A panel of five distinguished persons has been assembled to decide the first regional winners of the relaunched CIBC Caribbean Unsung Heroes.

The panel is headed by Senator Francis Lewis, a former executive director of marketing and product development at the bank and the man who conceptualised and executed the original programme, which ran from 2003 to 2013.

The other judges are former Barbadian Cabinet minister Jeffrey Bostic; Pro Vice Chancellor and Principal of the Five Islands Campus of the University of the West Indies, Antigua, Professor C Justin Robinson; Revervend Christine Gooden Benguche, president, Jamaica Methodist District; Edison Sumner, president of the Bahamas Red Cross, and CIBC Caribbean’s Shayon Anderson, acting operations supervisor based in Jamaica and known for her community outreach and other philanthropic endeavors.

Senator Lewis, a senior consultant and director of Res Consulting Limited (ResCo), which he founded in 1993, said it was a “deep honour to accept the role of chief judge” and he was delighted to “once again be associated with CIBC Caribbean and the Unsung Heroes programme”.

A veteran academic and dedicated teacher, he is a senior adjunct professor at the UWI Arthur Lok Jack Global School of Business.  He played a foundational role in the school’s development, from its inception as the Institute of Business (IOB) and later transition to the GSB.

Shayon Anderson noted that “to have been chosen as a judge for the Unsung Heroes campaign 2025 is such a humble feeling. I am overjoyed by this opportunity, and I am looking forward to helping highlight and reward our Caribbean Heroes who have been quietly impacting lives within communities across our region”.

Building on the strong legacy of the decade-long Unsung Heroes programme, which ran from 2003 to 2013, and which highlighted and rewarded scores of Caribbean men and women working quietly in their communities and making a difference in the lives of many, the Caribbean bank has rebooted the campaign to find those hidden heroes across its 10-member regional footprint.

The bank has made a modification to the original programme. While the original campaign focused mainly on people from the region who worked over a number of years to better their communities, the 2025 version of CIBC Caribbean Unsung Heroes campaign is open to all persons aged ten and over who have been making a difference in their communities and who have not been highlighted or rewarded in any significant way.

The new campaign offered two categories under which persons can be nominated – the original category of “outstanding work in the community” and a new category covering “an act of heroism/bravery/extraordinary act of kindness” within the 12 months preceding the start of the year’s campaign.

Winners will be selected from among those nominated at the local level and will be announced in August. The winners from each country will then be eligible for the regional awards, the winners of which will be announced in September.

In October, the top three regional winners – the regional CIBC Caribbean Unsung Hero and two runners-up – and a guest each will be brought to Barbados for the presentation of prizes at a special awards dinner.

Special prizes will also be offered to the persons nominating the winning heroes.