Monthly Archives: February 2021

Earl Jarrett (left), deputy chair and chief executive officer of The Jamaica National Group explains to Russell Barrett (right) the importance of the Oliver Clarke scholarship. Meanwhile, Parris Lyew-Ayee (second right), chairman of the JN Foundation and Claudine Allen, general manager of the JN Foundation look on. Mr Russell made a courtesy call at the organisation’s head office in Kingston, recently.

Twenty-five year-old Russell Barrett, who resides in St Elizabeth, is the recipient of the Hon. Oliver Clarke Graduate Scholarship, which was awarded to celebrate the life and legacy of the late chair the board of directors of The Jamaica National Group, a media mogul and Jamaican business stalwart.

Russell, a senior public procurement officer of the Southern Regional Health Authority, said that being selected as the first recipient of the prestigious scholarship was an overwhelming and grateful feeling.

“I’m most thankful and excited. The donor’s name, in which the scholarship is presented, is within itself most prestigious. Mr Clarke has a legacy of his own, and I am proud and honoured to be presented with this scholarship,” Russell said with pride.

He is pursuing a Master of Science Degree in International Public and Development Management, at The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus. He informed that the graduate programme is a sought after course for middle managers.

After completion, Russell hopes to continue to work at his organisation, where he aspires to be promoted to regional director within the next five years.

The Calabar High School old boy said that the scholarship, which is valued up to $2 million, will cover all his educational expenses, a burden which he said has been lifted from his shoulders.

A graduate at The UWI, where he pursued a first degree in International Relations, Russell knows the challenges which go into the financing of an education, as he shared that while doing his first degree, he was not qualified to get financial funding for his studies. However, his parents, who are from humble beginnings, were determined that their first born would get a tertiary education.

“It is from the sweat of their brow that I was able to go to university,” he said, as he revealed that his mother would buy and sell retail clothes, to finance his education, with assistance from his father.

He also worked on campus whenever he had no classes to earn extra cash to cover the shortfall. He noted that these challenges served to mould his character and made him into a thrifty person, who benefited from the value of saving.

“I was a member of the Jamaica National School Savers Club; and therefore, I had a bank account by the time I was 11 years-old,” he boasts.

He said that, with the guidance of his father, he continued saving with the institution; and was able to get a mortgage from the institution, to purchase his first home.

His advice to young people is to aspire to do well and seek higher education. “Hard work and dedication will take you far, but a good education will give you the edge,” he said.

Earl Jarrett, deputy chair and chief executive officer of The Jamaica National Group congratulated Mr Barrett and shared that Mr Clarke was passionate about stamping out corruption and mismanagement of public resources in the public sector and that The Jamaica National Group thought it was fitting to honour his legacy with a scholarship fund that would invest in a generation of young leaders who will not be corrupt and will shout out corruption when they see it and put in good management practices to safeguard against corruption.

Parris Lyew-Ayee, chairman of the JN Foundation said good leadership especially in procurement will be especially needed in the public health sector in the COVID-19 pandemic and post pandemic.

“Leadership procurement to deal with corruption is very important. This is why we are going to need people with backbone, high morals and values to take charge,” he said.

Claudine Allen, general manager of the JN Foundation said that the scholarship was introduced for the first time last year, following the death of Mr Clarke in 2020.

Ms Allen informed that two grants were awarded from the scholarship fund to Jamonte East, who is pursuing a Masters in International Public and Development Management and Keenan Falconer, who is doing a Masters in Science and Development Studies, at The University of the West Indies.

The scholarship offering will be replicated over the next two years and one person is expected to be selected annually.

The JN Foundation and the University of Technology (UTech) have forged a partnership to train more persons in water adaptation as one of the solutions to address the country’s drought challenges.

The partnership was formalised through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) recently, which will see the development of a course certifying persons for careers in water adaptation and research relating to rainwater harvesting and greywater recycling.

The Hon. Earl Jarrett, deputy chairman and chief executive officer of The Jamaica National Group, who signed on behalf of the JN Foundation, said that the MoU was a significant collaboration with both organisations working to protect the environment and meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

“We are committed to those goals and we have participated in other UN Sustainable Goals activities. One of our activities is that we will be developing targets for the Group over the next few months, in terms of carbon footprint; and therefore, this project fits in with what we are doing at JN Group,” he informed.

“In respect of the environment, a change in behaviour comes from learning and knowledge; and you are in a position where you are conducting research, you are teaching and communicating. And hopefully, through this MoU, we are signing today, we can get more people to use more water adaptation tools and technology. We will also communicate to Jamaicans that we have to change, in order to live longer and sustainably,” he said.

Professor Colin Gyles, president of UTech, in response, stated that the university was pleased to participate in this particularly important alliance with another home-grown Jamaican organisation.

“A part of what we must seek to practise is collaboration for the common good; and I believe that this particular partnership between two institutions, which are indelibly etched on the landscape of Jamaica, speaks volumes as what we, as a nation, should seek to do,” he said.

 “In relation to the project itself, it could have hardly come at a better time, because as we enter the drought season, we are keenly aware that Jamaica has a problem with water, the land of wood and water. The truth is, there is no reason why…with the brilliance and innovativeness of our people…we should be having that problem. And, I do believe that this project, in fostering water harvesting, water treatment, and innovation; as well as supporting the development of these, is long overdue,” he said.

Claudine Allen, general manager of the JN Foundation, said that the charitable arm of The Jamaica National Group was pleased to be teaming up with the university, to develop the course and commence the programme.

She stated that in addition to programme development, the MoU will allow for research, particularly in the areas of sustainable development, climate change, and energy efficiency; as well as related areas associated with water, housing, and land management.

The MoU was facilitated through the Water Project Jamaica, which is being administered by the JN Foundation. Its objectives are to facilitate the uptake of water adaptation measures in the housing sector across Jamaica. These include:  the use of rainwater harvesting systems; water efficient taps and showers; low-flush toilets; efficient irrigation systems; and grey water recycling facilities; as well as, other appropriate efficiency measures.

Other objectives of the project are to: increase climate resilient housing in Jamaica through greater awareness about the business and financial cases involved in developing and building homes, with water efficient measures.

The project also aims to promote efficiency in the use of water by Jamaicans in their homes; improve the reliability of water supplies; and thereby, enhance the country’s water security and climate resilience.

Karen Oliver, Communication Specialist in the Corporate Communications department, is the 2020 JN Foundation Staff Scholarship Recipient.

Karen, who has been employed to The Jamaica National Group since 2001, is currently pursuing a Master of Arts degree in Communication for Social and Behaviour Change, at The University of the West Indies (UWI).

“It took a few seconds to sink in, after reading the email, that I was the 2020 JN Foundation Staff Scholarship Recipient.   I’m elated to be selected, because not only will this scholarship help to offset a part of my tuition at The UWI; but the thought that I’m now a JN Foundation Scholar is also very meaningful to me.  I’m really grateful to the Foundation for this wonderful gesture,” she said, as her face lit up with pride.

Karen, who has responsibility for staff and member publications for The Jamaica National Group, is a consistent academic performer. In two consecutive years, 2018 and 2019, she was named the top overall student, in the Department of Communication Studies, at the Northern Caribbean University(NCU).She also received the Director’s Award for academic achievement, East Jamaica Regional Campus of NCU.

She graduated from that institution in 2020, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications Studies (Journalism major), Magna Cum Laude.

Karen attributes her success to hard work and determination. “These are attributes, which I have acquired over the years, and they have contributed to building my character,” she related.

She has also displayed these outstanding achievements on the job; and  she was named the Employee of the Quarter in 2012 for the Corporate Communications department; and was again a nominee for that award in 2014.  In that same year, she was appointed Respect Ambassador, to assist with culture transformation, during the transition of the Jamaica National Building Society to become a commercial bank. 

Also, in 2014, she received the inaugural Innovation Award from the Group Human Resource Development department, for initiating and implementing ‘$mart Wid Mi Money’, a unique money management programme for employees.

Tanya Pringle, executive, Corporate Communications at The Jamaica National Group, said she was proud of Karen’s achievements and her consistent high performance on the job.

“Karen is a ‘go getter’ who always excels at whatever task is given to her. She owns her projects and champions them without much supervision. I’m overjoyed at her recent accomplishment”, she said.

Karen’s other achievements include being a trained public speaker who, in 2015, achieved the Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) designation, the highest designation in the Toastmasters International programme; Toastmaster of the Year for the JN Toastmasters Club in 2012 and 2016; as well as Toastmaster of the Year for Division B, comprising Jamaica, The Cayman Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands, in that same year.

In 2016, she achieved the most educational awards (12) in Toastmasters District 81, which comprises 24 Caribbean territories.  From 2014 to 2015, she served Toastmasters International, as one of six Area Governors for Jamaica.

In that same year, she received double recognition on the JN Wall of Fame, which was initiated to acknowledge the outstanding achievements of employees. Karen is a member of the Planning Committee of the Governor-General’s Achievement Awards programme. She is married with two daughters and enjoys speech writing, public speaking, sewing, and gardening.