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Guyanese youth advocate named among recipients of Commonwealth Young Leaders Award
– recognised for service in education and healthcare
Guyanese medical student, Kelly Anetta Hyles.
(Kaieteur News) – Guyanese medical student and nonprofit founder, Kelly Anetta Hyles has been named among recipients of the Queen Elizabeth II Commonwealth Trust’s 100 Young Leaders Award, a recognition she says comes from her commitment to helping Guyanese better access education and healthcare services.
Hyles, born and raised at Vryheid’s Lust, East Coast Demerara (ECD) shared that the award recognised her work through Gears for Success, the non-profit organisation she founded in 2017 to improve educational access for children across Guyana.
The Queen Elizabeth II Commonwealth Trust (QECT) established the 100 Young Leaders Awards to commemorate what would have been Queen Elizabeth II’s 100th birthday, honouring young leaders across the Commonwealth for contributions in education, health, the environment, inclusion and other fields. “I think it is a representation of my dedication to Guyana and to the education space here in particular,” Hyles said in an interview with this publication. She credited her mentors like Asafa George and Linden Morrison for encouraging her work in public service and youth development.
Hyles with her mother, Anetta Sealey, following her graduation from Harvard University.
She explained that the inspiration for Gears for Success came about during her time as a mentor at the Harvard Ed Portal in the United States, where she saw firsthand the educational resources available to students there and wanted Guyanese children to benefit from the same. So she began by consulting teachers and administrators at her former school, Vryheid’s Lust Primary School, to better understand their needs.
The organisation initially focused on providing mathematics supplies and establishing a library at the school before expanding into science summer camps and STEM-focused initiatives, and Hyles is now preparing for a national STEM fair called “Gears Innovation Week,” which is expected to bring together students from across Guyana later this year. She said the initiative aims to expose more students, particularly those in rural communities, to opportunities in STEM.
In addition to her non-profit work, Hyles is currently pursuing both a Doctor of Medicine and Master of Business Administration degree at Stanford University and is expected to complete the MBA programme in June before applying for a general surgery residency. She shared that combining medicine with business studies was a deliberate decision that stems from her interest in healthcare equity and expanding access to specialised surgical services for vulnerable populations.
“Having those business skills means I can think outside of the operating room,” she explained, noting that her work in healthcare policy also extends to Guyana.
Hyles is pictured with her roommates and best friends from college.
Before entering Stanford Medicine, she returned to Guyana through the Richardson Postgraduate Public Service Fellowship programme, where she worked with the Ministry of Health and the 5G Dialysis Centre on expanding dialysis access.
Her work here contributed to the development and implementation of a recurring dialysis subsidy programme aimed at assisting vulnerable patients.
“What makes me most proud is that it is not a one-time grant,” she said. “It is a recurring subsidy, which means it continues to affect the lives of people from vulnerable populations long after I was involved.”
Hyles reflected that her original plan after being accepted to Harvard a decade ago was to complete undergraduate studies, attend medical school immediately and become a surgeon. However, she said life experiences, travel and exposure to different healthcare systems taught her the value of flexibility and growth. “The more experience I have had, the more I travelled and saw different healthcare systems, the more I understood the intricacies of healthcare,” she said.
At Harvard, she studied Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology with a secondary concentration in Ethnicity, Migration and Rights, and became heavily involved in the Harvard Caribbean Club, eventually serving as president and organising initiatives aimed at celebrating Caribbean culture and representation.
Hyles credited mentors and institutional support for helping her pursue ambitious goals, including international public health work in Zimbabwe and public service fellowships in Guyana. “What I have learned is that there is always someone willing to help, and there is always a way to fund the vision,” she expressed.
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So over joyed for your achievement and also very very proud to know atat my own guyanese girl can make us feel this way.
You came a long way may God Bless and protect you on this journey