With the help of a few friends, I founded Intelek International in Barbados in 1992. It was then called Roots Academy (RA).

The name “Roots Academy“ reflected my focus on the things that humanity's varied knowledge systems have in common. Motivated by the experience that brought my book, The Bible: Beauty and Terror Reconciled into being, I was especially keen to not only highlight those things that are common to differing religious systems (like Christianity and Islam) but also the remarkable similarities and overlaps between secular scientific and religious faith based ways of knowing.

This vision inspired RA's Statement of Agreement:

Intelek's vision of holistic knowledge, intellectual honesty or the persistent pursuit of truth, flows naturally from my recognition of the importance of honesty with oneself - the necessity and validity of sustained individualistic, rational inquiry.

In the language of contemporary education theory and practice, you could say Intelek reflects my recognition of the importance of lifelong learning. This is at least part of what is meant by holistic education, as used in RA's Statement of Agreement.

Intelek also builds on my recognition of the inevitable diversity of human beliefs and opinions. In TBBTR, I celebrate diversity of faith and opinion, seeing it as an inescapable conclusion of honest learning, and an indicator of the necessity and value of tolerance.

Reflecting my own experience, Intelek's purpose could easily be stated in the same language and context of Christian and other religious ideals. However, like TBBTR, Intelek's appeals and challenges transcend religious terminology, labels and boundaries. The Intelek message of Informed Faith (the title of one of my earliest post-fundamentalist essays) and the necessity of tolerance is directed to the Rastafarian, Christian, Jew, Hindu, Muslim, Bahai, Bhuddist and atheist alike. It speaks to both the capitalist and communist, as it addresses universal human strengths and weaknesses; it responds to universal needs and truths.

Also, while Intelek's objective is principally one of providing information and inspiration, it has always also been one of "action". The idea is not only to inspire individuals (primarily, but also groups) to the highest ideals, but also to help them bridge the gap between ideology and action; the gap between academics and the "real world".

I believe this gap is created and/or sustained by, among other things, persistent superficial distinctions between secular and religious education and activity.

Contrary to the suggestion of prominent Barbadian radio journalist David Ellis, who launched an on-air attack on myself and Intelek in March 2002, I did not choose the name "Intelek" to suggest that I am more intelligent than anyone else. Rather, as the unconventional spelling of the word suggests, "Intelek" was intended to encourage Barbadians and others to rethink the very notion of "intelligence".

Particularly, my goal is to help people see intelligence as a phenomenon that manifests itself in a variety of ways across different countries, cultures, languages, races and other possible dividing lines. It seems to me that if there is one claim that we can safely make about the complex thing we call "human intelligence" it is that it can be expressed in very diverse manners.

I therefore chose the name "Intelek", a Bajanized (Barbadianized), phonetic representation of the Standard English word, first and foremost because of its ability to communicate a relaxed, unconventional understanding of the notion of intelligence.

While valuing and addressing the cognitive features of intelligence - the kind of knowledge that tends to dominate formal education systems - Intelek is particularly concerned with the affective factors that influence how we learn. Intelek focuses on attitudinal and emotional development, exploring the link between this development and our socialisation.

Fundamentally, Intelek emphasizes human interdependence. The Intelek slogan "For All We Know" is not simply intended to prompt the usual association of those words with the limits of human intelligence: it is not only suggesting there is more to learn collectively as the human race. Rather, it is declaring that there is room for all forms of knowledge among humanity.

Rejecting dogmatic secular scientific or religious claims to a monopoly on "true or factual" knowledge, Intelek advances a vision of knowledge that is "unified" in spite of our different understandings of what it is possible to know.

Intelek, then called Roots Academy (RA) was first registered as a charitable Trust in Barbados in 1994 (www.caipo.gov.bb/search/search_results.php#). Barbadian historian Trevor Marshall, psychiatrist Dr. Richard Corbin, and Jocelyn Clarke, then a bright young actuary with the former Barbados Mutual, now Sagicor, were the first Trustees.

Conrad Mason of the Caribbean Conference of Churches, then based in Barbados, also made a significant input at this initial stage. Mason's attitude was encouraging, overall, but he was nonetheless critical, especially of the brevity of the Statement of Agreement that I had put together. I had proposed that RA be initially founded on the Statement, perhaps in lieu of, or pending the later development of, a constitution.

Dr. Corbin supported the Statement, noting particularly that its brevity would allow RA to be more open and inclusive in its membership and outreach initially. He thus assisted me in overcoming Mason's objections, and I regard that confidence boosting endorsement as his most important contribution to Intelek.

The contribution of entrepreneur David Harvey is harder to isolate. His enduring moral and practical support for me and RA, early on, and then Intelek, spanned several years and was invaluable.

David was a former Wesleyan when we met, and like I, had become disillusioned with fundamentalist Christianity. A tireless entrepreneurial enthusiast, he and I experimented with a number of growth models and strategies for Intelek. We both favoured the network selling model.

Stephen Massiah, a former member with me of the People's Cathedral - Barbados' largest and most prominent Pentecostal church was also helpful. Like Harvey, he too became a trustee of Intelek, when Clarke, Corbin and Marshall had moved on.

In 2002 Massiah played a key role in the publication of Viola Davis' book, The Creative Use of Schizophrenia In Caribbean Writing, arguably Intelek's most ambitious publishing project up to that time.

Stephen Mendes, a former Berean Christian, with close ties to Barbados' Jewish community also supported Intelek for a number of years . His company, Mendes Computers hosted the Intelek website, at a concessionary rate, up until 2008.

Though intermittent, the moral and practical support of graphic artist Andrew Skeete, feminist poet Margaret Gill, Anglican priest Dr. Leslie Lett and international education consultant Isaac Goodine was also very valuable.

Goodine, a Canadian diplomat and international education consultant then based in Barbados, was attracted to RA by some publicity I did for the organization in the Barbados Advocate newspaper, when I first registered it with the local Department of Corporate Affairs.

As I recall, Isaac was intrigued by the notion of holistic education I articulated, and especially by my understanding that this type of education both required and could bring about a paradigm shift in society's perceptions. Like I, he remains very enthusiastic about the notion of challenging existing paradigms or ways of viewing the world. He typically speaks of the "Aha" moment that individuals have, when they experience a paradigm shift in some aspect of their understanding of the world.

Despite bitter betrayals and disappointments dealt him by unscrupulous leaders of business in the Caribbean, Goodine remains committed to the advancement of holistic education in that region, as in Canada, where he is currently based, and elsewhere. He remains a staunch supporter of my efforts through Intelek and is expected to play a leading role in upcoming projects.

Intelek in the UK

Since moving to Norfolk in the UK in 2006, I have been exploring the various structural options that would allow me to continue and expand upon Intelek's work while I am here. I have been networking and collaborating with a number of NGO and business interests, including: the Sainsbury Centre for the Visual Arts (at the University of East Anglia), the Roman Catholic Justice and Peace Commission of Norwich, the Ihsan Mosque Muslim community of Norwich, Rainbow Nations, the Norfolk and Norwich Racial Equality Council, Domino's Pizza and others.

I find the CIC model somewhat attractive, but my experience with Rainbow Nations has suggested that this structure can be rather unwieldy. So for the time being, I am pursuing my holistic education and communications social agenda as a sole trader, and have registered Intelek International as the title under which I trade, to safeguard Intelek's continuity.

Intelek's work therefore continues apace, while organizational and/or stuctural matters are being resolved gradually - with the assistance of legal firm Clapham Collinge, business development consultants Bizz Fizz, Work House and similar Norwich-based agencies.