Jamaican Aubrey Stewart receives Queen’s Young Leaders Award

Jamaican Aubrey Stewart was on Tuesday, June 26 presented with his Queen’s Young Leaders Award by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at a special ceremony at Buckingham Palace in London, in honour of the work he is doing to transform lives of young people.

Stewart, who is from Albion Lane in Montego Bay, was among a cohort of awardees from 38 Commonwealth countries.

The Queen’s Young Leaders Awards programme, now in its fourth and final year, celebrates the achievements of young change-makers from across the Commonwealth.

This year’s awardees are finding solutions to global issues such as climate change, food scarcity, gender-based violence, mental health, and access to education.

Stewart received a Queen’s Young Leaders Award for the work he is doing to bring about positive change to young people’s lives.

The youth advocate, who in 2015 introduced then US President Barack Obama during the town hall at the University of the West Indies, Mona, is the founder of the Youth Organisation for Upliftment, a voluntary umbrella organisation for youth development in Montego Bay, St James.

Since its establishment in 2009, the organisation has run a number of campaigns, including The Crime Out Campaign, a youth-led peace movement which inspired young people to speak out against violence.

In his current role as country coordinator for the RuJohn Foundation in Jamaica, Stewart helps provide underprivileged schools and students with resources such as computers, school lunches, and sporting equipment.

Stewart serves as chairman for the Youth Advisory Council of Jamaica, which represents young people in policy-making and he is a Jamaica House Fellow where he works with senior officials at the Office of the Prime Minister to contribute to national development.

We want to hear from you! Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-449-0169, email us at editors@gleanerjm.com or onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com.