Foundation urges support for needy UWI students

Impacting Jamaica

The University of the West Indies (UWI) continues to be a pivotal force in every aspect of Caribbean development, residing at the centre of all efforts to improve the well-being of people across the region. At the forefront of its benevolence is the AFUWI (The American Foundation for the University of the West Indies), a fundraising arm, under the executive directorship of AnnMarie Grant. “We need to be able to increase the number of persons who have access to higher education in the region,” she said, noting that this is important to community, national and regional development. Ms. Grant pointed out that this “is even more important now than ever before (as) the new economies require creativity, entrepreneurship, Artificial Intelligence…and many of those things require knowledge that comes from the higher education space”. Over the past 10 years, AFUWI has provided 500 tuition scholarships to students pursuing their degrees at UWI, donated $8.3 million in goods, and brokered multiple relationships with other tier-one institutions. In this episode of Impacting Jamaica with host Aubrey Campbell, Ms. Grant talks about the work of the AFUWI and its upcoming 25th annual legacy awards that will recognize individuals and companies, including the GraceKennedy Group which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.