Jason Sharp, managing director of Coffee Traders Limited and owner of Cafe Blue, will be the special guest lecturer at St. George’s College’s ‘Pioneers of Tomorrow’ lecture series which kicks off on Wednesday (March 25).

Speaking about this new series, St Georges Old Boy and founder of CIN TV in New York, Stephen Hill said the idea is to invite the students who are graduating, fifth formers and sixth formers to listen to people in Jamaica who have created strong, and successful enterprises.

St George’s felt it was important that the students not only come out with good academic careers but they had to be inspired to go out and believe in themselves that they can achieve whatever they want.

Stephen Hill and the committee, which includes Dr Trevor Munroe, felt it was important to talk to them and give them confidence so they could be successful. Success, hard work and inspiration are important to the students.

Speaking with Our Today, Stephen Hill added, “ What I thought when I came up with the idea and talked about it with Dr Trevor Munroe was that we really need to inspire the students. We want them to have vision and be people who can go after their dreams. When you see what Elon Musk has done and he was an ordinary student. He came from South Africa, went to Queens in Canada and subsequently went to university in the United States. Look what he achieved! Not only has he led Tesla but Space X and Twitter now known as X. He put PayPal on the map.

“We want to galvanise the students and bring in people who have done the same thing in Jamaica, people who are relatively young, didn’t start out with a lot of money and built  a brand that has become successful, able to go out and compete in the world.

“Take Jason Sharp, our first speaker, he built Cafe Blue. He has built a product that is as good as Starbucks. The next move for him is to possibly go overseas and see if he can make it internationally. He is also the largest exporter of coffee from Jamaica which is phenomenal.  He exports to China, Japan and all over the Caribbean. He is also the largest manufacturer of chocolates in Jamaica. His chocolates can be bought in all the supermarkets.

“So we want people to emulate his actions but not only Jason Sharp but other entrepreneurs. We are also going to bring  Phillip Wong from the United States as a guest speaker. He has become huge in Florida in the hardware business. We are also looking at Lee Issa who built a fabulous brand with the Couples Resorts. He also built the retail store Lee’s Fifth Avenue. Then there is Adam Stewart who is continuing his father’s legacy and is expanding the Sandals brand. Sandals is possibly the best all-inclusive resort in the world.”

The Pioneers of Tomorrow lecture series is not only aimed at St George’s students but all students who attend schools in the Corporate Area (Wolmers, Immaculate, Kingston College,  Holy Trinity Campion etc). 

Hill and the committee want to make it something that all students can understand the possibilities. The lecture will be the first this year, followed by another in September and will close the year with another in December.

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