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Joan Duncan Foundation helps young entrepreneurs

Published:Wednesday | August 24, 2016 | 11:30 AM
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An enthusiastic Kim Mair (centre), CEO, Joan Duncan Foundation, celebrates with some of the micro-grant recipients of the ‘A New Path: Promoting a Healthy Environment and Productive Alternative for Juvenile Remandees and Offenders in Jamaica’ programme.
Contributed
Kim Mair (right), CEO, Joan Duncan Foundation happily presents a financial donation to the Junior Achievement Jamaica president, Alphie Mullings-Aiken (left), at the recently held ‘Pitch It!’ event staged by the Organization of American States, USAID and Trust for the Americas at the Mona Visitors’ Lodge.
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The Joan Duncan Foundation has partnered with the Organization of American States (OAS) and The Trust for the Americas to provide entrepreneurial micro-grants to jump-start the businesses of 21 participants in 'A New Path: Promoting a Healthy Environment and Productive Alternative for Juvenile Remandees and Offenders in Jamaica' programme.

This announcement was made at the award ceremony for Pitch It! Learning and Investing in Your Future, held at the Mona Visitors' Lodge on International Youth Day, August 12.

The initiative, funded by the USAID and executed through the OAS and The Trust for the Americas, is designed to rehabilitate youth offenders from the South Camp and Metcalfe Street correctional facilities, and reduce repeat offences.

The 21 participants in the Pitch It! - a five-day phase of the 'A New Path' initiative, saw individuals pitching their business ideas to the judges. Chief judge, CEO of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica, Dennis Chung, commended the participants for the quality of the presentations, noting that the standard was of a similar calibre to university business model competitions and demonstrated distinctive practicality.

Kim Mair, CEO of the foundation, said their mandate was to assist individuals to achieve their greatness, while seeking to transform their lives. As such, the foundation, in addition to providing financial support for entrepreneurial grants and job-readiness training, would also provide transformational training workshops to assist them in an ongoing process of self-reflection, while gathering the skills and tools to have positive transformative thinking to diminish antisocial behaviour.