Joe Issa Wishes Happy Valentine’s Day, Good Education for All Jamaican Children

Civic-minded philanthropist and businessman Joe Issa, wishes his employees, business colleagues and friends a Happy Valentine’s Day while promoting a good education for all Jamaican children, stating “it is the surest way out of poverty – the scourge of all societies.”

Issa cautioned that “while numeracy and literacy have their uses, such as in functionality – enabling one to follow directions, dispense medicine, cook from recipes and apply agricultural or other chemicals – it is woefully inadequate to take one beyond the ‘bread line’.”

He argues that “sometimes, depending on how enabling the business environment is and the size of the household, more is needed, such as a good education, creativity and imagination, or even retraining, in order to break completely, the cycle of poverty.”

Issa said he chose ‘a good education’ as his thematic Valentine’s Day message not simply because it is the area in which his Cool Group subsidiary, Cool Charities, gives back to disadvantaged children.

As he puts it, “a good education not only opens up opportunities for gainful employment in order to provide for the basic necessities of daily living such as food, clothing and shelter, but it also prepares one to change one’s life entirely by making poverty a distant phenomenon.”

He describes a good education as one that does not merely enable school leavers to get a decent entry level job, but one which allows them to matriculate to higher education such as a college or university, and get a profession.

In 1987, while at the Londoon School of Economics, Issa founded his first charity, “Educate the Children Fund”, to buy books for disadvantaged children in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean; and a year later, he established the “Joe Issa/Holy Cross Scholarship Fund” to send bright, under-privileged students to his alma mater university in the United States.

He has hosted youth camps and disadvantaged children in the St Ann/St Mary area in which his businesses operate, and believes that schools must be progressive in order to churn out university-ready children.

It was with this in mind that he founded “Global Education 2000”, which has twined Jamaican schools with their counterparts in the United States. Several schools have benefited from these exchanges, including Three Hills All Age School in St. Mary, which was twinned with Broward Elementary School in Tampa, Florida.

Issa has described the results of the initiative as “a major development which will see an exciting, rewarding exchange of cultural ideas and thoughts between students and teachers at both institutions.”

He says much of who he is today, is due to his good fortune of having had a good education, and stated, “I wish nothing less for all Jamaican children.”

‘Monetising Education’: Celebrated Valedictorian Urges Greater Sensitisation to Entrepreneurship to Help Graduates

As the country gears for higher economic growth and employment, celebrated valedictorian Joe Issa, who made his first investment in 1995 at the age of 30 with just US$3,000 and now heads a group of over 50 companies, has said that greater sensitisation of students to entrepreneurship could help them better monetise their education.

                      

       Roderick Gordon                                                    Joe Issa

“As it is now, the country needs more entrepreneurs and the younger the better, but I don’t see it coming without sensitising graduates to entrepreneurship, and the earlier they begin to entertain the thought of becoming an employer instead of an employee, the better they will be able to assess the technical and financial viability of their chosen business.

“The importance of being able to do so, is that a bank proposal must be convincing and command an immediate positive response. It cannot be based on sentiments but on solid observable favourable trends.

“Once pitched the project must leave no room for questions and no questions means a probable immediate yes, an outcome that is more likely the earlier students are sensitised to entrepreneurship.

“The importance of getting an immediate yes is because the longer a bank takes to approve a loan the more reasons they will find to not give it,” said Issa, who has served on the board of directors of First Global bank, among other establishments.

Issa’s statements come amid concerns expressed at a recent Gleaner Editors’ Forum that “one of the things that is killing Jamaica is the inability of individuals who study, train and can’t get a job, and the complete disconnect on how to monetise their training”, according to the newspaper.

It cited Attorney-at-law Roderick Gordon, who chairs one of the companies that has the backing of First AngelsJa, making the statement in support of Chairman of First AngelsJa, Joseph M. Matalon, who had earlier said there was no shortage of investors in Jamaica for the right deals, but argued there was an “immaturity in the environmental ecosystem”.

“We don’t get enough qualified deals. We don’t get enough qualified people coming forward who have the attitude, experience, educational background, or the expertise to drive the growth of a new business,” Matalon told the Gleaner Editors’ Forum.

Gordon, who is said to get excited when the group offers support and the investment comes to fruition, reportedly said he likes “seeing the innovation come through, seeing people who are a lot more exposed.

“I have seen entrepreneurs who pitch more than once and the second pitch is vastly improved to the first. So they are learning the discipline. They are learning how to focus. They are learning what sounds good from what can make a profit. That makes me excited.”

Joe Issa Supports Call for Smartphone Impact Research on Kids

Founder of Cool Corporation and a parent of two, Joe Issa, has supported a call for Apple to undertake research on the impact of smartphones on children, stating it is long overdue.

“We have had smartphones around for several years and we still do not know for sure what effect it is having on our kids who use them.

“With so much content in text and vedio we don’t know what our kids are reading and viewing and their appropriateness.

“We don’t even know if it is addictive or pose a health risk with prolonged use as has been said of electronic devices generally.

“And with the multitude of apps that are available on smartphones and their level of sophiscation in terms of functionality, parents will be challenged to control what their kids are exposed to and for how long.

“I think Apple will be well advised to do that research out of concern for our young, impressionable minds, which I also agree makes good business sense,” said Issa, who was referring to news that two large Apple shareholders say it needs to research the impact of smartphones on kids

In an article originally appeared on TechCrunch, two of Apple’s institutional shareholders, hedge fund Jana Partners and California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), are said to have called on the company to study the impact of smartphone use on child development.

It cited an open letter, in which the two investors said that after reviewing research, they believe that Apple needs to give parents more resources and software tools to make sure their kids are using their devices “in an optimal manner.”

Although together, Jana and CalSTRS hold only $2 billion of the Apple’s current $898 billion market capitalisation, however, the letter is said to be noteworthy, because both investors are influential activist shareholders.

Jana Partners managing director Barry Rosenstein pushed Whole Foods to put itself up for sale before the grocery chain’s acquisition by Amazon last year, while CalSTRS, which manages retirement benefits for public \educators in California, is the second-largest public pension fund in the United States.

“In a letter signed by Rosenstein and CalSTRS director of corporate governance Anne Sheehan, the two shareholders said they worked with child development experts to review studies that found links between the use of electronic devices and negative effects on concentration, emotional health, sleep and empathy,” wrote the report.

It said that research done by psychologist and San Diego State University professor Jean Twenge was also included. Twenge is believed to have found that American teens who spend three or more hours a day on electronic devices are more likely to have a risk factor for suicide than their peers who use them for less than an hour a day.

The letter is also said to have rgued that making parents bear ultimate responsibility for their kids’ device and social media use is missing the point because parents still need the support of tech companies.

“It is also no secret that social media sites and applications for which the iPhone and iPad are a primary gateway are usually designed to be as addictive and time-consuming as possible, as many of their original creators have publicly acknowledged,” Rosenstein and Sheehan wrote, adding even though an American Psychological Association study found 94% of parents try to manage their kids’ technology use, “it is both unrealistic and a poor long-term business strategy to ask parents to fight this battle alone.”

“The two believe that current parental control features in software are ineffective because they force parents to take an “all or nothing approach” by only allowing them to prevent access to certain functions or features. Furthermore, they claim many apps designed to help parents monitor their kids’ tech consumption aren’t backed by strong research and don’t have the same impact as they would with Apple’s support.

“Jana and CalSTRS proposed several steps Apple can take, including tasking one of their executives (or hiring a new one) to focus on the issue and deliver annual reports, similar to its Environmental Responsibility Reports, for more transparency; creating a committee of child development experts; supporting researchers by giving them access to Apple’s information resources; and adding new setup menus and other options to software so parents can tailor functionality to specific age groups,” the article said.

“As one of the most innovative companies in the history of technology, Apple can play a defining role in signaling to the industry that paying special attention to the health and development of the next generation is both good business and the right thing to do,” Rosenstein and Sheehan was quoted as saying.

TechCrunch is said to have contacted Apple for comment.

‘Stay Involved in Children’s School Lives’: Joe Issa Shares NPTAJ Parental Tips

Advocate for good parenting Joe Issa, has shared parental tips offered by the National Parent Teacher’s Association of Jamaica (NPTAJ), urging parents to adopt them as they are instructive for getting involved in their children’s school lives.

Stating they are the country’s future workforce and communities, Issa said, “Ii is critical for the children’s academic and wholesome development, that parents play an active role in their school work.”

“It gives them a sense of comfort and confidence in themselves and this will show up in their performance both at school and at play, in terms of their relationship with other children.

“Children need to feel they are loved and cared about, and nothing makes a better impression than taking an interest in their school work, checking their books, knowing their teachers, attending PTA meetings and drilling in them the importance of abiding with the rules of the school,” said Issa, who has frequently commented on the role of fathers, in particular, in ensuring the wellbeing of their children.

Issa was commenting on the validity of tips offered by the NPTAJ which encourage parents to get and stay involved in their children’s school lives.

A release by the association, which was carried by the Jamaica Observer, outlined several tips and ways parents can stay involved. These included the following:

1. Attend orientation days, visit school and meet their new teachers. Establish and maintain contact.

2. Get your hands on the syllabus, follow up on homework and ensure all projects are completed and handed in on time.

3. Ensure you familiarise yourself with the rules of the school and ensure your child abides by the rules.

4. When in doubt, seek information/assistance from the relevant sources.

5. Ensure your children get to school on time, in proper attire, and ensure they get home early enough in the evenings to get homework started and prepare for the next day.

6. Children must be home by 8.00pm, preferably earlier if not travelling with you.

7. Establish bed times and help set up study schedules for your children.

8. Limit television, Internet and social media interaction during school days.

9. Ensure proper nutrition is maintained at home and at school.

10. Know where your child is at all times. The security of your children is your responsibility first.

11. Know who your child is hanging out with. Meet their friends’ parents, know where they live.

12. Get involved in your PTA, attend PTA meetings and grade meetings, volunteer your time, donate to worthy causes, and help make your school communities stronger.

It pleaded with parents to not drop off their child on orientation day and then go missing until graduation day.

The NPTAJ said being involved “will make a world of difference to the quality of the child’s education and growth, and will help build the foundation upon which Jamaica’s future leaders will stand and lead the world in years to come.”

 

Craft vendors flay Government for broken promises

Ocho Rios:

Craft Vendors are up in arms against the Government over what they charged yesterday was a series of broken promises made to them and also a general lack of accountability in the country.

About 100 vendors representing 16 craft markets across the island gathered in Ocho Rios yesterday to express their concerns.

They also endorsed the “Joe Issa initiative” which calls on political representatives to be more accountable to their constituents.

The initiative, which was ratified at a meeting of business leaders from across the island in Ocho Rios several weeks ago in the brainchild of Joe Issa, the executive vice president of SuperClubs Resorts.

It calls for candidates contesting the upcoming general election to enter into a covenant with their constituents where, if elected, they would address two of the most critical issues facing their constituency and within a “reasonable period of time”.

The craft traders note that it was “full time their vices be heard clearly” and without them having to resort to disruptive protests. At a press conference at the Pineapple Place Craft Market, the presidents and representatives of each craft market claimed that the Issa-initiative could be one of the best thing to get the craft sector back in business.

The press conference was something of a relief to the authorities in Ocho Rios who were bracing themselves for a major protest, amid rumours that the vendors were being mobilized to disrupt business in the resort town.

However, the vendors made it clear that they were only making their voices heard at this time but warned that if things continue as they are, they will have no choice but to tae their grouses to the streets.

“We have been doing absolutely no business at any of the craft markets,” said Gloria Wright, an executive member of the All Island Craft Markets Association.

“The Indians (duty free merchants) are getting the priority while all we get is promises. For too long we have been buried down and instead of going to our shops to do business, we have been confined to playing ludo and dominoes,” Wright added.

National president Mildred McCalla said despite repeated complaints to the authorities over the years, only promises of assistance is made and that things would have been better if a system of accountability was in place to ensure that thee promises were fulfilled.

Among the promises made to the vendors, McCalla said, was that all markets would be upgraded and the craft sector promoted on board the various cruise ships that make calls to Jamaica. But McCalla said these promises are yet to be fulfilled.

Lloyd Chambers, of the Negril Craft Traders Association said it was time the craft sector be allowed its rightful place as a major entity within the tourist trade.

Among the demands the craft vendors made at yesterday’s press conference, were tax incentives from Government, the creation of a brochure to promote all craft markets across the island, for the Jamaica Tourist Board to allocate a portion of its advertising budget toward the promotion of the craft industry and the need for greater support from hotels, most of which they claimed do not encourage their guests to visit the craft market.

Several of the craft markets are owned by the UDC and vendor at these markets owed the UDC thousands of dollars in outstanding rent and the vendor are asking Government to give them the bail out light of their difficulties.

The meeting was also addressed by president of the St. Ann Chamber of Commerce, Andrew Grant who encouraged the vendors to be specific in their demands and to have dialogue before resorting to any form of protest.

hotel, scam, lawsuit, cool, fraud, ponzi scheme, vacation, crime, olint, david smith, Jamaica, investigation, beach, money laundering