GoodHeart | Wemyss-Gorman named Stella Gregory Award recipient
Published:Saturday | February 14, 2026 | 12:06 AM
Vice Admiral Antonette Wemyss-Gorman, chief of defence staff of the Jamaica Defence Force, has been selected as the 2025 recipient of the Stella Gregory Award for Excellence by The Kingston Club of Soroptimist International Jamaica.
The award is presented annually to an outstanding woman who exemplifies excellence, leadership and transformative impact in her field while contributing significantly to national development. Wemyss-Gorman is being recognised for her military service, which culminated in her historic appointment as the first female head of the Jamaica Defence Force.
Between January 2022 and January 2024, she was the only woman globally leading a nation’s military. Her selection underscores more than three decades of service, during which she has held several strategic appointments and earned international recognition as an authority in regional maritime security.
Honoured by the recognition, Wemyss-Gorman said the award is deeply personal.
“I am honoured to receive the Stella Gregory Award from the Soroptimist Club of Kingston, an organisation whose legacy is intertwined with the life and service of the late Ena Collymore-Woodstock. Knowing that Mrs. Collymore-Woodstock, who was Jamaica’s oldest World War II veteran and a true trailblazer, was among the founding women who helped establish Soroptimism in the Caribbean makes this recognition profoundly meaningful to me.”
Referencing Collymore-Woodstock’s legacy, she described the recognition as another way of paying tribute.
“To be recognised by an organisation she helped to build is, for me, another way of paying respect to her courage, her quiet leadership, and the generations of women who carried that vision forward. I accept this award in the spirit of service she embodied, and as a reminder that when women lead with purpose, their impact can echo far beyond their time.”
Wemyss-Gorman’s national honours include the Order of Distinction (Commander Class), the Medal of Honour for Meritorious Service and the Medal of Honour for General Service by the Government of Jamaica. In 2022, the World Economic Forum named her among 10 women who made global history. She is currently vice chancellor of the Caribbean Military Academy and chairman of the Jamaica Combined Cadet Force Committee.
Established in 1976 in honour of Stella Gregory, the founding president of the Kingston Club, the Stella Gregory Award for Excellence recognises women whose achievements reflect the Soroptimist ideals of integrity, empowerment and service.
The award ceremony and charter anniversary luncheon will take place on Saturday, February 28 at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel.