Sutherland, the company with a purpose to create great experiences and to impact lives in Jamaica, announced today that it has expanded its partnership with the University of West Indies at Mona, Jamaica (UWI), to offer a degree program that features a world-class curriculum. As part of an ongoing initiative to build the Jamaican workforce and raise the profile of the country on the world stage, UWI is taking a focused approached. These programs will provide extensive knowledge and exposure to real-world challenges with a clear focus on in-depth understanding of business transformation, digital commerce, robotic process automation, and how “always-on” platforms can connect multinational corporations to their employees and their customers around the world. Sutherland is in process transformation business and hires the best people to design, build and manage operations for some of the most well-known brands around the world.
“Impacting lives, creating opportunities, and working to raise both the skill and will of all Jamaicans is woven into the fabric of our company culture," Odetta Rockhead-Kerr, Vice President and Country Head for Sutherland stated. “We see our purpose in Jamaica as important as the company’s commercial success.”
Sutherland's Chief Commercial Officer KS Kumar (far left) joined the Prime Minister Most Honourable Andrew Michael Holness, ON, MP in Kingston, Jamaica to announce the historic partnership between Sutherland and UWI.
Sutherland has long believed in the purpose to favorably impact one life for every employee through active employee volunteers and focused investments. Since opening its first location in Jamaica in 2012, Sutherland has opened three digital literacy community centers, with the first of which opened its doors at the Mona Baptist Church in Kingston in 2014. To date, 2,800 unemployed young people have been certified by Sutherland with assistance from Microsoft Corporation. 140 have received apprenticeship positions within Sutherland, and 40 have been given full time jobs. Another 250 youths from the program have found employment with other Jamaican companies with assistance from HEART Trust National Training Agency (NTA). This investment expanded in 2017 to rural parishes, such as Clarendon, where 116 youths have been certified.
In 2015, Sutherland initiated a formal education intervention and extreme mentoring program at Holy Family Infant and Primary School, outfitting the school with functioning computer labs, incremental teachers, and leadership to develop both teachers and students. 1,100 students benefit from this engagement currently. Along with the expanded partnership with UWI, Sutherland plans to increase its investment and focus on “base of the pyramid” education and development of the “workforce of the future.”
From left, Sutherland's Chief Commercial Officer KS Kumar, Prime Minister Most Honourable Andrew Michael Holness, ON, MP, Sutherland's Dan Lang and Prof. Halden A. Morris, PhD., P.E. of the University of West Indies.
“There is universal demand for professionals who possess domain knowledge and are trained and equipped in critical and disruptive industries,” said KS Kumar, Chief Commercial Officer at Sutherland. “Sutherland aims to design education programs collaborating with universities, starting with UWI, aligned to the future of work in knowledge services in an inclusive and impactful manner.”
Raising the commercial value of graduates will not only benefit Sutherland, but also employers from a variety of industries in Jamaica seeking a sustainable competitive advantage in the global economy. The three new degree programs aim to blend academic rigidity with industry requirements, preparing a competent and skilled workforce in the following industries and knowledge areas:
- Healthcare informatics
- Supply chain and logistics
- Digital Retail management
Launching in 2018, the programs will provide a dynamic industry aligned curriculum leading to high demand Bachelor of Science degrees. After completion of each full year of programming, eligible students will have the opportunity to participate in an internship at one of Sutherland’s five Jamaican-based operations or with other companies and top employers in Jamaica.
“The coming together of UWI and Sutherland to design and deliver industry-aligned technical programs is a fantastic event,” said Professor Halden A. Morris, PhD., P.E., who serves as the consultant for career, technical, and vocational education and training at the UWI. “This partnership is unquestionably unique since it creates an opportunity for students to gain work-based qualifications that are not only relevant but futuristic. This engagement exemplifies opportunities that will contribute significantly to national and regional development.”
For further comments, members of the press are encouraged to contact sutherland@lewispulse.com.
About Sutherland
As a process transformation company, Sutherland rethinks and rebuilds processes for the digital age by combining the speed and insight of design thinking with the scale and accuracy of data analytics. We have been helping customers across industries from financial services to healthcare, achieve greater agility through transformed and automated customer experiences for over 30 years. Headquartered in Rochester, N.Y., Sutherland employs thousands of professionals spanning 20 countries around the world. To learn more, please visit us at www.sutherlandglobal.com.