Public Lecture Series

A project of the GraceKennedy Foundation that has become highly regarded and which has impacted nationally is the annual public lecture series.

Since 1989, the Foundation has invited a person of distinction to lecture on a subject of political, economic or social concern to Jamaica and the Caribbean. It is the aim of the Foundation that the lecture should initiate public debate and commentary at all levels of society. To further facilitate this process the lecture is published and circulated to institutions and individuals.

Several of the lectures have become important sources for reference in their fields. A number have been assigned as texts at both the University of the West Indies and the University of Technology. Two titles have been in constant demand by schools and the general public and have had to be reprinted. These are Elsa Leo-Rhynie's The Jamaican Family: Continuity and Change and Don Robotham's Vision and Volunteerism.

Below is a list of topics of past lectures.

Click on the lecture titles to access the on-line version in PDF format..

Year Presenters Topic
2011 Frances Madden

"It's Not About Me" - Working with Communities: Processes and Challenges The Grace & Staff Community Development Foundation Experience
2010 Delano Franklyn Sport in Jamaica, A Local and International Perspective
2009 Prof. Anthony Harriott Controlling Violent Crime: Models & Policy Options
2008 Richard L. Bernal GLOBALIZATION: EVERYTHING BUT ALMS - The EPA and Economic Development
2007 Kenneth Sylvester Information Communication Technology: Shaping Our Lives
2006 Maureen Samms-Vaughn Children Caught in the Cross Fire
2005 Marjorie Whylie 'Our Musical Heritage - The Power of the Beat'.
2004 Dennis Morrison Q.C. The Citizen and the Law - "Perspectives Old and New"
2003 Dr. Paulline Millbourn Lynch Wellness: A National Challenge
2002 Lloyd Goodleigh, Anthony Irons, Neville Ying Changing with Change: Workplace Dynamics Today and Tomorrow
2001 Errol Miller Jamaica in the 21st Century: Contending Choices
2000 Patrick Bryan Inside Out and Outside In: Factors in the Creation of Contemporary Jamaica
1999 Barry Chevannes What We Sow and What We Reap: The Cultivation of Male Identity in Jamaica
1998 Don Robotham Vision & Voluntarism - Reviving Voluntarism in Jamaica
1997 Gladstone Mills Westminster Style Democracy - The Jamaican Experience
1996 Elizabeth Thomas-Hope The Environmental Dilemma in Caribbean Context
1995 Lucien Jones The Jamaican Society - Options for Renewal
1994 Keith S. Panton Leadership and Citizenship in Post- Independence Jamaica - Whither the Partnership:
1993 Elsa Leo-Rhynie The Jamaican Family: Continuity & Change
1992 Burchell Taylor Free for All? A Question of Morality and Community
1991 Don Mills The New Europe, the New World Order, Jamaica and the Caribbean
1990 Alister McIntyre Human Resources Development: Its Relevance to Jamaica and the Caribbean
1989 G. Arthur Brown Patterns of Development and Attendant Choices and Consequences of Jamaica and the Caribbean

Lectures books are available for sale at Grace Kennedy Foundation.