Percival Noel James Patterson is a Jamaican, Caribbean and International Statesman who has committed his life to achieving social and economic progress for the people of Jamaica, the Caribbean and the African Diaspora. He has selflessly applied his sharp intellect, legal training, vast political experience, keen global insight and eminent international stature to this cause for more than six decades.

Born on April 10, 1935, PJ, as he is affectionately known, had a rural Jamaican upbringing and attended Calabar High School in the capital city Kingston. After earning an honours degree in English at the University College of the West Indies (UCWI), he taught briefly at Munro and Jamaica College before studying Law at the London School of Economics & Political Science where he won a Leverhume Scholarship and the Sir David Hughes Parry Prize.  He was called to the Bar at Middle Temple and admitted to the Jamaican Bar in December 1963.

PJ Patterson responded to the call to political service early in his life, campaigning in the 1958 West Indian Federal Elections after being engaged as a political organiser in Western Jamaica for the People's National Party (PNP) in 1959.

He was appointed a Senator in the Parliament of Jamaica 1969, elected to the House of Representatives in 1970 and served as Minister of Industry, Tourism & Foreign Trade during the first term of the Michael Manley administration and subsequently as Deputy Prime Minister with portfolio responsibility for Foreign Affairs & Foreign Trade & Tourism. 

Mr. Patterson was elected as the Party's President and named Jamaica's sixth Prime Minister in March 1992.  He went on to gain electoral victories in 1993, 1997 and 2002, earning the distinction of being the first Jamaican Prime Minister to win a third term in office before retiring from representational politics in 2006 after serving 14 consecutive years as Prime Minister.

He is credited with having laid the groundwork for the economic growth of modern Jamaica, presiding over massive infrastructure development including the construction of highways, modernisation of airports, telecoms liberalisation and expansion, as well as significant foreign investment inflows to the country's tourism industry. He implemented major programmes for social security and poverty reduction and established several institutions that have become global models of social transformation.

Known for his non-confrontational style of politics, PJ Patterson played a central role in the calming of political tensions in Jamaica and other Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Commonwealth nations. As Chairman of the African-Caribbean-Pacific (ACP)/European Economic Community (EEC) Ministerial Conference, he was pivotal in negotiations for the Lomé Convention of 1975, its successor accords, the Cotonou Agreement which replaced Lomé, and was a key figure in fashioning the Economic Partnership Agreement that replaced the trade provisions of the Cotonou Agreement. Mr. Patterson has chaired the Group of 15 developing nations (G15), CARICOM, and the Group of 77 and China.  He has played lead roles in the United Nations, its Security Council, UNCTAD, the Commonwealth, the Non-Aligned Movement and the Association of Caribbean States.

He was a leading voice in Jamaica's major contribution to the international campaign against racial injustice, especially in Southern Africa, and for the liberation of African peoples. In 2003, on the recognition of the African Diaspora as the "Sixth Region of the Continent," PJ Patterson was accorded the accolade of being appointed "Relevant Caribbean Statesman" by the African Union.

Now widely acknowledged as the Caribbean's Senior Statesman,  PJ Patterson was instrumental in the evolution of the Caribbean Free Trade Area (CARIFTA) into the Caribbean Community. He played a key role in implementing the provisions of the Grande Anse Declaration establishing the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME); he chaired the CARICOM Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on External Negotiations, leading the region's strategy for major international trade negotiations including the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and in the World Trade Organization.

Tapping his expertise in law and trade matters, he helped steer the establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice and the Charter for Civil Society.

Following his retirement from public office, Mr. Patterson has remained actively engaged in national, regional and global affairs. For his leadership role as Chairman of CARICOM during the Aristide Presidency in Haiti and his illicit abduction, he was awarded the Charles Diggs Medal by the Congressional Black Caucus.  He was appointed CARICOM Special Representative on Haiti after the 2010 Earthquake.  He chaired the Ramphal Commission of Migration and Development, as well as the Working Group on Criteria for Membership of the Commonwealth.  He is a member of the Club de Madrid, the Interaction Council and the Global Leadership Foundation.

In June 2020 he was appointed Statesman in Residence at the PJ Patterson Institute for Africa-Caribbean Advocacy at the University of the West Indies. The Institute coordinates public policy and advocacy in fostering development relations between the Caribbean and Africa and promotes dialogue at the level of Heads of Government for international cooperation among countries in Africa and its global Diaspora. It seeks to promote academic exchange and institutional collaboration in the areas of trade policy, cultural interaction, governance, climate change and other critical areas.

PJ Patterson's numerous honours include Jamaica's Order of the Nation (ON); CARICOM's Order of the Caribbean Community (OCC), Guyana's Order of Excellence (OE), and Kings Counsel (KC).

In December 2018 he launched his memoirs, My Political Journey, which was declared a winner in the 2020 Next Generation Indie Book Awards.

Mr. Patterson has a son, a daughter, and four grandchildren.

Dr. Zulema Blair is currently Professor and Chairperson of the nationally ranked Department of Public Administration at Medgar Evers College (MEC) of the City University of New York (CUNY). Dr. Blair also serves as the Interim Executive Director of the DuBois Bunche Center for Public Policy (DBC) and recently served as the Redistricting Research Director for the Center for Law and Social Justice (CLSJ) at MEC. She is the only faculty member at MEC to have both a Juris Doctorate and a PhD.

Dr. Blair's expertise includes Curriculum Development, Statistical Analysis of Social Class, Political Behavior, Census, Redistricting and Elections, and People of African Descent, and Research Methodology. This expertise is exemplified in her books and other research endeavors such as: Becoming A Public Administrator: Keen Insights to All the Moving Parts and Participation at the Margins: Is it Race or Class?, and most recent and widely-documented "People of African Descent in New York City", which analyzed Black migration patterns, homeownership, income, and unemployment in NYC. She has also written on Black mayoral leadership, how low-income populations should be defined, and the benefits of civic engagement to colleges of access. 

Her academic activities also spill over into the community where she has created the Dr. Una S. T. Clarke Women In Government Lecture Series, chaired the Black Brooklyn Empowerment Coalition, an organization committed to the political, economic, and social empowerment of people of African descent in Brooklyn, and is a founding member of the Olori Sisterhood.

Dr. Blair received her PhD in Political Science and a Master's in Public Administration from Binghamton University where she was the recipient of the Clifford D. Clark Fellowship, her JD from New York Law School, and a B.A. from Boston College.  She is also the proud mother of two sons.

Dr. Jacqueline Braveboy-Wagner is Professor Emeritus of Political Science in the Graduate School of the City University of New York. She retired in 2022 after 38 years of service to The Graduate School as well as The Colin Powell School of Civic and Global Leadership at The City College of New York. She is a specialist in foreign policy and diplomacy, particularly with respect to small states and the nations of the Global South (former Third World).

She has authored/edited 11 books, numerous articles in journals and books, several special journal sections on foreign policy, and many special workshop reports. Her recent books include Diplomatic Strategies of Leading Nations in the Global South (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016); and Institutions of the Global South (Routledge, 2009), both of which are now being prepared in new second editions, as well as Small States in Global Affairs: The Foreign Policies of the Caribbean Community (Macmillan 2007). Her most recent work focuses on global governance and the prospects for a multipolar system (see "The Global South" in  T. Weiss and R. Wilkinson, International Organization and Global Governance, Routledge 2023).

In addition to her publications, she has presented more than 150 papers at national and international conferences (sometimes as keynote speaker), and has served as a consultant on UNDP, CARICOM, U.S., and Latin American government/intergovernmental and university projects.

She chaired the Trinidad and Tobago Review of Foreign Policy Committee and the Committee for the Establishment of a Diplomatic Academy) between 2007 and 2010. After serving for many years on its executive council, she rose to become president of the Caribbean Studies Association in 1992-3, the first Caribbean-born woman to be president. Between 1995 and 2010, she served as, the UN-NGO representative of the International Studies Association, and in 2011, she founded the ISA's Global South Caucus, at a time when Global South representation was very low in the association.

The caucus, which she chaired until 2016, now boasts of about 700 members. Among other fellowships, she was earlier a fellow and assistant to the director of training at UNITAR and a visiting professor at Tokyo Metropolitan University. Awards include the Ladd Hollist award for significant service to the ISA (2011); an inaugural UWI Distinguished Alumna Award (2011); a distinguished scholar panel held in her honor (ISA, March 2019), and designation as the ISA-GSCIS Distinguished Scholar for 2020-1.

In addition, an interview with her has been archived in the Leverhulme Trust's Women in the History of International Thought, now housed at Oxford University.

Dr. Jermaine McCalpin is an educator and international academic thought leader who specializes in restorative justice, reparations and genocides. He is Associate Professor and Chair of African and African American Studies at New Jersey City University and has consulted with international organizations such as the UNDP and the Government of Jamaica on matters of governance, restorative justice, and genocides. He was involved in the crafting of the National Restorative Justice Policy of Jamaica as an academic with expertise on South Africa and restorative justice practices across the world.

Dr. McCalpin received his high school education at Calabar High School in Kingston, Jamaica. He earned his B.Sc. (First Class Honours) in Political Science and International Relations in 1999 and M.Sc. in Comparative Politics and Political Theory in 2002 from The University of the West Indies, Mona. In 2002, he completed a M.A. in Political Science and in 2006 a Ph.D. in Political Science from Brown University.

During his 24 years as an educator, Dr. McCalpin has taught and mentored at the secondary and tertiary level. Not only does he teach and mentor young men at his alma maters Calabar High School and The UWI, he also serves in the education and political/policy circles within the Jamaican diaspora.

Dr. McCalpin in an elected member of Community Education Council in District 29 in Queens, NY where he serves as 2nd Vice President. He is also the Academic Affairs Coordinator for the Calabar Old Boys' Association in Jamaica and has served in  this capacity since 2015.

For his stellar contributions to academia, in 2021 Dr. McCalpin received the UWI Pelican Award, the highest accolade commended by the UWI Alumni Association in New York to a fellow alumni for global distinction in his field of expertise.

Dr. McCalpin was also awarded in 2021 the Distinguished Educator Award by the Union of Jamaican Alumni Association USA for his contributions to the field of education in the Jamaican diaspora.

Dr. McCalpin is an author, whose most recent publications Holding Shadows: Understanding and Managing Grief's Complexity (2023) and Sown in Tears: Reflections on Grief and Loss (2021), addresses the reality of grief as universal and diverse.

Dr. McCalpin is Chairman of the Each One Reach One Foundation and Executive Director of the Pocket Rocket Foundation.

State Senator Kevin S. Parker is a prominent New York State Legislator who is distinguished as a savvy strategist, brilliant intellectual and an elder statesman. From the moment he was seated in the New York State Senate in 2002, his political prowess was evident and resulted in a meteoric rise through the ranks. He is the 5th Ranking Democrat in Senate leadership. Having the trust and respect of his colleagues, Senator Parker was appointed Majority Whip and serves as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy & Telecommunications with the added distinction of being its longest serving member.

A fierce champion of economic development, education, energy, domestic violence issues and human and civil rights, Senator Parker represents the intrinsically diverse 21st Senate District in Brooklyn. Senator Parker has grown up and spent his entire life in Brooklyn and is a product of the New York City Public School system, having attended P.S. 193, Andries Hudde I.S. 240, and Midwood High School.

He is a leading voice nationwide on energy matters, as well as the creator and primary sponsor of Intersolar Summit Northeast, the largest solar energy conference on the East Coast, which gathers experts in the field to discuss real solutions for bringing about a solar energy future.

With a strong background in the financial services arena, Senator Parker gained invaluable experience in the world of finance at UBS PaineWebber where he worked in government affairs of the Chairman's office and focused on broad issues of importance to the financial service industry. As Project Manager with the New York State Urban Development Corporation, he financed women and minority-owned businesses and promoted community business redevelopment.

An experienced educator, Senator Parker has been a professor of both African-American Studies and Political Science at several CUNY and SUNY colleges. He received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Public Service from Penn State and holds a Master of Science Degree from the New School for Social Research in Urban Policy and Management. He is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Political Science at The Graduate Center, CUNY.

He is a proud member of the Alpha Chapter of the Pi Eta Honor Society and is often quoted as saying: "Bring good into the world and let no good be lost.