Sian Cuffy- Young – Colorado Certified Environmental Educator, Waste Management Consultant and Green Enterprise Mentor: Mrs. Sian Cuffy-Young has been involved in the environmental field for over thirteen (13) years. She is no stranger to challenge as her experience stems from the waste and mining sectors – two fields many shy away from. She also has a wealth of experience in environmental management and education and has received training in behaviour change through the method of community-based social marketing with the University of Tennessee. She is a Colorado Certified Environmental Educator, Speaker and Principal Consultant of Siel Environmental Services Limited. Siel Environmental is a waste efficiency and environmental company. She transforms the way people think and act towards waste. She works predominantly with small to medium enterprises to become waste and eco efficient through reducing the amount of waste they generate and/or adding an environmental side to their businesses. As part of her outreach, she also works with schools to implement and develop sustainable school programmes in Trinidad and Tobago and by extension the Caribbean. Her academic qualifications include a B Sc (Hons) degree Double major in Physics and Masters in Environmental Engineering from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Campus and a Diploma in Environmental Management from Galilee College, Israel. She is also a Fulbright Hubert Humphrey Fellow from Cornell University where she specialized in Quarry rehabilitation and is a recent graduate of the Shell LiveWire programme. Follow Sian on social media:
Sian’s Project: Waste is WE Movement and the Women for Change in Waste Programme
Mrs. Sian Cuffy-Young is the Founder of the Waste is WE movement and Women in Waste. As a woman (additionally a woman of colour) in a male dominated field of waste management, she strives to encourage more women to start businesses or activities in the field as well. Women are powerful drivers of change and we should be seen as pioneers and leaders alongside the men. One of her goals is to create a platform to showcase the work of women in waste management that with the help of funding, would be launched by June 2019. Mrs Sian Cuffy-Young is a proud Woman in Waste. The Problem In today’s world women who are involved in waste are primarily either sanitation workers, waste haulers or recycling pickers and the men dominate the leadership roles in waste management companies. It is often not even considered as a career path for most girls. Target Audience The Users: We at women in waste, not only want to see more women participate in those general roles but our goal is to see women accept and take on leadership roles by creating their own organisations or lead corporate companies as well. Women who desire to make a difference in their communities. The Customers: We want to work with female university graduates on the cusp of deciding what career choices they want between the ages of 21 to 40 and those looking for a source of income for their families in the Caribbean and by extension developing countries. The Idea Our goal is to motivate and encourage women to start for profit companies as well as non profits in waste management where they can hire more women; to accept leadership roles in corporate waste companies and to create a platform to showcase the incredible work of those women already in waste. We will provide mentorship to the young women as well as host workshops and seminars featuring women who are involved in waste management at various levels. We will also partner with the University of the West Indies, other waste organisations and/or STEM centered educational companies/institutions to form a collaborative programme for those female students who are interested in waste management and provide a first hand look into the work involved in managing waste. This in turn can lead to internships and other opportunities for them.