GraceKennedy to host overseas-based students

GraceKennedy Limited is to host four university students from the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK) and Canada for a five-week professional and cultural internship in Jamaica from June 28 to August 7.

The four students are Kayla Jessup and Tarik Graham of the University of Chicago and Harvard University in the US, respectively; Sapphira Thompson-Bled of the University of Ottawa, Canada, and Callum McCarthy of Cambridge University in the UK.

The internship, which is intended to expose the students to various facets of Jamaica’s culture, allows them to work at a GraceKennedy subsidiary linked to their career interests. The interns also tour parts of the island on weekends.

“GraceKennedy is committed to the cultural and professional development of these students, some of whom have never visited Jamaica before. Experiencing the dynamics of their parents or grandparents’ culture first-hand helps to foster a strong connection between Jamaica and the diaspora and empowers these young people to think differently about themselves, their heritage and their contribution to building Jamaica,” said Caroline Mahfood, executive director at the GraceKennedy Foundation.

In hosting the students, GraceKennedy Limited partners with several public- and private-sector entities which have a vested interest in nation-building.

“GraceKennedy’s subsidiaries, along with the Jamaica Tourist Board and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Caribbean Airlines, Go Jamaica Travel, Island Car Rentals, Dolphin Cove, FLOW Jamaica, Island Grill, Domino’s and Wendy’s, will all play an active role to ensure that the selected candidates have a well-rounded Jamaican experience,” Mahfood said.

The GraceKennedy Jamaican Birthright Internship Programme, which originally ran from 2004 to 2008, was revived in 2015. The internship is offered annually to four university students in the diaspora who are passionate about their Jamaican heritage.

Find out more about this exciting internship at www.gracekennedy.com/birthright .