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March 2011
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AFUWI Honours Two Emmy Winners, Other Stars at 2011 Gala
The gala, held annually in New York, raises funds to support scholarship programmes at The UWI and is its premier fund-raising event in the USA. Another of the premier fund-raising events for The UWI is its Toronto Gala, which was scheduled to be held yesterday (March 26) at the Four Seasons Hotel in Toronto. This black-tie event, hosted by lead chair, Scotiabank and The UWI raises funds for the UWI Scholarship Fund and this year as well, the UWI Haitian Initiative. Ms. De Passe, co-chair of de Passe Jones Entertainment, formerly of Motown, is credited with discovering Michael Jackson and the Jackson Five, Lionel Ritchie & The Commodores and numerous other multi-million dollar selling artistes. She is the first female to receive the AFUWI Bob Marley Award, made annually in recognition of individuals whose contribution to the advancement of arts and culture transcends boundaries of race, colour, creed and geographies, uniting people throughout the world in a spirit that embodies the essence of the music and lyrics of the Hon. Robert Nesta Marley, O.M.
Brenda Blackmon, four-time Emmy Award winner and celebrated broadcaster, recognized in 2010 as “one of the century’s most influential,” was one of three recipients of the Vice Chancellor’s Achievement Award. Also honoured in this category were acclaimed Jamaican-born artist and author, Michael Escoffrey who has exhibited in over 160 solo exhibitions and over 200 group shows worldwide and has had his work published in over 70 books in nine languages. The third Vice Chancellor’s Achievement Awardee was Jeanine Liburd, Executive Vice President, Corporate Communications & Public Affairs for BET Networks who has had a distinguished career in communications including previous senior positions at Viacom, where she oversaw all media relations initiatives and corporate messages for the company’s business units, including MTV Networks, BET Networks, and Paramount Pictures. Jamaica-born Dr. Michelle Johnson, Associates Chief of Cardiology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York and mentor to scores of Caribbean medical students and Trinidadian the late Carlos Lezama “Mr. Carnival”, who presided over the West Indian American Day Carnival Association for 34 years and whose shared vision of carnival is now immortalized in the annual Brooklyn Labour Day Carnival. Jamaica-born Ambassador Carlton Masters, President & CEO of Goodworks International LLC was the fourth “Caribbean Luminary” honoured by AFUWI. At Goodworks he negotiates and coordinates all client engagements and provides strategic counsel to governments throughout Africa and the Caribbean. He also plays a lead role in partnering Fortune 500 companies with Caribbean and African nations. |
Emmy Award winner, US Entertainment Industry mogul, Suzanne de Passe; former President of Verizon, Patrick Gaston, and NY9 News co-anchor, Brenda Blackmon, were among honorees celebrated at the 14th annual Legacy Awards Gala of the American Foundation for the University of the West Indies (AFUWI), at the Pierre Hotel, New York on January 26, 2011.
Patrick Gaston, now serving as a senior advisor to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, received the AFUWI Special Award in recognition of his outstanding professional accomplishments, as well as his years of dedicated service and commitment to the mission of the AFUWI.