for nearly ten years, to March of 1992, rising to head of the Agriculture Department.
Mr Young confessed that initially, he did not have an interest in teaching, but he went into the field to give back. “My major drawback then would have been my speech, which was not clear. I talked and stuttered, but I told myself that Fredrick “you are in charge” and you have to change things and I then picked up confidence that I must make a difference,” Mr Young pointed out.
NEW CAREER
In 1992, Fredrick Young’s life took on an interesting twist as he exited the classroom. He was encouraged by a former teacher Frank Wylie, who was then the head of a company called, Self Start Fund to work with him in St Mary.
Between March 1992 and December 1995, Mr Young worked as operations officer at Self Start Fund, where his role included managing a micro and small business loan portfolio of over 200 clients.
He left the Self Start Fund and went to work as parish manager for St Ann and parts of Clarendon with Micro Investment Development Agency (MIDA) from January 1996 to June 2004.
Frank Wylie, who was then working at JN Small Business Loans, later employed Mr Young at that company. At his new place of employment, Mr Young served as regional supervisor between July 2004 and March 2016.
Through his hard work, he was elevated to client relations manager in April 2016. His functions in this new capacity includes: managing a region comprising of six locations in St. Ann, St. Mary and Portland; supervising a team of 20 persons; weekly loan appraisal and evaluating, coordinating and monitoring a loan portfolio averaged at $260 million with some 2,600 micro and small business clients while maintaining an average Portfolio at Risk at the international levels. At the same time he is responsible for providing client training on an ongoing basis; interfacing with sector agencies and with the general public on a daily basis and meeting a monthly budgeted loan target of 500 loans / clients valued at over $60m to micro and small business clientele in the region.
“When we help someone with a loan, it is to make them better,” Mr Young said.
COMMUNITY SERVICE
Despite an extensive work portfolio, Mr Young is actively engaged in community service and has been a member of several groups in trying to make a difference in the lives of others in St Mary and across the North Coast.
Mr Young is the president of the St Mary Chamber of Commerce, since January 2016 and he has served in the capacity of president prior to this from April 2003 to June 2006. He has also been the director of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce between April 2003 and June 2006, while being the St. Mary President.
He also serves as: a justice of the peace (JP) in St Mary since 2005; and continues to serve on the executive of the Lay Magistrates Association of St Mary, the County of Middlesex and of Jamaica. He is the president of the Tryall Citizens’ Association since September 2012; chairman of the Js Heart Ease Early Childhood Institute since October 2012 and Chairman of the Grants Committee, NIS Port Maria.
Mr Young has also served in various capacities on various boards and organizations.
He has been a Kiwanian since 1992 and has served the Kiwanis Club of St Mary in various capacities including distinguished club secretary, president and also as distinguished lieutenant governor for Division 24, of Eastern Canada and Caribbean District, Kiwanis International.
Mr Young said his passion for volunteerism emerged out of joining the Kiwanis Club. His first interaction with the club interestingly started when he went to a Kiwanis meeting to speak about loans. For his work in the Kiwanis, Mr Young has received several awards.
When asked how he balances his community service and work, he credited time management as one of the factors.
“It comes down to time management and persons who are around you, who you can delegate duties to. For example, the Chamber of Commerce, which I now head, we have persons who want to see the parish move forward in a positive direction. We have a close hardworking group of senior members in the Chamber. So these are persons who will push you. They will tell you where you are going wrong and we have constant activities, meetings and assessments,” Mr Young asserted.
Mr Young is married to Dawn, an educator, since July 25, 1992. He has three grown children, Sheriffa, Kaswayne and Rajwayne.
Coming from a Christian background, he gave his life to the Lord and got baptized in November 2016. He is a member of the Emmauel Baptist Church in Port Maria, St Mary.
ENCOURAGING VOLUNTEERISM
Mr Young believes that volunteerism has to start from the family structure.
Through the Tryall Citizens Association of which he is president, they have held “back to school” treats every August for over 200 persons and also carried out Labour Day projects in the community for the past six years.
“Last year, we got 14 persons from the community into HEART through discussions and negotiations… I just can’t sit back and do nothing. I look at ways how I can empower them (the youths) through training, through connections with institutions that can offer jobs, training and so on,” Mr Young argued.
For his distinguished volunteerism efforts, Mr Young has received awards including that of the Governor General Awards for Excellence for St Mary in June 2015 and the Lay Magistrates’ Association of Jamaica, parish awards for St Mary in 2016.
