Caymanian student honoured as AT&T Rising Future Maker

Aspiring filmmaker and Caymanian student Kristen Reid was recently named one of AT&T’s 25 Rising Future Makers among the young black community in the US. 

“It was amazing,” Reid, 21, from Newlands, said during a Zoom interview with the Cayman Compass on 11 Jan.

She scooped a $5,000 prize, a technology package – including a new cellphone and unlimited service for a year – among other incentives last month, through the ‘Dream in Black’ initiative presented by the US telecom giant. 

Reid was selected for her community work, which has been focussed on assisting students dealing with mental health issues at Oakwood University in Huntsville Alabama, a historically black college and university (HBCU).

A win not just for her, but for Caymanians

For Reid, the biggest reward of all was being able to meet enterprising industry leaders and network through the programme to take her career forward. 

“When I found that I could be an awardee and put up in a position where they could help me in my career… where I would not only get recognition, but I could also be given the platform to do more work in my community, to keep doing what I’m doing and to help me after I graduate… it was amazing,” she said.

 

She said being selected holds special significance for her and fellow young Caymanians.

“I feel like with Caymanians… we have this underdog mentality because we’re so tiny already and when we tell people that we’re from Cayman… people are, like, ‘where?’ So it’s different when you are a Caymanian and you’re able to be recognised for the things that you’re doing in your community,” she said. 

Added to this, she said, is the fact that, as a Caymanian student, “you’re not representing your family name, but you’re representing the family that is Caymanians and showing people that we exist and we take up space”.

Reid is in her final year of university, on a government scholarship, studying film and TV production and political science.

Reid shared that, as part of the prize package, she took part in a trip to North Carolina last month where awardees were hosted at a special event, toured the AT&T university and went to the International Civil Rights Center & Museum in Greensboro.

Focus on mental health

She did two projects at her school which earned the attention of the faculty and AT&T.

The first was a documentary short called ‘Birds Do Eat’ she made in sophomore year, which focussed on the mental health challenges that college students face. In it, she also shared her own struggles with anxiety.

It earned an honourable mention at the Sonscreen Film Festival in 2020.

She also received an AT&T Rising Future Maker award for her work in the community and her dedication to positively changing the film industry.

Additionally, Reid set up what she called a ‘Friendship Bench’ at the college. The bench is for college students who are struggling and need someone to talk to. 

“I realised that there was a bigger issue that we needed to address, that the film couldn’t do. At my school I started a friendship bench… it’s a literal bench that we have on campus now where students, if they’re having a bad day or they don’t know who to talk to, they can literally sit at the bench and people will come. And if they see you sitting at the bench it’s kind of like a beck-and-call to say, ‘Hey, I’m going through something and I don’t know who to talk to’,” she said.

The bench, Reid said, is creating an environment at the school where it’s okay to talk about mental health.

The aim, she said, is “taking the mental health stigma out of the black community and letting people know it’s okay to talk about your feelings”.

That initiative has been highlighted by a local Alabama TV station.

She said it is something she wanted to make sure that “I put a nice little bow on before I leave”.

Reid said it functions well for the university and she hopes it can be expanded into other schools to help students across the country who need that support.

Big plans ahead

She said she is looking forward to opportunities the AT&T programme provides to get in contact with well-known leaders like LeBron James,
J R Smith and La La Anthony. 

“[There are] so many great people in the industry that can help us and get our careers off the ground and keep doing this amazing work that we’re doing,” she added.

As for next steps, Reid will be heading to graduate school in New Haven to continue her studies and she said she will be using her prize money for that transition later this year. She said she aims to train as an actress and, at some point, be a director to join the ranks of fellow Caymanians Frank E. Flowers, Grace Byers and others flying the Cayman flag high in Hollywood.

Angela Burgin, Director of Marketing and Special Experiences at AT&T, said the initiative is a celebration of the next generation of leaders.

“We are thrilled to recognize dynamic HBCU students like Kristen for their amazing accomplishments and are excited to enable greater possibilities as they rise and endeavor to become leaders in their communities,” Burgin told the Compass via email.

She said throughout the years of recruiting, hiring, and working with universities across the nation, AT&T knows first-hand how HBCUs are building and shaping the next generation of Future Makers. 

“Through this program we get to celebrate 25 outstanding individuals, along with sharing their stories, as they endeavor to make a difference in their communities,” she added

She lauded the excellence in the submissions received from around the country which “speak to the power and impact that HBCU students are already having and that we seek to amplify through Dream in Black initiatives”.