The American Caribbean Maritime Foundation (ACMF) is supporting the growth of the region’s maritime industry through donation of funds for infrastructure development and the education and training of students at the Palisados Park-based Caribbean Maritime University (CMU).

“We have committed over $30 million

(US$220,000) in scholarships and building funds and have 13 scholarship

recipients to date from Jamaica, the Bahamas, and St. Vincent and the

Grenadines,” Founding President of the ACMF, Dr. Geneive Brown-Metzger.

Dr. Brown-Metzger, who served as Jamaica’s Consul General to New York for several years, launched the American non-profit tax-exempt foundation in 2016.

She notes that as Consul General, she was

involved in promoting the economic development of the country and spent much of

her time exploring avenues to get foreign direct investment into Jamaica.

It was at that time that she learned about

the importance of the maritime sector and made a commitment that once she

demitted office, she would take on the cause full-time and work towards the

advancement of the maritime industry in Jamaica.

The former Consul General, in an interview

with JIS News, noted that the decision was made to support students who could

not afford to get a degree in maritime studies.

Criteria for selection include outstanding

academic achievement and compelling financial need.

“We feel very strongly about the students

and about the opportunities to really make transformative change in their

lives,” she explained.

“We try to ensure that we are broad and

cover the Caribbean as effectively as possible,” the founding chair pointed out.

The foundation recently expanded its

academic beneficiary network to include the University of Trinidad and Tobago,

and the Bahamas-based Lowell Jason Mortimer (LJM) Maritime Academy.

Additionally, in keeping with the

requirement of donors, ACMF will be expanding its outreach into Haiti, Suriname

and Barbados.

Dr. Brown-Metzger further argued that infrastructural development is a major focus of the foundation, and the entity has donated to the building of the Roland Smith Lecture Hall at CMU, which is named after one of its donors.

 “So,

we believe that we are doing very substantive work, not only in terms of

changing lives but in contributing to the development of the infrastructure,

the essential classrooms and other amenities at the university,” she noted.

The ACMF is supported through donor funds

and Dr. Brown-Metzgar conteded that the foundation takes accountability and

stewardship of those funds “very seriously”.

Operations are governed by a board of

directors, which includes Founder and Retired President of Seafreight Line

Limited, Roland Malins-Smith, who is the largest individual donor to the foundation;

and President of Tower Isle Frozen Foods, the oldest and largest

Jamaican-American business in the United States, Trevor Smith.

Dr. Brown-Metzger noted that a scholarship

committee, chaired by an ACMF board member, manages the process of selecting

candidates, and the committee is required to provide regular reports about the

academic performance, community engagement and general well-being of the

recipients.

This information is provided to donors in

an annual report.

Beaming, Dr. Brown-Metzger said that all

recipients are doing “extremely well” and they are invited to participate in

ACMF events “because donors want to see and engage with students that are

receiving our support”.

Among them is Bahamian Shante Pearson, a

2018 ACMF Royal Caribbean International Scholarship recipient, who says that

the award has not only enabled her to further her education “but also granted

me the opportunity to fulfil my lifelong dream of becoming a master mariner and

a female captain”.

General Counsel for the foundation, Robert

O’Connor, says his role is to ensure that entity operates at the highest

standard.

“The General Counsel has to ensure that the

organisation has good corporate governance, that we adhere to all the

regulations imposed upon us by United States law and that we continue to

conduct ourselves in an ethical manner and continue to pursue our goals,” he

said.

He added that his own involvement in the foundation

came as a result of his work as a maritime lawyer and his desire to give back

to the industry.

“It is something that is near and dear to

my heart and I believe that the Caribbean is very important for the maritime

sector and that educating students in the Caribbean for the maritime sector

will help to lift the Caribbean’s profile economically and allow the Caribbean

to develop a good maritime sector,” he said.

O’Connor noted that the increase in cruise

shipping and the expansion of the Panama Canal has created a tremendous

opportunity for growth of the region’s maritime industry.

The 2019 ACMF award recipients are Dané

Dean, Trinity Brown and Dale Royal of The Bahamas, who are recipients of the

ACMF Royal Caribbean International Scholarship; while the Fern Khan grantees

are James Foster, Athena Tené Francis, Jenelle Hinds and Oshane Kamal Swaby of

Jamaica; and André Theobalds of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Fern Khan is a retired Jamaican educator in

the United States, who served as Dean of the Division of Continuing Education

at Bank Street College of Education in New York.

The foundation also recognised three of its

benefactors – Past President of the Caribbean Shipping Association, David

Harding; Senior Vice President, Marine Operations, Royal Caribbean

International, David Purdy; and President and Chief Executive Officer, Dubai

Port World, Captain Remy Vyzelman.

Meanwhile, Dr. Brown-Metzger posited that

the foundation is looking to expand its base of donors in order to prepare more

students for the critically important maritime industry.

ACMF is grateful for the support of the

maritime industry in Jamaica led by Transport and Mining Minister Robert

Montague and Director General of the Maritime Authority of Jamaica (MAJ), Rear

Admiral Peter Brady.

Speaking at the ACMF’s 2019 Anchor Awards

in New York last October, Minister Montague applauded the Foundation, noting

that it is helping to “alleviate poverty and transform lives in the Caribbean

through maritime education and community development”.