MIA MOTTLEY, CEDELLA MARLEY AMONG SEVEN AFUWI 2021 AWARDEES
January 19, 2021 - Barbadian Prime Minister Hon. Mia Mottley and Cedella Marley, OD, CEO of TUFF Gong International, are among seven distinguished recipients to receive awards at the 24th annual “ The Legacy Continues” Gala Awards of the American Foundation for the University of the West Indies (AFUWI). The stellar virtual event scheduled for February 21, 2021, is the Foundation’s premier annual fund raiser which provides scholarships for students of the five campuses of The University of the West Indies (The UWI) in Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad, Antigua and the Open Campus.
Prime Minister Mottley will receive “The Legacy Award” and Ms. Marley “The Chancellor’s Award For Excellence in Global Leadership.”
Among the other awardees are:
Arlene Isaacs- Lowe, Global Head of CSR, President, Moody’s Foundation – “The Vice Chancellor’s Achievement Award”;
Dr. Jermaine Omar McCalpin, Chair, African and African American Studies Research Interests, New Jersey City University -“The Pelican Award”;
David Mullings, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Blue Major Capital Partners- “The Chancellor’s Award For Excellence in Business Leadership”;
Amanda Seales, Actress, Activist, Artist and Media Personality – “The Caribbean Luminary Award”; and
WBLS and Dahved Levy “The Trailblazer Award For Excellence in Community Engagement”.
The awardees celebrate Caribbean heritage and their individual contributions in varied sectors including politics and nation building, music, acting, media, entrepreneurship, business, academia and education.
Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice-Chancellor of The UWI said “each year the AFUWI has the privilege of saying thank you on behalf of the people in the Caribbean and the Diaspora, to a select group of distinguished persons of Caribbean descent or heritage who are blazing a trail of excellence in the United States of America. We acknowledge and honour them as eminent standard bearers for a region that has contributed much to the development of the USA in a range of spheres.”
“As large as America is, our Caribbean immigrants continuously punch way above the weight of the small island nations of their birth or heritage and we share in the pride of their accomplishments”, Sir Hilary declared.
For the past 23 years the AFUWI awards have been hosted in New York City where the AFUWI is headquartered. This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event will be a completely virtual production.
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Captions
- Barbadian Prime Minister Hon. Mia Mottley
- Amanda Seales, Actress, Activist, Artist and Media Personality
- Cedella Marley, OD, CEO of TUFF Gong International
- Arlene Isaacs-Lowe, Global Head of CSR, President, Moody’s Foundation
- Dr. Jermaine Omar McCalpin, Chair, African & African American Studies Research Interests, New Jersey City University
- David Mullings, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Blue Major Capital Partners
- Dahved Levy, Radio Announcer/DJ
ABOUT AFUWI
A 501(c) (3) charitable organisation, the American Foundation for The University of the West Indies (AFUWI) was established in 1956 to develop an endowment fund in the United States for The University of the West Indies (UWI). Today, its mission is to source and administer private donations, maximise philanthropic efforts, and develop strategic alliances with American corporations, foundations, alumni and other organisations, primarily to provide scholarships, support academic programmes and facilitate development projects at The UWI. The Foundation has more recently intensified its focus on supporting the University’s scholarship programme because of the urgent and increasing demand for financial aid from many in the student population who are talented, ambitious and determined to break the cycle of poverty, but face severe economic hardships. In addition, the Foundation also seeks to facilitate activities which promote the well-being and strengthening of the West Indian society through community service, research programmes and public service endeavours for the preservation/creation of a robust cultural and social legacy. Visit: www.afuwi.org.
About The UWI
For over 70 years The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has provided service and leadership to the Caribbean region and wider world. The UWI has evolved from a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948 to an internationally respected, regional university with near 50,000 students and five campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda and an Open Campus. As part of its robust globalization agenda, The UWI has established partnering centres with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, and Africa including the State University of New York (SUNY)-UWI Center for Leadership and Sustainable Development; the Canada-Caribbean Studies Institute with Brock University; the Strategic Alliance for Hemispheric Development with Universidad de los Andes (UNIANDES); the UWI-China Institute of Information Technology, the University of Lagos (UNILAG)-UWI Institute of African and Diaspora Studies and the Institute for Global African Affairs with the University of Johannesburg (UJ). The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science & Technology, Social Sciences and Sport.
As the region’s premier research academy, The UWI’s foremost objective is driving the growth and development of the regional economy. The world’s most reputable ranking agency, Times Higher Education, has ranked The UWI among the top 600 universities in the world for 2019 and 2020, and the 40 best universities in Latin America and the Caribbean for 2018 and 2019. The UWI has been the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists. For more, visit www.uwi.edu.
