The Governor-General’s Programme for Excellence (GGPE) has appointed 2017 Queen’s Young Leader awardee, Mr. Abrahim Simmonds, as its new National Coordinator.
Mr. Simmonds who recently completed postgraduate studies in Health Informatics at the Swansea University in Wales, will serve in the capacity to bolster strategic growth and development. According to Simmonds, amid the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, a data-driven approach to the overall management of the GGPE’s projects will be executed as the Programme continues to serve and meet the needs of its constituents.
“I am honoured to have the opportunity to lead the Governor-General’s Programme for Excellence. I am also humbled by the confidence placed in me, and I look forward to reviewing and spearheading a number of initiatives that will bring the Programme to the next level”, he added.
No stranger to the GGPE, Mr. Simmonds is one of the first recipients of the I Believe Initiative (IBI) Summer of Service (SOS) Scholarship in 2013 and was the chief architect and Chairperson for the IBI’s National Coordinating Committee in its early stages. He was also inducted as an ‘I Believe’ Ambassador in 2016 by His Excellency The Governor-General, for his commitment to social action in Jamaica. “The GGPE has always been dear to my heart, as I have been able to serve and grow with the Programme over the years”, said Mr. Simmonds.
Through his efforts as co-founder of JAYECAN, a youth-led organisation, Mr. Simmonds became the recipient of the Queen’s Young Leader Award from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 2017. He has worked on several projects that transcend the reach and impact of health services to key and vulnerable populations within the Caribbean region and parts of Africa. His involvement as an active social development advocate, led to him being awarded among a cohort of nineteen (19) scholars as Chevening scholarship recipients in 2019.
Mr. Simmonds, whose appointment became effective yesterday, December 1, 2020, will take over from his predecessor, Ms. Sonja Simms.
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For more information, please contact Mr. Alex Sterling at 876-550-4534 or email at asterling@kingshouse.gov.jm
