National

Crafting Opportunity: GBPA’s Crafters Academy Empowers Local Talent

GRAND BAHAMA, BAHAMAS – Crafters Academy is a program that blends artistry, sustainability, and empowerment at a time when Grand Bahama is seeing fresh investment.

Published

7 months ago

August 21, 2025

Kendeno Knowles

GRAND BAHAMA, BAHAMAS – It’s a program that blends artistry, sustainability, and empowerment at a time when Grand Bahama is seeing fresh investment like Carnival’s Celebration Key.

It’s called Crafters Academy – a GBPA initiative that was recently featured at Freeport Business Expo bringing together local talent, innovators, and entrepreneurs.

For founder Fatima-Zarah Kaboub, the vision is simple use craft as a pathway to empowerment.

From colorful coasters carved out from casuarina trees, to bowls made from coconuts and baskets reimagined through fashion design, the program gives a fresh spin to traditions many of us grew up with.

 The idea is to take what’s right in our backyards, pair it with creativity and turn it into something people can be proud to sell and proud to buy.

As for what those proudly Bahamian products look like?

 And for many crafters academy students, it’s their first real chance to turn creativity into business.

And Kaboub’s vision goes beyond just local sales.

She says the Crafters Academy is about re-imagining Bahamian products for the global stage, proving that creativity, culture, and sustainability can also drive opportunity.