Edith Baxter Memorial Award inaugural recipient Donnovan Simon promoting Jamaica in Calgary
October 14, 2021
No one is more qualified to sell their birth country than nationals in the Diaspora.
For Jamaica and other Caribbean countries to reach and maintain sustainable growth, Donnovan Simon understands the critical role that diaspora contributions can play in significantly transforming economies.
Shortly after migrating to Calgary two decades ago to join his uncle, he immersed himself in the Jamaican community and used his leadership and people skills to vigorously promote his birth country as a vacation destination.
The 40-year-old Jamaican Canadian Association Alberta (JCAA), of which Simon has been President for the past six years and under whose leadership the association has been able to acquire its own building, hosted an ‘Investment in Jamaica’ seminar in 2019, promotes Jamaican art and exposes Albertans to the island’s distinct music, culture and cuisine through the annual ‘Taste of Jamaica’ event.
He also provides promotional all-expenses-paid vacations to Calgarians with assistance from collaborators and hosts a weekly Facebook live event, ‘What A Gwaan’, to discuss issues of importance to Jamaica at home and abroad and promote travel to the island.
Simon’s efforts to promote Jamaica hasn’t gone unnoticed.
He is the inaugural winner of the Edith Baxter Memorial Award presented at a luncheon on September 30 at Palais Royale.
“When I moved to Canada, I didn’t realize that my love for the ‘rock’ would have grown as much as it has,” said the JCAA President who grew up in Bog Walk, St. Catherine and was the Director of Administration & Information Systems with the Jamaica Securities System and Corporate Records Manager with Cable & Wireless Jamaica Ltd. before migrating in 2001. “Even though I try to go back to Jamaica every year, I spend more time here being proud of being a Jamaican and being proud of sharing everything about who we are at every chance that I get.”
Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett presented the award to Simon who was among five finalists.
Jamaica’s Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett (l) presented the inaugural Edith Baxter Memorial Award to Donnovan Simon of Calgary (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
“Those who we honour today in her name do have a legacy to carry on,” Bartlett pointed out. “They have to recognize what it is that Edith Baxter represented, the mission that she was on and how important that mission is not just to have people moving between borders.”
Simon’s prize included a complimentary five-night stay at a Sandals resort in the Caribbean and return airfare tickets for two to an Air Canada Vacations destination.
The other nominees were Mary Long Bishop, Natasha Borota, Fiona Bowen and Wayne Noseworthy.
Mary Long Bishop (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
Moving to Milton in 1974 where she was the first Black elected to the town’s city council 15 years later, Long Bishop established a Jamaican booth at the annual Milton Festival of Countries and a Jamaican-themed gourmet gift basket service and hosted Jamaican Night fundraisers to help repair the Princess Margaret Hospital in Morant Bay. St. Thomas that was damaged by Hurricane Gilbert in 1988 and to purchase ultrasound equipment for May Pen Hospital.
Since 2015, Borota has helped build nearly a dozen basic schools in Jamaica that has enriched young people’s lives.
On her first visit as a volunteer with Helping Hands Jamaica Foundation (HHJF), she met Shyan Brown and has become close to the family.
Natasha Borota (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
Three years ago, Borota -- the President and Chief Operating Officer of ‘The It Factor Ltd.’ which is a full-service boutique agency specializing in event planning, marketing and sports celebrity management -- brought Brown and her mother to Toronto for the annual HHJF ‘Jamrock’ fundraising gala that she organizes along with a five-kilometre walk and brunch that support education Jamaica.
Fiona Bowen (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
The Association of Canadian Travel Agencies Membership Manager for Ontario, Western Canada and the Atlantic, Bowen resided in Ireland and Jamaica and co-founded Giving Jamaica Chances that helps support education initiatives for disadvantaged young people on the island.
Wayne Noseworthy (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
As a Product Director for the Caribbean since 2001, Noseworthy has played a key role in expanding the My Travel/Thomas Cook UK portfolio of Jamaican properties in Canada. In 2005, he was presented with the Blue Mountain Award for his contributions to the growth and development of tourism in Jamaica.
Baxter Media Executive Vice-President Wendy Baxter-McLung, raconteur Sandra Whiting and Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) Regional Director for Canada Angella Bennett selected the finalists.
“We were extremely impressed with all the individuals nominated for this award,” said Bennett. “Though it was a challenging decision, the judges selected five finalists who truly embody the spirit of the award through their efforts in promoting Destination Jamaica.”
The biennial awards program honour the memory of Baxter who died last November at age 93.
She and her deceased husband Bill started Baxter Media in 1968 that shone the spotlight on Jamaica in the Canadian market for nearly five decades.
“Edith Baxter was no ordinary person and her contributions to tourism is legendary,” Bartlett said. “Certainly, what we have seen in terms of the growth of tourism in Canada and how we have been able to build a partnership that is so enduring is a legacy we have to lay squarely at her feet.”
In 2018, the Jamaican government honoured Baxter -- who was also the Editor-in-Chief of Canadian Travel Press -- with the Order of Distinction.
With the Covid-19 virus ravaging countries, Bartlett said Baxter would have been at the forefront of addressing vaccine hesitancy and equity.
“I believe if she was here in this present time, she would have recognized that the science in its efforts to respond to this pandemic has declared for us that a vaccine is what is needed at this time to help us get back to normalcy,” he said. “She would have also recognized there is a problem of hesitancy to the use of this vaccine and there are many countries with no access to it.
“Indeed, she would have had something to say about that and I know she would have wanted her media partners to champion this cause. To have vaccination as a requirement now is not just a medication, but it is the basis on which global recovery is going to be predicated. The tourism that Edith loved so much has no future if we aren’t healthy and that science today tells us that the only basis of restoring health as we know it is the vaccination.”
Baxter-McClung thanked Bartlett, JTB Chairman John Lynch and Director of Tourism Donovan White for travelling to Canada to honour her mom’s legacy.
The late Edith Baxter (Photo contributed)
“You always made sure she was well taken of and shown the respect that she earned,” said her daughter. “This honour means so much to our family and the Baxter Media family. Edith Baxter showed her passion and beliefs through words, not just printed but by engaging people in conversation. She reveled in spreading good news in her efforts to promote tourism where hardworking people were proud to show off their world and Jamaica was her good news story. There’s was nothing she enjoyed more than hearing individual stories, whether from the young entrepreneur selling hair conditioners and appliances to hotels or the driver who picked her up at the airport, the one with the stars that lit up the inside of his car, or the chef who would whip up some ackee and salt fish just for her.”
Lynch, who was instrumental in the creation of the award, said Baxter had a unique understanding of Jamaica and its people.
“When she passed, we envisioned a commemorative award that would celebrate like-minded individuals who shared Edith’s passion for bringing the unique and vibrant spirit of Jamaica to Canadians,” he said. “I am delighted to see that vision come to life today as we celebrate the inaugural Edith Baxter Memorial Award.”
Administered by the JTB and the Baxter family, the award recognizes an outstanding community leader who uses their influence to elevate Destination Jamaica in Canada.
