Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley and Cedella Marley, CEO of Tuff Gong International, are among seven distinguished recipients to receive awards at the 24th annual ‘Legacy Continues’ Gala Awards of the American Foundation for the University of the West Indies (AFUWI). 

The virtual event, scheduled for Sunday, February 21, is the foundation’s premier annual fundraiser, which provides scholarships for students of the five campuses of the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad, Antigua and the Open Campus.

Prime Minister Mottley will receive the ‘Legacy Award’ and Cedella Marley, the ‘Chancellor’s Award For Excellence in Global Leadership’.

Among the other awardees are:

Arlene Isaacs-Lowe, Global Head of CSR, President, Moody’s Foundation – “The Vice Chancellor’s Achievement Award”; 
Dr. Jermaine Omar McCalpin, Chair, African and African American Studies Research Interests, New Jersey City University -“The Pelican Award”;
David Mullings, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Blue Major Capital Partners- “The Chancellor’s Award For Excellence in Business Leadership”;
Amanda Seales, Actress, Activist, Artist and Media Personality – “The Caribbean Luminary Award”; and
WBLS and Dahved Levy “The Trailblazer Award For Excellence in Community Engagement”.

The awardees celebrate Caribbean heritage and their individual contributions in varied sectors including politics and nation-building, music, acting, media, entrepreneurship, business, academia and education.

Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice-Chancellor of The UWI said “Each year. the AFUWI has the privilege of saying thank you on behalf of the people in the Caribbean and the Diaspora, to a select group of distinguished persons of Caribbean descent or heritage who are blazing a trail of excellence in the United States of America.” 

“We acknowledge and honour them as eminent standard-bearers for a region that has contributed much to the development of the USA in a range of spheres,” he continued.

“As large as America is, our Caribbean immigrants continuously punch way above the weight of the small island nations of their birth or heritage and we share in the pride of their accomplishments”, Sir Hilary declared.

For the past 23 years, the AFUWI awards have been hosted in New York City where the AFUWI is headquartered. This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event will be a completely virtual production.