Derrick L. Harvey

Derrick L. Harvey

President 

Derrick worked as the first bookkeeper for the founders of Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream Company in New York and New Jersey upon his arrival to the USA . He was transferred to Atlanta to be the Managing Director of the first corporately owned distribution center. During the next fifteen years, Derrick was the Business Manager and Administrator for a Medical Center in Atlanta - he also started his own private accounting and consulting company.

He attended Monroe College in New York City , majoring in Computer Science, but ultimately his transfer to Atlanta resulted in the move to Kennesaw State University where he completed studies in Management Accounting. Derrick has worked as a Chief Financial Officer, Tax Practitioner, Small Business Consultant, Corporate Accountant, and currently Corporate HR/AP manager for a local family-owned company.

Derrick has been a member of the Atlanta Jamaican Association, Inc. since 1999 and was elected that year as the treasurer. He served as the treasurer until he was elected President in October 2000 and served until September 2003. His priority is to maintain involvement with the church, his family, and other community organizations.

Derrick is currently residing in Marietta, Georgia and is married with three children.

Top

Trevor Augustus Smith

Trevor Augustus Smith

Vice President

Trevor Smith is currently an Independent Broker for Caribbean owned products.
He continuously seek to build on his history of community service dating back to the age of fifteen when he was involved in Jamaica in the Adult Education Programs up in the hills of the Blue Mountain, and at sixteen when he was trained as a First Aid Instructor by the Canadian Red Cross and spent many after school hours teaching First Aid to other young people in Portland.

Relocating to Kingston he joined Kinston Jaycees, and one of the benefits of this period was the training he gained through active involvement in committee projects. He was assigned as Liaison Officer under the Ministry of External Affairs - to the Prime Minister and the Seirra Leonne Delegation at the 1975 Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference in Jamaica.

Relocating to New York Trevor worked in management positions, then decided to direct his services towards developing Caribbean owned business. He became active with the Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce in marketing and promotion services. He was part of delegations that made proposal towards funding building for a Caribbean Trade Center to then Governor Pataki, meetings with the Mayor and other City Commissioners and officials, and on the list of Caribbean Nationals invited to meetings to address inflammatory community issues.

Trevor was appointed representative with the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, serving on the Brooklyn Goes Global Committee whose goal was to develop exports markets for Brooklyn based manufacturers. He was a member of Brooklyn Chamber Delegations to Washington, on its yearly mission to secure Federal funding. He was asked to address the Congressional Committee and present the case and need for funding. The presentation was well received and they received the requested funds. In 1998 Tower Isles was honored as the Outstanding Company of the Year by the Brooklyn Chamber, the first time an African American Company won that prestigious award and the first and only time one company only was so honored.

Relocating to Atlanta Trevor was a founding member and Vice President of the Caribbean Action Council - a body formed to pursue a political agenda on behalf of Caribbean community and was chairman of the Political Action Committee. He served as Caribbean representative on the Georgia Multi-cultural Advisory Committee (GMAC) - a body consisting of over twenty-five ethnic groups set up by then Governor Roy Barnes, and chaired by the director of the Labor Department. He was actively involved with the Secretary of Stated Office during the 2000 Census in getting information out to the Caribbean Community.

Trevor is a member of the Atlanta Caribbean Association as well as the Atlanta Jamaican Association, and a founding member of the Jamaican folk singing group, the Sugar Canes. Through his membership in community organizations he continues to seek opportunities to give back to the community. He served the Atlanta Jamaican Association as committee member, Chair, Trustee, and since 2007 as Vice President He is a strong supporter of the Union of Jamaican Organizations in Atlanta and a active participant in the hurricane Relief efforts.

Wife: Lorrett Hibbert - Smith.
Sons: Trevor Smith, Jr, Dr Tamar Smith, MD, Samuel
Daughters: Donna, Margarette,

Top

Granville Saunders

Granville Saunders

Treasurer

Hailing from the hills of St Andrew, Granville Saunders is a graduate of the Mico Teachers College in Kingston. After graduation he spent six years, which he describes as his most gratifying years, in the Secondary school system during which time he achieved the status of Senior Teacher and served as head of the Industrial Arts and Art departments. Granville migrated to the United States and resided in Connecticut for 8 years. He holds a Bachelors degree in Engineering from Central Connecticut State University. He also holds a Six Sigma Black Belt in Project Management and is a lead Engineer in the nations’ number one lighting company. He has been a supporter of the AJA since his arrival in Atlanta in 1983. He joined the organization in the late eighties and served as treasurer for two terms beginning in 1995 and a third term during Derrick Harvey's administration, 2002-2003.

Asked what is his vision of the organization, his reply, "the envy of all local nonprofit organizations and the acquisition of a permanent meeting place"

Top

Dr. Princess Beckford

Dr. Princess Beckford

Secretary

Dr. Princess Beckford was born in Montego Bay Jamaica and emigrated at 8years old to Ohio where she spent her formative years. Moved to Atlanta in search of warmer weather she has been active in several organizations since relocating here in 1994. Princess has been a member of the AJA for 5 years and have previously served as secretary on the board. She is also very active with the GA Caribbean American Heritage Month committee. She attends Elizabeth Baptist Church where she is active in the dance and drama ministry. Pincess holds a PhD, in Educational Leadership and Human Resources from Colorado State University; a Masters in Communication from;Southern Polytechnic State University; and a Bachelors in Business Administration from Toledo University.

Top

George Aird

George Aird

Assistant Treasurer

George was born in Hanover and is a graduate of Rusea's High School. He is also a Chartered Life Underwriter, and a graduate of the Caribbean Meteorological Institute(Barbados), Life Management Institute(Atlanta), and Mercer University's Stetson School of Business & Economics(Atlanta). A former Vice President of Rusea's Old Students Assoc.(Florida), George currently serves as a Welcome Minister at Sts Peter and Paul Catholic church in Decatur. George is married with three adult children.

Top

Jim Kelly

Jim Kelly

Assistant Secretary

Jim Kelly who was born in Portland,Jamaica, is a graduate of the Tichfield High School and the College of Arts Science and Technology. Following a stint in the Collector General's Department, entered the field of Life Insurance. He joined the National Life Insurance Company and attained membership in its Million Dollar Round Table. Jimmy (as he is affectionately known) was a Charter Member and Vice-President of the Kiwanis Club of Portmore where he was well known for his hard work and commitment. In 1976 he was the Chairman of the Registration and Information Committee of the Eastern Canada and Caribbean Kiwanis International Convention held that year in Kingston.

When he migrated to to the United States, he continued working in the insurance industry by taking an assignment as Special Agent with the Prudential Insurance Company in New York City. Concurrently, Jimmy continued his community involvement by joining the Wembley Athletic Club of New York. He served on the Executive Board of that body as Secretary from 1988 to 2003 when he retired and relocated to Marrietta, Georgia. He became a member of AJA in 2004.

He is married (wife,Winsome)and has four children and one grand child.

Top

Winston Henry

Winston Henry

Parliamentarian

Winston is currently a Mechanical Engineer, specializing in Packaging Machinery, with a food packaging company in Atlanta . Originally from St. Ann, Jamaica , Winston graduated from York Castle High school in Brown’s Town.

He worked with Barclays Bank Jamaica before attending the College of Arts , Science and Technology (now U-Tech) to earn a Diploma in Mechanical Technology. Winston then worked with Reynolds Jamaica Mines for two years and then went on to attend Penn State University . Winston graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology (R.I.T) with a Bs in Mechanical Technology.

Top

Casmel Williams

Casmel Williams

Trustee

A fifteen (15) year member of the Atlanta Jamaican Association, Casmel has served as Secretary of the Association during the Presidency of Astley and the Presidency of Derrick Harvey, after which she served as chairperson of the Family Relations Committee.  During the period of an interim Board  she was asked to serve as Secrretary of the Association under the Interim President, Derrick Wright.    Casmel is a member of the cultural group the Sugar Canes.  She is a Dekalb County employee with over ten (10) years of service in the field of law.  She is married to Ranny Williams and both are active members of the White Oaks Baptist Church.  

Top

Astley Leslie

Astley Leslie

Trustee

Astley is a certified Conflict Resolution Specialist registered with the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution. He is a founding member of the Association for Conflict Resolution - Georgia Chapter   He previously served as Permanent Secretary in the Jamaica Ministry of Social  Security and the Ministry of Labor before joining the International Labor Organization - an agency of the United Nations Organization - to establish, and develop over a fifteen year period, the Caribbean Labor Administration Center in Barbados.;

Astley  joined the Atlanta Jamaican Association in 1993, served as its President in 1995 and from 1997 to 2000 and chaired its Constitution Committee in 2005 and 2006. He was instrumental in revising and updating the By Laws of the Association. These revised By Laws were adopted by the quarterly members meeting held in January 2007.    He is a founding member of the Sugar Canes - a Jamaican folk singing group established in Atlanta to promote the Jamaican culture He is currently serving as a Trustee of the Association for the second consecutive year.   Astley holds the degrees of Bachelor of Science(Economics) and Master of Science (Personnel and Employment Relations).  He is married and has two grown daughters.

Top