NEW YORK, United States (CMC) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams will be the guest speaker at the official Jamaica 60 Diamond Jubilee Gala on August 20, the Consulate General of Jamaica in New York has announced.

It said the event is being hosted in partnership with Jamaica’s Promise Foundation, a voluntary non-profit organisation, providing the resources and support needed by local organisations to improve the education and training of young people from disadvantaged circumstances and communities.

Adams will speak on the theme ‘Re-igniting a nation for Greatness’, which is the theme being used for the Jamaica 60 celebrations at home and around the world.

Jamaica’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Kamina Johnson Smith will attend the event and the Jamaican consulate said as part of this year’s celebrations, six individuals will be honoured for their contributions to the development of Jamaica.

They are Monty Alexander; Basil Anderson, chairman of the Governance & Nominating Committee, and member of the Executive, Audit and Compensation & Human Resources Committees of the Board of Directors of Moody’s Investment Services; Jeffrey Flaks, president and chief executive officer, Hartford HealthCare; Dr Sandra Lindsay, critical-care nurse and director of Patient Care Services in Critical Care at Northwell Health’s Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens, New York; Mark Newman, president and chief executive officer of Chemours; and Dr Maurice Wright, chief medical officer of Harlem Hospital and senior associate dean of Columbia University for academic affiliation.

The consulate said the gala will “provide an avenue for persons to contribute to charitable causes in Jamaica and for the first time here in New York City”.