Giving everything we can for the betterment of life and love

Our Vision for Love encourages us to extend beyond the walls of our company and give back to the communities that have given us so much. In the spirit of our generous co-founder, Joan Duncan, we are committed to doing our part to share in the inter-relatedness of all life.

In this vision, the JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation is JMMB’s way to actualize our social responsibility, through volunteering and empowerment.

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Conversations for Greatness: Transforming Our Education System

The JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation’s Conversations for Greatness is a transformational project in support of the Ministry of Education’s Operation Turnaround initiative.

The primary goal of Conversations for Greatness is to unearth and encourage Teachers, Administrators and Ancillary Staff to uncover and to tap into their God-given greatness in order to impact their own lives and by extension their students and their communities.
In support of the Ministry of Education’s Operation Turnaround Initiative 150 schools have been selected to participate in the 3 year project.
Participants are engaged in 3 days of conversation to gather the necessary skills and tools to support mindset and behavioral change, ultimately leading to powerful and positive transformations in their thinking and behavior.
Schools are then coached for 9 months to support new paradigms through which greatness and transformational leadership can emerge.
With new paradigms, new possibilities can be realized.

Looking to help? We need volunteers, cash and in-kind contributions.

Click here to download the BROCHURE FOR CONVERSATIONS FOR GREATNESS

OUR PILOT SCHOOLS	SCHOOL WORKSHOPS

CHILD RESILIENCY PROGRAM	EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Looking to help?
Donate through the Joan Duncan Foundation JMMB Bank accounts below:

JMD EzAccess Account: 006000176893, and

USD EzAccess Account: 006000176826.

Why we give back

When giving back to our community, we have three actionable goals in mind.

To strengthen our understanding of ourselves as powerful human beings, so that we may unearth greatness in ourselves and each other.
To introduce necessary skill sets to support the mindset and behavioural changes for individuals and organisations.
To uncover the individual and collective paradigms within which we are operating, which shape our ways of being, our attitudes, our behaviours, and our actions. Only then is transformation possible.

How we give back

Here are just some of the ways in which we seek to impact the community and the nation:

National Projects: To make a difference, both the little things and the big things matter. On a national scale, we help by empowering communities. Sometimes, that means employing youth to give them a start in the working world. At other times, it means coaching local football teams on a volunteer basis, to forge strong teams and values. Still, at other times, it means creating programmes to help children make the best possible decisions.

Education: Education is one of the most powerful weapons we have to combat poverty. We believe in education, which is why we sponsor scholarships for our nation’s youth. This gives them the chance to learn, grow, and share in the empowerment that a sound education provides.

Transformational Training: In order to transform the world, we must first transform ourselves. That means we must take steps to enhance personal growth, facilitate positive self-discovery, and build our core values. We host transformational training sessions to help participants to reach their full potential.

Entrepreneurial Transformation: Combating poverty also means encouraging innovative thinking in our future leaders. We sponsor and provide tangible support to entrepreneurial competitions among our nation’s youth, awarding prizes to the top competitors.

Community Involvement: Our vision of love sees us transforming communities for a more prosperous nation. Through the network of JMMB branches, Team members are able to be involved in initiatives for community development through volunteerism and financial support. We all play our part to make a difference in our communities.

Our Chairperson

In her capacity as Chair of the JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation, Patricia Sutherland brings her expertise in the areas of management, operations, and strategic planning, to drive the corporate social responsibility initiatives of the JMMB Group in Jamaica.

With a passion for enabling people to realise the greatness within themselves and their communities, Patricia is responsible for charting the course of activities of the Foundation, in a way that supports nation-building, to the benefit of all.

Prior to her appointment as Chair, she has worked in various capacities throughout the JMMB Group. She also speaks French and holds a B.Sc. in Pure and Applied Chemistry, from the University of the West Indies, Mona.

Joan Duncan School of Entrepreneurship, Ethics and Leadership

Our goal is to create a positive culture, built in a core of love, for the future leaders of Jamaica.

In 2011, the University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) forged a partnership with the JMMB Group. Our combined objective was to promote ethical standards in business, reduce corrupt practices in aspects of Jamaican life and foster socio-economic development.

Now, the expanded School of Entrepreneurship has been re-branded the Joan Duncan School of Entrepreneurship, Ethics and Leadership (JDSEEL), named in memory of JMMB’s co-founder.

UTech’s President, Prof. the Hon. Errol Morrison, OJ in welcoming the partnership with the JMMB Group. He notes that the School will be an important beacon in the teaching of business, entrepreneurship, ethics and leadership at the tertiary level, saying “[This school] will transform ethical principles in business leadership and boost the cadre of entrepreneurs with the capacity to spawn social and economic development.”

JMMB’s Group Executive Director of Culture and Human Development, Donna Duncan-Scott, emphasizes the importance of the inclusion of “ethics” as a critical component in the mandate of the School. She laments that Jamaica still ranks high at 87 on the 2010 World Corruption Index, noting that, “we would like to honour Joan Duncan’s memory and legacy by making an endowment to UTech, the proceeds of which will be used to build and sustain the School of Entrepreneurship, Ethics and Leadership, expand her legacy and further her life’s work by engaging in activities that advance the principles for which she stood and lived true to, for the benefit of our country Jamaica.”

The School’s $80 million dollar endowment fund will help to advance teaching and research in entrepreneurship, economic growth, moral considerations in business decision-making, human rights and globally conscious leaders. The activities of the endowment fund will include:

Award of scholarships
Intellectually rigorous and practical research and course development on leadership
Ethics and the enhancement of economic growth
An annual public lecture on matters related to the disciplines that will advance Jamaica’s direction towards the values expounded in the National Vision 2030 Plan
Short professional courses and seminars, conferences and publications that focus on ethics and leadership.

Joan Duncan, a supreme entrepreneur guided by high ethical standards, introduced and developed the Money Market concept in Jamaica in the early 1990’s in partnership with JMMB’s co-founder, Dr. Noel Lyons. Joan rose from humble beginnings – once a dressmaker; she did the hard work to get qualified in the area of finance and banking and developed the critical competencies to successfully start and grow a new business grounded in the core values of love, respect, compassion, honesty, and integrity.

Explore the JOAN DUNCAN SCHOOL OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP, ETHICS AND LEADERSHIP AT UTECH

"Thank you all for being a part of my journey, for helping me create the space for some real healing to happen, and for reminding me of my greatness." - Conversations for greatness participant