KINGSTON, Jamaica – A group of community members and parents from Parade Gardens recently participated in a personal development session under the Conversations for Greatness (CFG) programme, facilitated by the JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation in partnership with Project STAR and the Council of Voluntary Social Services (CVSS).

The workshop, which was held at the CVSS’ office on Camp Road in Kingston, offered participants a safe and reflective space to shift their mindset, strengthen self-awareness, and explore how to lead more purposeful lives.

Nadine Sinclair, CFG training coordinator at JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation, said the programme is designed to equip individuals with tools to navigate life from a place of love, authenticity, and responsibility and takes participants on a journey of introspection and visioning, all rooted in the belief that real transformation starts with the self.

The workshop was well received. One of the participants, Sandy Fletcher, shared how the experience changed her perspective. “That workshop was well done. It was appreciated. I learnt a lot, such as self-respect and how to manage one’s emotions,” she said.

Her daughter, Kayla Campbell, who also attended the session, echoed similar sentiments. “It was well put together. There were things that we did not know, but they went through it with us. I learnt how to value myself and show respect to others,” she added.

Sinclair said that the CFG workshop emphasised responding to life from a place of compassion and love rather than reacting from ego or assumptions.

“Let’s say someone walks into a room and doesn’t say good morning. Instead of getting caught up in our heads, we pause and ask, ‘Are you okay?’ Maybe something serious just happened. It’s about creating space to respond with love,” she said.

Conversations For Greatness is one of several community-focused initiatives supported by the JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation, which remains committed to helping individuals live vision-led, values-based lives.

“Before your eyes even open in the morning, you are having a conversation with yourself,” said Sinclair. “Conversations For Greatness helps you become aware of what that conversation sounds like, and from there, you can use the Conversations for Greatness tools to support you in shifting the situation.”

Damion Hylton, who mobilised the participants, said he was pleased with the outcome of the event. “It targeted residents from the Parade Gardens community, a community that is currently under a zone of special operations. The community members who attended and benefitted from the experience can speak to the fact that the CFG workshop allowed them to appreciate more the importance of self-examination and self-management in a context where their potential and possibilities to discover and achieve greatness are up to them,” he said.

Anne-Marie Evering, programmes manager of CVSS, praised the collaborative effort and the impact the session had on participants.

“It was important for us at CVSS to support an initiative that focuses on inner transformation and community building,” said Mrs Evering. “We saw firsthand how the conversations stirred something in the participants, a desire to grow, to reflect, and to live more consciously. That kind of change begins with spaces like these.”

Sinclair indicated that the JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation has been rolling out the CFG workshops in communities across Jamaica, reinforcing its mission to spark personal and collective transformation, one conversation at a time.