Sharon Gordon to receive 2014 Emerald Award
Published:Monday | April 28, 2014 | 12:00 AM
Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Jamaica-born, New York-based co-founder and chairman of Coalition to Preserve Reggae Music Inc (CPR), Sharon Gordon, is among five distinguished women who will receive a 2014 Emerald Award from the Woman of Great Esteem organisation.
Gordon, who migrated to the United States (US) with her family from Jamaica in 1979, will share the spotlight with the director of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization, Dominican native, Dr Carissa F. Etienne; US Virgin Island's Dr Suzette Graham, a cardiologist and professor at Downstate SUNY and Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn; St Maarten's first ombudsman, Dr Rachnilda Lynch-Arduin; and native New Yorker and attorney Yolande Nicholson, known for her 'Turnaround Plan' with Chase Manhattan Bank.
Gordon joins the ranks of Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, who has been a recipient of the Emerald Award.
special ceremony
The five will be recognised at a special ceremony next Saturday at the Ritz-Carlton New York , Battery Park, in New York City.
The Woman of Great Esteem 2014 Emerald honourees represent women who develop and advance their communities without regard for race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, gender, age or national origin.
Since 1995, more than 150 women from 27 countries have been honoured with the Emerald Award for their relentless efforts to nurture and serve their communities.
Women from diverse fields, including medicine, politics, law, academia and science have been honoured. Gordon will receive her award in recognition of her accomplishments in the field of arts and entertainment as well as journalism.
In addition to co-founding and chairing the nine-year-old CPR, Gordon is president of TSO Productions LLC, and has been an accomplished journalist, radio personality, media specialist and event producer for more than two decades.
effective communicator
Since 1992, her distinctive voice has been heard on several radio and television programmes. Currently, she hosts the popular 'Reggae Calling', on CPRLive and her role as host and moderator of the CPR 'Community Conversation' series aptly demonstrates her prowess as an effective communicator.
Gordon's writing has graced the pages of several publications. She is a regular contributor to the North American edition of The Jamaican Weekly Gleaner, where she writes a weekly column, 'Views on the News'.
She is also a proficient publicist and event coordinator whose tried and proven guerrilla tactics spearheaded some of the most successful reggae concert marketing campaigns in the Tri-state area, long before social media existed.
She has also been producer, road manager, MC and publicist for entertainers, touring with the likes of Beres Hammond, Buju Banton, Marcia Griffiths and others.
He pointed out that she has consulted with numerous media and production houses on Jamaican music and culture and has served as Caribbean consultant and marketing consultant for films including Brooklyn Babylon (1999), Africa Unite (2008), and Better Mus' Come (2013).
She recently fulfilled dual roles as consultant and actress in a principal role for the soon-to-be-released, Respect The Jux.