Impacting Jamaica

Hunger is a challenge for many college students with limited financial resources. Caroline Mahfood, the chief executive officer of the GraceKennedy Foundation, shares how the charity is tackling the issue with the GK Campus Connect Food Bank, which provides over 100 students with food packages on a monthly basis. She also discloses that the foundation is working with The Ocean Clean-up to tackle t...

Daddy Ernie is an award-winning Radio Presenter and DJ. He has been instrumental in the growth of Jamaican music and culture in the UK. He was the host of the first five-day-a-week reggae programme outside of Jamaica, with his historic show Superjam - which was born on Choice FM radio at the beginning of the 1990s. Throughout his career, he has become a household name and has interviewed some of J...

Sheldon Millington is the founder of Elitte Club Limited, a registered charitable organization, working mainly in inner-city communities. The club offers support to the less fortunate, while providing professional guidance to all its members. Since its inception, the charitable organization has touched in excess of 20,000 persons. Impacting Jamaica Host Keisha Hill chats with Millington about the...

Members of the Rosemount Alumni Association may be considered new kids on the block, relative to the Union of Jamaican Alumni Associations (UJAA), USA, Inc. However, that has not dampened the enthusiasm for their St. Catherine-based institution, Rosemount Infant and Primary School. Having weathered the COVID-19 storm, members of the association will continue ‘lending a helping hand for the cause o...

As the agency that regulates operations at the island’s ports, the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) has undertaken several initiatives that have positively impacted the lives and livelihoods of people across the island. Kimberley Stiff, assistant vice-president of marketing communications at the PAJ, explained that roughly $500 million was spent to redevelop and improve the Ocho Rios fishing villag...

Businessman Bobby Clarke is promising to transform content delivery to Jamaicans living at home and abroad. He plans too, to incorporate the wider Caribbean in his broader vision. Clarke, head of the Caribbean Global Network Group, is getting ready to launch The Bridge 99 FM in Jamaica. The station, under the umbrella of the New York-based IRIE Jam Radio, will, as of July, serve both Jamaicans at...

Members of the St Andrew Technical High School Alumni have all the right reasons to be celebrating as the school emerges from the pandemic standing tall. It has been voted the Most COVID-19 Ready among Corporate Area institutions of secondary learning, thanks in part to the ongoing generosity of its membership in such areas as scholarships, care packages, e-learning devices, personal protective eq...

Now in its 20th year, the Jamaica National Small Business Loans (JNSBL) has been redefining access to affordable funding for micro and small businesses with its flexible and holistic approach. Gillian Hyde, its general manager, speaks about the JN Group subsidiary’s employment of flexible terms and requirements to access loans as low as $20,000, as well as its aim of assessing the overall needs of...

Formed in 1986, the St. Hugh’s High School Alumnae Association – New York Chapter – is one of the charter members of the Union of Jamaican Alumni Associations (UJAA), USA, Inc. Without much hype, the association has forged a big sister relationship with the school, in many key areas, including mentorship, scholarship and upkeep of the physical plant. Using an adversity as an opportunity, past stud...

Desmond Palmer could only manage a bronze medal during inter-house long jump at school. That never stopped him from falling in love with athletics but there was another problem. Desmond believed there wasn’t enough written history on the athletic achievements of Jamaicans outside of the famous names of recent history. The names Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Usain Bolt, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Merlene...

Now in its 20th year of operation, Jamaica National Small Business Loans (JNSBL) has been redefining access to affordable funding for micro and small businesses with its flexible and holistic approach. Gillian Hyde, general manager of JNSBL, speaks about the JN Group subsidiary’s employment of flexible terms and non-traditional requirements to access loans as low as $20,000, while adopting a holis...

Professor Brendan Bain is a multifaceted Caribbean man who has brought honour and prestige to the region as a physician and academic. Professor Bain has been outstanding in all three areas in which the University of the West Indies requires its faculty to perform – teaching, research and publications; and service to community. Well-respected and admired, Professor Bain was the inaugural lead coord...

Daniella Johnson, 32, has worked tirelessly to support the development and growth of social purpose organizations, fostering meaningful and measurable impact in communities across Ontario and Canada as a whole. Now, Johnson, who is of Jamaican parentage, is seeking the candidacy of the federal Liberal Party in Brampton Centre, Ontario. She began her career in social services as a caseworker for th...

Rhona Dunwell, the President of the Alliance of Jamaican Alumni Associations (AJAA) in Toronto, Canada, is leading a group that is doing outstanding work for education. For 33 years, the Alliance has been the umbrella organization for many Jamaicans living in the Greater Toronto Area who are supporting their alma maters in Jamaica. Since 1988, the Alliance has initiated several projects and progra...

Audrey Hinchcliffe has been ahead of the game in the fight against the spread of COVID-19 in Jamaica. Beginning before Jamaica had its very first case, her voice rang loud, getting organisations to understand and execute sanitisation exercises to stave off the spread of the virus. Now, the founder of Manpower and Maintenance Services Limited (MMS) and Caribbean Health Management Consultants Limite...

“You can use your disadvantage as an advantage. Embrace who you are. It’s not about where you come from but where you are going. Don’t count yourself out. There is always an upside” are the inspirational nuggets of wisdom from Governor-General’s Programme of Excellence Awardee Fitzroy ‘Pablo’ Wickham. A former head boy of the York Castle High School in Brown’s Town, St. Ann, Wickham hopes to pursu...

Black issues will get more coverage at The Independent newspaper in the United Kingdom with the appointment of award-winning journalist Nadine White as the first Race Correspondent in the title’s 35-year history. Born to Jamaican parents in London, she has received accolades for her brilliant work as a leading journalist in the UK. White opens up about her journey in journalism; and why she wants...

Dr. Gladys Gem Hyatt believes that troubled children just need someone to look out for them, listen to them, teach them and help them to overcome their challenges. That is what she has been doing for several decades as a respected educator. The Governor-General’s Programme of Excellence Awardee has also served the Juvenile and Lay Magistrates courts in Spanish Town and has provided counsel to many...

Award-winning journalist Nadine White has joined the The Independent newspaper in the UK as the first Race Correspondent in the title’s 35-year history. White is reporting on issues affecting the lives of Black communities in Britain and exposing social injustice. Born to Jamaican parents in London, she has received accolades for her brilliant work as a leading journalist in the UK.White opens up...

The Wolmer’s Alumni Association, New York Chapter, had a busy 2020. Undaunted by the COVID-19 pandemic, members of the association took to social media and the Internet via zoom, to serve up a menu of activities, while raising much needed funds to support a raft of programmes at Wolmer’s Boys and Wolmer’s Girls’ schools in Jamaica. For President Hubert Guscott and Executive Committee Member Beverl...

As a little boy, Craig Richards sold fruits to help make ends meet. As a teenager, he assumed the role, 'man of the house' and was committed to being a provider and protector for his mother and other siblings. Endowed with perseverance and a strong belief in self, Craig overcame difficult hurdles, was able to fight his way through hardship and poverty to secure his education and is now a r...

Jamaica’s fire service is getting help from one of the country’s electricity providers. The Jamaica Energy Partners (JEP) Group has proven to be a valuable partner for the communities in which it operates in Kingston and St Catherine. As the country’s largest private electricity producer, JEP employs a very robust corporate social responsibility programme in which it supports numerous community-ba...

When she immigrated to the U.S. from Jamaica in 2013, Cori Gordon, 28, never imagined she would become one of Amazon’s youngest Delivery Service Partners. As the eldest child of nine, Cori knew she had a knack for leading, but she never guessed she would be in a position to employ more than 50 drivers and make history as an Amazon business partner. “I hope my story inspires young people of colour...

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is spending millions of US dollars over five years in Jamaica to steer the country’s youth away from crime and violence. Jamaica’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security Dr Horace Chang said that today 75 per cent of the country’s young males under the age of 24 are susceptible to gang recruitment. USAID’s Positive Pat...

It's not likely to find an abundance of rose gardens in Rose Town, located in the bowels of Kingston's tough inner-city enclave. It is not difficult then for one to understand the daily challenges there, especially the youth. Christine Gore, director of the Phillip and Christine Gore Family Foundation, Christine Gore, talks about the efforts to transform the youth in this inner-city commun...