Montego Bay, St James, 22 June 2026
Ninety students drawn from all 14 parishes are receiving one-to-one guidance from Jamaicans overseas through a diaspora mentorship programme whose founder was honoured at last week’s diaspora conference.
The Jamaica Diaspora Mentorship Academy pairs each student with a mentor based abroad. Students are selected through a partnership with the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information.
Founder recognised
The academy was launched two years ago by Dr Sandra Colly-Durand, Vice Chair of the Global Jamaica Diaspora Council and its education sector lead. She lives in France, where she is a manager at ESSEC Business School.
On Monday, 15 June, she was among seven members of the diaspora presented with the 2026 Governor-General’s Achievement Award during a ceremony at the 11th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference at the Montego Bay Convention Centre.
A former teacher at Vaz Preparatory School, the University of the West Indies and Shortwood Teachers’ College, she said her classroom background drove her to find practical ways of putting the knowledge of Jamaicans abroad to work for students and educators at home.
Impact beyond the screen
Dr Colly-Durand said the relationships often go further than online sessions. One mentor living in the United Kingdom travelled to Jamaica with school supplies to meet her mentee in person, and the student’s family later wrote to say the programme had changed their lives.
Another mentor, based in Brussels, has pledged to cover the full cost of university for her mentee if the young woman secures a place.
Accepting her award, Dr Colly-Durand described it as a great privilege and said many others working for Jamaica around the world were equally deserving.
Why it matters to families
For many families, guidance on study choices, scholarships and careers can be hard to find. Programmes like this give students a direct link to professionals abroad and, in some cases, practical and financial support.
Ties of this kind also strengthen the wider bond between Jamaicans overseas and their home communities, a bond that often shapes decisions about investing, buying property or eventually returning home.
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