The Private Sector Organization of Jamaica (PSOJ), in partnership with the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), will launch a 5-year, $2 billion social transformation and renewal initiative dubbed Project STAR on Monday, July 25 at 8:30 p.m. .
Hosted by media personality, Miss Kitty, Project STAR will take the form of a live televised One Love Conversation – a series of sensitive, yet necessary discussions designed to stimulate the mindset shift essential to real change.
According to organizers, Project STAR is national in scope and will deliver a range of proven social interventions to between 10 and 20 underserved communities.
The deployment will begin in September in Kingston’s downtown east side, followed by May Pen proper and Savanna-La-Mar.
“The STAR Project was born out of a sincere belief that positive change is always possible…and that every Jamaican community can thrive if given the right resources,” said STAR Project Co-Chair Keith Duncan.
“It will take a whole-of-society approach, but the goal is the social and economic transformation of target communities – driven by a shift in mindset and achieved through a series of tailored community-building activities,” Duncan said.
A key differentiator of the STAR project is its evidence-based approach. To achieve this, PSOJ has key collaborators including researcher Dr Deanna Ashley of the Violence Prevention Alliance (VPA), analytics consultancy Project ALPHA, led by Dr Parris Lyew-Ayee, Jr, and Larren Peart of Blue Dot Insights.
In addition to having a strong Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) framework guided by Dr. Nadiya Figueroa, the STAR project will benefit from the PSOJ by leveraging its management expertise and resources.
STAR was launched by PSOJ President, Keith Duncan, and will be managed by Saffrey Brown, a 25-year social development veteran, former CEO of the National Foundation of Jamaica and outgoing CVSS President. – End