Monthly Archives: April 2018

Saffrey Brown was not yet a teenager when she was thrust into advocacy and volunteerism while living in Trinidad and Tobago.

“The first time I protested, I was eight years old. My mother had me outside this old historical structure called the George Brown House, and my placard read: ‘Honk your horn if you want to save this house.’ Every day, after school, I would be out there protesting and we did save that house,” she chuckled.

The George Brown House was the centre of controversy in Trinidad and Tobago when plans were made for its demolition in 1985 to make way for a new office complex. This led to the ‘George Brown Uprising’, and, as a result of public outcry, the house was saved and subsequently restored.

For Brown, the campaign sparked a passion, which influenced her to dedicate her career to advocacy and assisting the disenfranchised. She also indicated that her ambition was further cemented at age 15 when her community in St Ann, Trinidad and Tobago, was flooded, resulting in the death of a few people.

“I remember spending weeks teaching community members about the dangers of living on the embankment of rivers. I was studying geography at the CXC level, and wanted to educate them about flood-prone areas. That was where my independent volunteerism started,” the former general manager of JN Foundation related.

Therefore, after graduating from The University of the West Indies, Mona, Brown sought to immerse herself in development work. She landed a job at Kingston Restoration Company (KRC), where she worked on remedial educational projects for children living in the inner city of Southside; and the Urban Renewal Trust Fund provided a grant to assist people living in those communities.

She also championed Tools for Development, a project led by KRC, in collaboration with the then Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS) and the Gleaner Company Limited, which sought to put tools and equipment into the hands of inner-city entrepreneurs.

“It was a great project. But I felt that professionally, things were moving too quickly, and that I needed a foundation of learning and experience. Therefore, I left Jamaica to live in England and worked there for a few years,” she said.

While working in England, Brown discovered the social enterprise model, and worked on several projects in that context. However, she became disenchanted.

“I found that I was not passionate about the people I was serving and I was becoming slightly resentful about the amount of money that was available for development in London. I thought about what we could accomplish if we had those sums of money back in the West Indies. While I acquired technical knowledge, the passion was beginning to fade, and I knew that it was time to leave, so I moved back to Jamaica,” she related.

On her return, Brown was invited by Earl Jarrett, then managing director of JNBS to work on an inner-city project in which she designed the first JN Source Centre in August Town.

She was later appointed general manager of JN Foundation and for the next decade spearheaded and introduced a series of projects which impacted the lives of many Jamaicans, particularly young people, in communities across the country.

These projects included: the JN Resolution Project, in which high school students in rural Jamaica were introduced to photography and the opportunity that it presented them to address issues affecting their communities; the Financial Literacy Project – Be Wi$e, and the Social Enterprise Boost Initiative (SEBI), among others.

For Brown, the jewel of all those projects was the creation of the Social Enterprise Model through The Source and SEBI. “Being the architect of the social enterprise movement in Jamaica is something that I’m extremely proud about,” she said.

“The fact that so many agencies and organisations are now using this social enterprise model is testament to the fact that it is a viable tool for development. Consequently, it is now included in the MSME Policy of Entrepreneurship, and the Planning Institute of Jamaica uses it for its interventions. It is now being adopted on a national scale,” she revealed. “I’m immensely proud of the fact that it all started with The Source in August Town.”

Brown credits the success of her work at JN Foundation to Jarrett, chief executive officer of the Jamaica National Group, who is her mentor.

“I have had an amazing 10 years working with Mr Jarrett, who was the chairman of the JN Foundation and my mentor. Having him and his vision in close proximity to the work I was doing, was a boost. It allowed me to see possibilities. His support when I attempted to implement things slightly out of the box and knowing that I had his support to go out there and test things, allowed me to be courageous,” she related.

Brown also credited the members of the JN Foundation board, over the decade, who supported her. “I didn’t have to constantly prove myself, and they were willing to drive development from within, as well as, the team members at the JN Foundation, who were very supportive.”

The daughter of the late Jamaica Observer columnist, renowned poet and fiction writer Wayne Brown said that her parents’ upbringing was another factor which encouraged her to strive for excellence.

“I come from a family of whom I’m proud. They are a family who added value to society. They are not just extractors, they give back, and are like the ‘bread and butter’ of Caribbean folk. Being part of that family legacy is something of which I’m very proud,” she said.

The mother of two boys — five and seven years old — said that managing her workload and maintaining a family life would not have been possible without the support of her partner.

“I have an amazing partner, who is an extremely supportive father. JN provides a balanced work life, so there is flexibility,” she said, pointing out that having a family forces her to work efficiently.

As Brown leaves the JN Foundation to establish her own business and become a social entrepreneur, she has words of encouragement for women, urging them not to limit themselves, but to be proud of who they are and pursue what they want to do.

“Don’t apologise for wanting to do great things. Don’t ask fewer questions. Don’t be silent, and don’t lower your voice. Be unapologetic about who you are, acknowledge the mistakes that you made, but also be clear about who you are and what you stand for,” she said, adding that women need to “surround themselves with the right people, focus on doing work they are proud of and ensure that they are always being challenged professionally”.

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For a recent graduate fresh out of university and in his or her first job, a credit card can be a a helpful financial tool, but only if used wisely and responsibly.
As Rose Miller, grants manager at the JN Foundation, and head of the JN BeWi$e financial empowerment programme advises, the key is to make consistent, on-time payments and avoid accumulated interest. That, she explains, boosts one’s credit rating.

“A credit card is an unsecured loan, which uses plastic. You can spend sums up to a pre-set credit limit, which might be a few, or several thousand dollars. It depends on how confident your card provider is that you’ll pay it back,” she explains.

She advises that the key to avoiding interest payments is to pay the full balance, on time, each billing cycle.

“Resist the temptation to spend more than you can pay for any given month, and you’ll enjoy the benefits of using a credit card without acquiring interest charges,” she says.

She also advises that credit cards should be used for “needs” and not “wants” and warns that, “Frivolous purchases can lead to unnecessary debt. It is also not a good idea to take cash advances against your credit card”.

“Credit cards should be used to cover normal expenses for which you have budgeted, as well as in emergency situations, such as illness or for car parts, if your vehicle unexpectedly breaks down. However, your aim should be to repay the amount as soon as you can, to decrease or avoid interest charges altogether,” Miller says.

She adds that card holders should never skip a payment.

“Pay your bill in full, on time every month. If that is not possible, rather than skipping, make the minimum payment if that is all you can afford. Missing a payment could result in a late fee, penalty interest rates and ultimately impact negatively on your credit rating,” she says.

To achieve maximum benefit from a credit card facility, she advises that in addition to avoiding interest payments, one should take advantage of the rewards offered such as discounts on purchases, including hotel and travel, food and drinks, beauty and spa, fashion as well as home-and-garden supplies.

Another aspect of responsible credit card use which she addresses is protection from credit card fraud.

“While there is no foolproof way to prevent all instances of credit card fraud and theft, understanding and adopting a few best practices can help to reduce your risk,” she points out.

She notes that one way to reduce risk is to use a card that offers additional security.

“There are credit cards available with an EMV chip which provides an additional layer of security. It’s more secure, because you cannot copy the chip. Each time the card is used for payment, the card chip creates a unique transaction code that cannot be used again,” she says.

Miller also advises that people should be generally wary of requests for personal card information, regardless of the source.

“Independently verify the legitimacy of those persons requesting your credit card number,” she counsels.

Twelve social enterprises are about to receive another tranche of support from the Social Enterprise Boost Initiative (SEBI), through the Accelerator Programme.
Opal Whyte, project manager of SEBI, said the 12 social enterprises are bringing innovation to a range of sectors from marketing, waste management, eco-tourism and education and will be exposed to capacity building, improved governance, leadership, mentorship, business linkages and partnerships.
“This is an exciting phase in which we intend to prepare them to become more efficient and responsive leaders resulting in baseline revenue growth of at least 40 per cent and greater social impact,” said Ms. Whyte.
She explained that the Accelerator Phase will build on the lessons learned in the incubator programme and focus heavily on long term sustainability of their businesses.
“SEBI’s objective in this phase is to assist the social enterprises in thinking more strategically and setting bigger goals and targets. The tools provided in the Accelerator Programme will enable them to ‘think big’, build partnerships and create networks and take the participants well beyond the $88 million generated in revenue by SEBI’s phase two incubator members,” she informed.
The Accelerator Phase commenced on Friday, March 23 with the “SEBI Power Up! Series  at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston. Presentations were delivered on leadership development, personal effectiveness and leveraging social networks.
Don Anderson, chief executive officer of Market Research Services who already conducted seminal research into Jamaica’s social enterprise sector, shared with the participants that “The Next Great Leader Has Already Been Born” and may very well be sitting amongst them.
Mr. Anderson shared from his life experience, his entre into market research; political polling and sports leadership; provided tools and strategies on navigating an emerging sector and creating a viable niche.
The participants in the programme were selected following a call for applications in February, and they included: Livewire Act, Avant Academy of Music, Eco-Farms, Inzzpire JA, Bresheh and UCA Marketing. They join SEBI social enterprises: Deaf Can! Coffee, 360 Recycle, Bunkers Hill Cultural Xperience, Link Your Purpose, EducaTours JA and Bartley’s All In Wood.
The Social Enterprise Boost Initiative seeks to address social and environmental challenges in Jamaica through enterprise development. It is a joint JN Foundation and the United States Agency for International Development project.

Dionne Rose l JN Corporate Communications

JN Foundation is teaming up with two multinational organisations to have Jamaicans install low-flush toilets as a means of saving water to improve the country’s resilience to climate change events.

Water adaptation expert and project manager for the Water Project Dr Kwame Emmanuel explained that more than 70 per cent of the water used by a typical Jamaican household is for bathroom activities. Some 32 per cent is used at the bathroom sink and in the shower, while 40 per cent goes to flushing toilets.

He said further that low-flush toilets have a flow rate of less than or equal to 1.28 gallons per flush, while the standard toilets range from approximately 1.6 to 4.5 gallons per flush.

“If we really want to make a difference we need to look at our toilets and what we are doing in our bathrooms,” he told the Rotary Club of Trafalgar New Heights in a recent presentation in keeping with Rotary’s recognition of March as Water and Sanitation Month.

The Water Project is being implemented by the Jamaica National Group with funding from the Climate Investment Funds through its Pilot Program for Climate Resilience and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), through the Multilateral Investment Fund.

The project will feature education programmes, loans to housing developers and householders from JN Bank for the installation of water adaptation devices in households, climate change adaptation support, and positive behaviour changes in household water management.

Dr Emmanuel, who is also an associate lecturer in water resources management at The University of the West Indies, Mona, said the project will facilitate the take up of a range of devices, which include showerheads and toilets; aerators and washing machines; as well as rainwater harvesting and greywater recycling.

“By doing that we hope to enhance water security and increase the climate- resilient housing stock in Jamaica,” he said.

He continued: “By doing that we won’t only protect ourselves from too little water, but too much water,” noting that the effects of climate change have not only resulted in extreme drought, but an increase in excessive flooding. Jamaica and the wider Caribbean region has been experiencing both forms of climatic extremities with greater frequency over the past decade.

The JN Foundation project manager noted that JN’s championing of the Water Project is natural, given its investment in the housing sector and role in the development of communities.

Dr Emmanuel said education and training under the project will cater to different target groups, including engineers, planners and architects. Vocational training for the installation of rainwater-harvesting systems will be conducted through the HEART Trust/National Training Agency.

“We will also be working in collaboration with suppliers to provide the technology, and there will also be general sessions with the public about water efficiency,” Dr Emmanuel revealed.

The training will incorporate the development of a water adaptation guide for specialists and a homeowners’ guide for householders. However, beyond education and training, Dr Emmanuel said that a pilot study will be conducted to test the reduction in water consumption and savings householders will receive from the new devices.

“We will also be asking young entrepreneurs and innovators to come up with some novel ideas in terms of technologies and how we will address the water inefficiency issues in Jamaica,” he said.

The innovations will be showcased at an expo to be held in the fourth and final year of the project.

Although the Water Project does not include an advocacy component, Dr Emmanuel said that as part of the initiative, it is hoped that water efficiency standards and policies will be developed to ensure future housing stocks are built with water adaptation specifications.

“Currently there are no water efficiency standards. Therefore, while we are telling people to use this number gallons per flush and so on, there are no standards to say this is what water efficiency is about and this is what persons should implement,” he maintained.

Water conseravtion was also on the global agenda this month with the annual observance of World Water Day on March 22.

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