Yolande Beckles is a British educationalist and businesswoman. She founded Global Graduates in 1998, a company aimed at raising the aspirations of, and teaching

soft skills Soft skills, also known as power skills, common skills or core skills, are skills applicable to all professions. These include critical thinking, problem solving, public speaking, professional writing, teamwork, digital literacy, leadership, pr ...

to mainly ethnic minority children, but not solely made up from ethnic minority children. Global Graduates collapsed in 2003. After this, debts were left unpaid and at least nineteen

County Court judgment Description In England and Wales, County Court judgments (CCJs) are legal decisions handed down by the County Court. Judgments for monetary sums are entered on the statutory Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines, which is checked by credit ref ...

s were lodged against her. In 2006, she starred in a three-part documentary series called Don't Mess with Miss Beckles which was aired on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

. In it, she tried to motivate three secondary school children (one per episode) to achieve more in their academic life. The reaction to the show in the media was polarised, with some praising her message of parental involvement in a child's learning, while others suggested that the show was exploitative and that her approach was misguided. One of the parents featured in the show subsequently spoke out about Beckles's 'wholly inappropriate' behaviour. The screening of the program also prompted a number of Beckles's creditors to issue renewed calls for payment. An individual claiming to be a friend of a creditor has since set up a website to monitor her activities. Yolande Beckles is currently in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, where she has set up an educational program called ''Think Global Kids'' and been elected to a volunteer seat on the Greater Echo Park Elysian

Neighborhood council A neighborhood council (also known as a community league) is a governmental or non-governmental body, whose purpose is to promote citizen participation in local government.Martin Minogue, ''Documents on Contemporary British Government: Volume 2, L ...

. She was born in London in 1962 to parents of

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

ian origin. She has two siblings, Brian and Hermione, and two children, Diandra and Euan. Guardian - Yvonne Roberts meets controversial educational motivator Yolande Beckles
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beckles, Yolande English people of Trinidad and Tobago descent Living people Year of birth missing (living people)