Childhood Tragedy Inspired My Passion for Education, Says Jamaican-Born Entrepreneur
News Americas, New York, NY, March 20, 2025: For Jamaican-born entrepreneur and community leader Jenniffer Brown, a difficult childhood marked by personal loss became the driving force behind a lifelong passion for education and empowerment.
Jamaican-born Jenniffer Brown shares how personal loss inspired her passion for education and her leadership of the Westwood Old Girls’ Association in New York.
“I firmly believe that the challenges we experience in childhood can serve as the inspiration for us to do as much as we can to make the lives of others better. Because that is my story,” says Brown, President of the Westwood Old Girls’ Association, (WOGA), New York Chapter.
Brown’s journey began in Petersfield, Westmoreland, where she was born into a family of six. At just nine years old, she lost her mother, Joyce Yvonne Spence, to a long illness. Her mother’s dying wish was for her daughters to attend the prestigious Westwood High School for Girls in Stewart Town, Trelawny.
“It was, and still remains, one of Jamaica and the Caribbean’s oldest and most respected high schools, consistently ranked among the nation’s top ten tertiary institutions in academic achievement,” Brown shared. “Our list of alumnae includes Pan-Africanist Amy Ashwood Garvey, first wife of Marcus Garvey, and Iris Collins, the first woman elected to Jamaica’s House of Representatives, among others.”
Despite the privilege of attending Westwood, Brown’s years there were filled with hardship. “My dad migrated to the US while I was there and then my older sister graduated before me also, which meant I didn’t have my closest friend there anymore,” she recalled. “It was devastating to watch other students getting visitors and being picked up for a ‘home-Sunday’ knowing that we’d be stuck on campus like nobody’s children.”
Jamaican-Born Entrepreneur Jenniffer Brown Turns Childhood Tragedy Into Education Advocacy
Still, Brown persevered, excelling academically and eventually immigrating to the United States where she attended Pace University. She went on to have a successful career in legal administration, spending over two decades at the Manhattan law firm Weiner, Millo, Morgan and Bonanno, before becoming Chief Administration Officer at a cannabis law firm. Today, she runs her own business, JKL Productions, alongside partners Karlene Largie and Lesleyann Samuel, offering event planning and leadership training services.
Brown also built a fulfilling personal life, marrying her first love, Elorde “Lexy” Brown, and raising three children, whom she describes as “extremely proud” of. But something was still missing.
“Very shortly after graduating, I came to appreciate how much Westwood prepared me for life. I was able to work with and lead all types of people. I was inclusive and empathetic long before those became buzz words,” she said.
Her moment of clarity came in 2014 when she hosted a delegation of Westwood students attending a conference at the United Nations in New York. “That situation underscored the great need for someone—namely me—to re-start the New York chapter of the Westwood Old Girls Association to assist the school back in Jamaica,” she said.
She revived the chapter in 2016 and has served as President ever since. Under her leadership, WOGA New York has not only cultivated a strong relationship with the school’s administration but has also helped restore the visibility and reputation of the institution.
“WOGA New York has been focusing on donating laptops to the school since COVID-19, as well as erecting and equipping an AutoCAD (Computer-Aided Design) lab on campus,” Brown noted. “We recently became aware of the need for a second lab and better internet connectivity on the campus, among other issues.”
She emphasized that achieving these goals will require substantial support. “Resolving all this will come at a high price, thus the desire for sponsors, donors and compulsory fundraising. Growing the membership of our association also remains a challenge, but under our newly adopted slogan ‘Westwood Strong,’ we plan to go on an active membership drive in 2025.”
Through all of her initiatives, Brown remains anchored by one core belief:
“With all my heart, I believe that the greatest tool you can give to anyone is that of a good education,” she says. “And for young women especially, in the world we currently inhabit, it is vital because once it’s yours, it is the one thing that nobody can ever take away. It can literally set the course for your entire future. And that has never been more true than it is today.”
For more information on joining WOGA New York, contact 929-242-9156 or email woganyc@gmail.com.
