In any other year, Rosalee Ann Marshall would have been a key part of the Jamaica Information Service (JIS) team charged with guiding and attending to the needs of media personnel and attendees at the annual National Honours and Awards ceremony.

Known for her strong organisational skills, ability to adapt to and manage challenging conditions, and remain calm and composed in high-pressure situations, it is a task the office manager handles very well.

But the dedicated public servant will not be marshalling the media this year, as she will be among the 150 Jamaicans who have given outstanding service in various fields, who will be recognised at the National Heroes Day ceremony on October 21.

Marshall, affectionately called Rosie, will receive the Badge of Honour for Meritorious Service, in recognition of more than 35 years in the public sector.

“Wow… I used to do media marshalling, so I have worked at this function over the years,” she says.

“I have seen persons go and collect their awards and I just didn’t think that I would be in the same spot – that this would have been me this time. It was really a pleasant surprise,” she tells JIS News, adding that she is grateful for the recognition.

The phone call from the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) to inform her of her selection could have been any other call related to her work at JIS.

“It was after 6:00 pm when the phone rang and the person on the line said they were calling from OPM. I thought, ‘what has one of my drivers got themselves into now? Is it something that we did not deliver or something that we did not do?’” she chuckles.

She was relieved but pleasantly surprised when the person assured her that all was well and gave her the unexpected news that she would be recognised during the 2024 National Honours and Awards ceremony.

Marshall, in relating her employment history, says she joined the now defunct government news agency, JAMPRESS, as a receptionist.

As part of the Public Sector Modernisation Programme, the JIS and JAMPRESS were merged in 2001 to become an executive agency.

Marshall served JAMPRESS and later JIS in various capacities.

“I was a receptionist, secretary, executive assistant, records manager, photo supervisor and now I’m the office manager,” she tells JIS News.

As office manager, she oversees the management of the agency’s facilities, which means dealing with maintenance and building management; negotiating with contractors and suppliers; dealing with transportation, security and employee safety; arranging soft services such as events, meals, catering, decorating and office furniture; ensuring that the building and grounds are spick and span, among myriad other duties.

Her role allows her to work closely with team members from all departments within the multimedia agency.

“I can speak Editorial, I can speak Photo, I can speak Montego Bay Regional Office, I can speak Television, I can speak Radio, because I have been integral in all of these departments. I work closely with the personnel and I think I have a very good relationship with them. I am able to impact some persons’ lives [while] being able to make a contribution to the agency’s growth and development,” she states.

Throughout her career, Marshall successfully adjusted to various roles. Her adaptability allowed her to rise to the occasion of overseeing the operations of the regional office in Montego Bay for several months.

“I was given the task of steering the Montego Bay office [which was transitioning to a new manager]. I was asked to go for one month and one month became six months. I travelled to Montego Bay once per week, staying over, coming back into Kingston on a Friday afternoon,” she notes.

She says it was a “fabulous experience” working with the regional team. “The team jelled, and we transitioned to a new manager and that was a great achievement,” she says.

Marshall, who was a finallist in the category of middle management for Civil Servant of the Year in 2019, played a seminal role in the relocation of the JIS’s television department from Arnold Road to its new home at South Odeon Avenue in Kingston.

She commends all the team members for the various roles they played in the relocation process.

“It was an awesome task and many different pieces to put together. At one point we thought that maybe it would not come together, but things came together and… staff members were able to just walk in and start working, and that was a big thing,” Marshall says.

She dedicates the national award to her children, Nicolette and Akim, as well as her mother Lena Marshall. “They have been my rock,” she shares.

She discloses, too, that her mother served the Government, having worked at Jamaica Customs Agency from age 17 until retirement, and also received a Civil Service Long Service Award for dedicated service.

Marshall is among four JIS team members who have distinguished themselves in their respective areas of expertise and will be recognised at the investiture ceremony.

The others are Dave Reid, for contribution to Photography and Photojournalism; Maxine Shrouder, for 40 years of service in the field of Communication and Media; and L Seaton Richards, for contribution of 50 years to Media Production in Television Broadcasting.

“We have worked… in different capacities. We have been standard bearers for the JIS, we have done an awesome job and we are now being recognised, so, let us bask in this great achievement,” says the Vauxhall High alumna, who has been a serving member of the school board for the past 10 years.

– JIS