The Jamaican Diaspora in the United States will be holding a Leadership Summit to formulate a Diaspora Development Plan to address specific issues and develop a more effective leadership framework for the Diaspora while still allowing for individual identity and autonomy.
The summit will be held at the Morrow Center in Morrow, Georgia, from November 16-18, 2018 including complementary activities for attendees to have a fulsome weekend experience in Morrow.
The summit is the brainchild of the three USA-based Diaspora Advisory Board Representatives, Mr. Wayne Golding, Dr. Rupert A. Francis and Mrs. Akelia Lawrence-Maitland, who advises Minister Pearnel Charles Jr who has specific responsibility for Diaspora Affairs.
To launch the Leadership Summit, the team will be hosting an online launch series on Sunday, September 23rd at 3:00pm EST. Those wishing to participate in the launch event and learn more may register at https://jdusaleadershipsummit.
The Diaspora Leadership Summit is born out of a desire by the three USA Advisory Board members to collaborate based on the fact that while there may be regional nuances, the issues confronting the Diaspora are cross cutting and resources are best leveraged in responding to these issues together.
The summit will be a result of several months of discussion amongst the three board members along with a core team of Diaspora leaders. The Atlanta Jamaica Association’s AJ Cultural and Education Fund is official non-profit partner for the Summit.
According to the summit purpose document, the focus will be on the development of the Diaspora, including how its capacity may be strengthened to respond to issues confronting it. The summit will bring together a diverse group of Diaspora leaders and allies to sanction the development of a framework to move the Diaspora from a fragmented network to a communal system with apparent leadership and an expressed plan for its growth and development.
The summit has as its goal a two-fold outcome: Gain leadership consensus on the need to create a Diaspora Development Plan including a commitment of time, resources and championing of the plan’s development; and further, to outline a framework that will facilitate the creation of the Diaspora Development Plan.
According to Dr. Rupert Francis, historically, in the Diaspora we have been operating as individuals and/or in pockets and have traditionally mostly focus on development in Jamaica.
“For the first time in our long history this summit is aiming to change that by creating a Development Plan and marks the first time that all three USA Diaspora Advisory Board Members are getting together as a group so that people can see the value of what we are aiming to do collectively with measurable, timed objectives. This is starting with existing leaders in the Diaspora, current, emerging and future,” he said.
For more details on the Jamaica Diaspora USA Leadership Summit, individuals may email [email protected].
