US Presidential Awards For Honorary Consul In Atlanta

Jamaica’s Honorary Consul in Atlanta, Georgia, Dr. Elaine Grant-Bryan, has received the United States (US) Presidential ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’.

The award, signed by President Joe Biden, is in recognition of her thousands of hours of service to the Jamaican diaspora, the Caribbean and the US.

She has also received the President’s Volunteer Service Gold Award, a civil award established by former President George W. Bush to honour volunteers that give thousands of hours per year, helping others.

The awards were presented at a ceremony held on May 20 in Orlando, Florida.

Dr. Grant-Bryan is the first Caribbean-born person in Georgia to receive the awards.

In an interview with JIS News, the Honorary Consul says she is grateful to be honoured for her 4,000 hours of service.

“I am so happy the US Government values my many years of dedicated service. They looked at my records, checked everything out and believed that I deserved the two highest honours. So, it let me know somebody noticed and I feel totally, 100 per cent satisfied,” she says.

In a letter that accompanied the award, President Joe Biden thanked Dr. Grant-Bryan for her service.

“By sharing your time and passion, you are helping to discover and deliver solutions to the challenges we face – solutions that we need now more than ever. We are living in a moment that calls for hope and light and love; hope for our futures, light to see our way forward and love for one another,” the letter states.

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Dr. Grant-Bryan attended Excelsior High and Kingston Technical High, before pursing tertiary studies at Northwestern University, University of West Georgia and Leadership Sandy Springs in 1978.

She returned to the island and worked with Air Jamaica and Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) before migrating to the US in 1987.

A real estate broker and the owner of Elaine Bryan Reality Dr. Grant-Bryan was appointed Honorary Consul on October 1, 2018, representing her native country in Atlanta on a voluntary basis.

She works with various local entities to provide assistance to nationals in Atlanta and promotes the island overseas. Among the entities is the Passport Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) in the processing of passports.

Dr. Grant-Bryan tells JIS News that her “joy is in service and serving others.”

“Sometimes, I over schedule myself because I love to do it so much, but I am getting better at managing my time since I cannot serve the whole world,” she says.

Dr. Grant Bryan, who is a former educator, working as a mathematics teacher and guidance counsellor for many years, says her volunteer efforts began some 20 years ago, when she offered to work as a school counsellor.

“I would meet students on weekends, go to the colleges, spend time helping them with the selection process, and select students who are eligible for scholarships,” she notes.

She also shared her real estate skills on the programme ‘What you get for the money’, the American Home and Garden Television (HGTV) channel, for some six years.

Over the years, Dr. Grant-Bryan has received several outstanding awards. In 2005, she received the Judge Glenda Hatchett Award for outstanding service in the field of education and in 2006, she earned the Atlanta Mayor Phoenix Award for outstanding achievements in Education and Service to the people of Atlanta.

Dr. Grant-Bryan says the funds obtained from the two awards helped her to set up the Elaine Bryan Foundation, which she established in 2010.

“All of those profits I was able to set up the Foundation… it has served me well because I was able to help thousands of young persons in Jamaica and the US,” she shares with pride.

Dr. Grant-Bryan is a registered Microsoft Education Partner and received the Turner Broadcasting Educator Award for her involvement with the Blacks at Microsoft (BAM) group at the Microsoft Corporation, where she identified candidates for scholarships and internship opportunities.

The Honorary Consul lauds the support she receives from individuals and entities in carrying out her consul duties. “I couldn’t do it all by myself,” she tells JIS News.

Dr. Grant-Bryan says everyone has a duty to give a bit of their time in service to their community.

“Everybody has significant talents and if we share those talents for the social good, that is the only way countries will continue to prosper,” she points out.

“That should be a priority. In fact, when we are trying to evaluate persons, I believe that quantifying what they have done for Jamaica, without pay, is very important. If you really love Jamaica that much, you will be able to work for Jamaica even in silence, even when no one is seeing us,” she contends.

State Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. Leslie Campbell, commends Dr. Grant-Bryan, noting that she is “more than deserving of the awards.”

“As an Honorary Consul, she does 110 per cent to facilitate our people who get into trouble, who are in need, and she is just always there doing things that one would not associate with a Consul officer,” he points out.

He continues “I have seen her help people who are having challenges getting their mortgages together or helping them with medical issues and linking them with the relevant people [to assist].”

The Senator recalls an incident while on his way to Mexico and witnessed Dr. Grant-Bryan in action dealing with the matter concerning his trip.

“She does these things, not because you are a minister, but because it is just the right thing to do. And for that, we really have to commend her. She is an amazing human being,” he says.

The Consul General is married to Gregory Bryan, who is a computer expert and they work on local and international projects for the Elaine Bryan Foundation.