12 Selected to Participate in GVI 'Fellows Program' Paying $55,000 Annually; Program is Effort to Retain Talent, Stop Brain Drain

The twelve young people who were successful after applying to participate in the 2021 Government of the Virgin Island Financial Fellows program have already begun their first six-month rotation. Thirty-eight people applied to the program.

Jenifer O'Neal, Office of Management and Budget director said the fellows program was conceived many months ago to bring more young people into public service as it will be giving them opportunities to learn and be paid while being trained.

The successful fellows which comprise four males will be placed at OMB, the Department of Finance, the Office of Disaster Recovery, and the Bureau of Internal Revenue. The program itself is for two years and each fellow will spend six months at each of the aforementioned departments.

“They are from various backgrounds and have college degrees received within the last three years. Fellows will rotate every six months within the four departments to obtain a broad and comprehensive understanding of government over the two-year time frame,” Ms. O’Neal said during a news conference Tuesday to officially announce the chosen fellows.

“Each department, has, therefore, been assigned three fellows each, each fellow has been assigned a mentor that will assist and support them for the entire two years. Mentors are from various agencies within the Government of the Virgin Islands and will give a minimum of eight hours per month to their mentees,” she said.

Each fellow has been provided with a laptop and all tools necessary for them to be fully functional in their new roles and all training will be provided. The fellows are full-time exempt employees with all the benefits of GVI employees. Asked about their salary during the questioning segment of the press conference, Governor Albert Bryan told the Consortium the fellows make $55,000 annually.