Members and Organisations in Diaspora Encouraged to Support JSSE

Members and organisations in the diaspora are being encouraged to support the newly established Jamaica Social Stock Exchange (JSSE).

An initiative of the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE), the JSSE, which was launched in January by Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, is designed to facilitate funding, through donations, for the activities of entities involved in social programme delivery to the society’s most vulnerable and marginalised citizens.

Addressing delegates during the Eighth Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference on Monday (June 17), Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith, described the JSSE as an “exciting concept” and “expansion of what many of you [in the Diaspora] are already doing… making investments in Jamaica”.

Noting that the dividends are not only monetary but also social, Senator Johnson Smith expressed the hope that diaspora donors and investors can be matched with the social business enterprise projects of the organisations already approved for funding under the JSSE.

These are the Agency for Inner-city Renewal (AIR), which undertakes interventions to address unemployment and challenges facing young people in marginalised communities; Choose Life Jamaica, which provides counselling and other support to prevent suicides; DeafCan, which facilitates productive engagements (incorporating coffee production) for persons with hearing impairment; Praise Jamaica, which engages in interventions offering support to stabilise youngsters in school; and Alpha School of Music.

“We encourage everyone to get involved in this great initiative as they continue to seek new investors. A huge thanks to the JSSE directors, including their chairman, Professor Neville Ying, who are volunteering their services to make this initiative a reality,” she added.

Professor Ying will serve as Facilitator for the Conference’s 10th and final plenary session on Wednesday (June 19), during which the JSSE will be discussed and delegates’ endorsement sought.

Their endorsement is also being sought for the Draft National Diaspora Policy; and the proposed Global Jamaica Diaspora and Global Jamaica Youth Councils, during the session.

The Eighth Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference is being held at the Jamaica Conference from June 16 to 20 under the theme ‘Jamaica and the Diaspora: Building Sustainable pathways for Sustainable Development’.