The American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) has received several nominations for its seventh annual Business & Civic Leadership Awards and Gala on Friday October 21 at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in St Andrew.

Among the cadre of individual and company civic leadership award nominees are Dr Ernest Madu, founder of the Heart Institute of Jamaica; Hermine Maria Metcalfe, distinguished past president of the Kiwanis Club of New Kingston, one of whose major projects was designed around a public awareness campaign about child abuse titled ‘Protect our children — serve them well’, and Lt Col Victor L Beek for his service to veterans and the development of the military and civil aviation in Jamaica and Digicel Foundation.

Among those vying for the Corporate Social Responsibility Award are: Sagicor Foundation, University of the West Indies — Mona Social Services, Red Stripe, Digicel Foundation and the Heart Institute of the Caribbean.

In preparation for the awards, an independent panel of judges comprising Minna Israel, Professor Stephen Vasciannie, Sandra Shirley, Don Anderson and Nicole McLaren-Campbell will have the challenging task of reviewing the nominations ahead of the announcement on October 21.

Businessman and philanthropist William Mahfood will be recognised with the President’s Award in part for spearheading the Wisynco Limited Group of Companies. He is a business icon and philanthropist whose national service has spanned the private and public sectors.

United States Ambassador to Jamaica Luis Moreno will be keynote speaker at the awards and gala. The ambassador, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, was also Deputy Chief of Mission in Madrid, Spain. He also served as the Political-Military Minister Counselor and Force Strategic Engagement Cell Director in Baghdad, Iraq; Deputy Chief of Mission in Tel Aviv, Israel; Consul General and Principal Oficer in Monterrey, Mexico; Deputy Chief of Mission in Port-au-Prince and Narcotics Affairs Director in Bogota, Columbia.

Ambassador Moreno has received 11 Senior Performance awards, four Superior Honor awards, three Meritorious Honor awards, and the American Foreign Service Association William Rivkin Award for Creative Dissent. He won the Department of State’s James Clement Dunn Award for Excellence in Diplomacy in 2001 and the Department of State’s Heroism Award in 2004. In 2012, he received a Presidential Meritorious Service award for his achievements in 2010 as the principal officer in Monterrey, Mexico and the Deputy Chief of Mission in Tel Aviv, Israel. Ambassador Moreno received a bachelor’s degree from Fordham University and a master’s degree from Kean College. He speaks Spanish, French, and some Haitian Creole.

The awards and gala, which is being presented in association with GB ENERGY Texaco began in 2010 and recognises and celebrates recognition of businesses, individuals and non-profit organisations that have been driving and achieving the economic and social progress in Jamaica through ethical leadership, stewardship, and community building-activities.

Tickets for the awards gala go for $10,000 for AMCHAM members and $13,500 for non-members.

AMCHAM is affiliated to the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America (COCUSA) in Washington DC, the largest federated business organisation in the world, with offices in 65 countries.