The Bank of Guam held its annual economic outlook forum today. This year's theme was "Purpose Beyond Profit." 

"More and more now businesses are looking for reasons for existing," Bank President and CEO Joaquin Cook explained. "Why it is what they do, or why they do what they do. And purpose goes deep. Nowadays everyone's talking environmental protection, climate change, and that's one purpose, but it's even deeper. It can be how they help the community, what are they giving back. Really that's what its all about, what is their purpose."

In his address on future business trends, Cook talked about how Generation Z is now replacing the Millennials, and how vastly different they are as consumers and employees.



"And because of this technology they have, they know a lot more than I ever did growing up," he said. "They have access to everything. And their big thing is purpose. When they're looking for a company to buy things from they want to know what it is that company is doing to make the world a better place, to make people's lives better. Same things go when they're looking for places to work, They wanna work at places where the value and culture of that establishment match theirs."

The forum also featured presentations by Guam Economic Development Authority CEO Melanie Mendiola on economic development, and Labor director David Dell'isola on the local labor market.

Meanwhile, the keynote speaker at today's forum was environmental activist Selina Neirek Leem of the Marshall Islands. She was just 18 years old when she spoke at a global climate summit about the threat to her homeland from global warming and rising sea levels.

Selina's home islands in the Marshalls atoll sit just two meters above sea level, making them extremely vulnerable to rising tides. As a student in Germany in 2015, she was brought on stage at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris by the late Marshallese President Tony deBrum to speak on the impact of climate change to the future of their country.

Now 22, Selina continues to be an outspoken "climate warrior" warning of the growing threat.

"So they destroy the seashores, they destroy seawalls, and houses that are built along the seashore," she said. "They salinate the soil, and because the island is a coral atoll the soil is very poor. And so they salinate the soil, and so the very little crops that the marshall island has they die off as well."


Selina said it was the prophetic words of her late grandfather that inspired her to advocate for the environment.

"He told me as a child that God would melt the ice in the north and the south pole and the water would rise and would basically submerge our island," she said. "And he has passed away, but I don't know if he knew that climate change was happening or he just did that to scare me so that I can be more Christian-like."


She often speaks at forums like this to urge youth to take up the cause of protecting the environment. Her message in great part is that the youth must get involved.

"I spoke about how the narrative is us youth will be inheriting this planet," she said. "We are the future leaders, and I'm saying no, we are already living on this earth, we are already living it, we are not future leaders we're present leaders because so many of the activities that youth all over the world have mobilized to do, they are acts of a leader."