JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation commits $60m to Project STAR

The JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation said it is committing $60 million to Project STAR, a social transformational and renewal programme, led by the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica (PSOJ) in partnership with the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).

Keith Duncan, CEO of JMMB Group and co-chair of Project STAR noted, “We want to move ‘everybody fahwud’ so that every individual can tap into his/her greatness. With all hands on deck and an unwavering commitment we can transform our country, one community at a time.”

Duncan informed Project STAR has a strategic and targeted intervention aimed at transforming 10 of Jamaica’s under resourced communities, through a collaborative, evidence-based approach to achieve sustainable violence prevention at the community level. Through effective partnerships, data-driven problem-solving and community informed and owned decision-making, accurate and timely reporting, and accountable systems of oversight and governance, Project STAR is expected to strengthened social cohesion and resilience of communities, improve strategies and responses to conflict within communities and improve community integration.

Patricia Sutherland, chairman of JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation said, “In my experience, to tackle the issue of violence as a first response to conflicts within a community requires a transformation of the community, physically and through shifting the mindset of the citizens. We know that having strong partnerships and coordination across civil society, government, voluntary groups, private sector and other organised groups is integral and will contribute significantly to the transformation process. It is not a simple process, but we are happy to support Project STAR as they have taken on the task to facilitate the coordinated approach, working with communities to transform themselves.”

TRAINING

In addition to the financial investment made to this project, the foundation will be imparting training through their Conversations for Greatness (CFG) sessions. The CFG programme, introduced in schools in 2015, has reaped positive results, including improved interpersonal dynamics, positive behaviour change, better conflict resolution, increased parental engagement, and improved staff morale in the over 80 schools that were a part of the programme. Sutherland said that the underlying principles shared in CFG are designed to assist individuals on a personal level to enhance their interpersonal relationships, shift their mindset and bolster their personal and professional development. “We are seeking to replicate these positive outcomes of improved mindset and attitude resulting in affirmative behaviour change.”

In keeping with one of the key components of Project STAR, to provide pathways for employment, JMMB Group has provided employment opportunities for more than 40 per cent of individuals from the first cohort of the project, with one-year contracts. These individuals were matched based on their skills, qualifications and experience and have the option for full-time employment with the company, based on vacancies and right fit. This is a tangible way of empowering individuals towards economic sustainability for themselves and their families, noted the Foundation chairman. These individuals are also recipients of CFG training.

Major General Antony Anderson, commissioner of police and co-chair, Project STAR, welcomed the partnership. Adding, this complements JCF programmes, namely, youth summer camps, domestic abuse interventions, school resource officers and other community policing efforts.

HEADWAYS

Saffrey Brown, project director, in lauding the corporate bodies for coming onboard noted that the headways achieved through employment, use of pyscho-social interventions, violence-interruption strategies underpinned by data-driven decision-making since its launch in 2022, has been encouraging.

“Over the past eight months, our work with the community residents, stakeholders and partners has resulted in significant engagement and impact within community ecosystems.

“With this we have worked towards improving school attendance at the early childhood level, broaden access to social services provided by the government, provide job readiness training and place people in jobs and support the use of sports to build social cohesion among residents.”

Brown informed that the project has established community transformation boards in east downtown Kingston and has, in collaboration with the SDC, begun the community transformation planning process.

“We are further encouraged by the support from our private sector partners, who have already committed nearly $300m to help us deliver the work over the five-year period,” she said.

Thus far, several donors, including Sandals Foundation, Scotiabank, Carreras Limited, Musson Foundation, CB Facey Foundation (PanJam), National Commercial Bank, Sagicor Foundation, Sagicor Financial Group, Digicel Foundation, GraceKennedy, Supreme Ventures, Spanish-Jamaican Foundation, Restaurants Associates Limited, Rainforest Caribbean, Barita, Richard and Diana Stewart Foundation, and American Friends of Jamaica, have committed to the initiative.

Project STAR aims to raise J$2 billion to deliver the project at a scale with the desired outcomes, and is looking to have a mixed funding approach to achieve their goals.