Actor and author Grace Byers will headline the LIFE Literacy Conference 2026 on 7 November at Hotel Indigo Grand Cayman.
Byers will deliver the keynote address, ‘Every child has a voice’, during a full-day programme focused on early childhood development and the role of families, professionals, businesses and the wider community.
The conference will take place under the theme ‘Early childhood: Shared responsibility. Shared success’ and will examine what children need during their earliest years and what can happen when those needs are not addressed.
LIFE said the event will build on discussions from its inaugural conference in 2025, with this year’s programme moving towards practical action on early childhood development.
Dr Laurence van Hanswijck de Jonge of KidsAbility will present, ‘Building the brain: Why the earliest years shape a lifetime’, focusing on the foundations of healthy development.
Paul Byles of FTS will address the economic dimension of early intervention in a presentation titled, ‘Investing early: The economics of opportunity’.
Education minister Rolston Anglin will also deliver a keynote address on the government’s perspective on early childhood education and development in the Cayman Islands.
One panel, titled, ‘When early needs go unmet: Understanding the cost of inaction’, will bring together specialists from early intervention, health and early childhood education.
The discussion will examine how developmental needs affect children’s ability to learn and develop, as well as the potential consequences when children and families cannot access support at an early stage.
The conference will close with ‘Shared responsibility, shared success: From awareness to action’, a cross-sector discussion involving families, educators, health professionals, businesses, government, social services, the justice system and other community groups.
The session will focus on what each part of the community can do next rather than assigning responsibility for early childhood development to a single sector.
LIFE will also present ‘From play to progress: One year on’, a discussion paper based on stakeholder reflections following the 2025 report, ‘From play to progress: Strengthening early childhood education in the Cayman Islands’, developed by LIFE Cayman in collaboration with KPMG.
LIFE executive director Erica Dell’Oglio said: “Early childhood education is not just an education issue.
“The experiences children have in their earliest years shape families, communities and Cayman’s future, which is why responsibility for getting it right belongs to all of us.”
