The JPS Foundation has moved a step further with its Youth Leadership Development programme with the presentation of scholarships to four young women in tertiary institutions. The scholarships were presented at a special luncheon on Wednesday December 18.

The recipients are University of the West Indies Law student, Shana-Kay Cunningham; Mass Communications major at the Northern Caribbean University, Alshadane Wright; Chemical Engineering major at the University of Technology, Kemesha Vassell and Guidance and Counselling student at the Jamaica Theological Seminary, Angelique Gardener.

Youth Leadership Development is a core focus area of the recently established JPS Foundation and it’s been working towards establishing a ‘Leadership Academy’ to assist in the development of young Jamaican leaders. A first step in this regard is the awarding of the scholarships to outstanding female students at each of our main tertiary institutions.

These scholarships, made possible through the kind donations of partners of the JPS Foundation, who will also be Mentors to the candidates, will include payment towards the recipients’ tuition fees, as well as exposure to leadership training opportunities.

The candidates selected for this Scholarship must be outstanding leaders in their communities and/or on campus and should be performing well academically, with at least a ‘B’ Average.

At the presentation event, President & CEO of JPS, Kelly Tomblin, noted that “we have a leadership crisis in the world and the JPS Foundation Leadership Academy is being built to tackle that. This initiative in particular is about helping our young women find their voice and have a forum for learning and for discussing issues as they rise from being young women to influential decision makers. It’s about helping them to step into their full power.”

Manager of the JPS Foundation, Nathelie Taylor, echoed Tomblin’s statement:

“Our decision to focus on young women at this time is informed by what is happening in our society. Our objective aligns with that of the National Policy for Gender Equality which is to help promote the interests of women in decision making roles across all sectors by enabling their access to leadership training and development opportunities.”