About Us

Helping Hands Jamaica Foundation is driven by a group of successful expats who are determined to give back and help support Jamaica.

Foundation Board Members:

Born in Falmouth Jamaica, Karl Hale played Davis Cup for Jamaica for 10 years. He is currently the Tournament Director of the Rogers Cup Tennis Tournament in Toronto and the Director of Racquet Sports at the presitigous Donalda Club. Karl is on the board of the PTR (largest tennis coaching organization worldwide with 15,000 members) and the TPA (Canada's tennis coaching organization with over 2,000 members). He also founded the Daniel Nestor Celebrity Charity Event which has raised over $700,000 for North York General Hospital and Tennis Canada Go for Gold Fund. While doing all of this he has maintained his tennis level being ranked #1 in the world over 40 in 2008. He is married to Maria and has two daughters Kalista and Alessandra Hale. He is an active family man who does many philanthropic activities for the Jamaican community.

Mark Josephs was born in Kingston, Jamaica and moved with his parents to Markham, Ontario in 1976. He is the General Manager of Kisko Products, a family business that manufactures freezies. He is married to Shelley and has four children and is actively involved in his church at Springvale Baptist. He joined the Helping Hands Board a year ago with the desire to be able to assist those less fortunate in Jamaica and provide a brighter future for those in need.

Born in the Parish of Hanover, Alene Chen works at the pharmaceutical company Janssen-Ortho, in Sales and Marketing. She is a past student of Rusea's High School and past President of Rusea's Old Students' Association, Canada. Alene is also President of the Alliance of Jamaican Alumi Associations, serving a 3rd term.

Norma was born in the parish of Portland, Jamaica and migrated to Canada in 1971. She joined the sales staff of Air Jamaica Ltd. in 1983; served as Area Sales Manager Canada from 1991-2010. Norma's job description included Sales/Marketing and Community Development, and she retired in April 2010. Norma has a keen interest in all types of sports and has two children- Tina & Geoffrey. She is a proud Board Member of Helping Hands Jamaica Foundation, which provides the opportunity to give back to Jamaica.

Denise Jones is President and Co-Founder of Jones & Jones Productions Ltd., a Multi-Service Corporation offering a variety of services specializing in Event Management, Marketing and Promotions in Canada and internationally. She has earned Gold for music marketing in Canada and has been honoured by the Government of Ontario, Professional Organizations and media. The founding Chair of the Reggae category of the JUNO Awards, Denise has been called one of The Toronto Star's "People with Clout in the Entertainment Industry". Denise is VP of Education for CanSPEP, the Canadian Society of Professional Event Planners and has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from UMAC, Urban Music Association of Canada.

Bruce is a Partner in the audit practice at Deloitte, focusing on the Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) industry group. Bruce is a CA and CPA and works with public and private companies under both Canadian and US GAAP. Bruce has over 15 years' experience providing assurance services. He has a broad background working with TMT clients across a range of industry sub-sectors such as telecom, software, high-tech manufacturing and media, and has served rapid growth, public and private companies in Canada and the U.S. Bruce has worked with other offices and TMT practitioners in Canada, U.S., and the Asia-Pacific region to support the servicing of our TMT clients. Bruce currently serves as Treasurer and as an executive Board member for the Toronto Distress Centers.

Geoff is currently the Head Assistant Professional, Head of Adult Development and Squash at the prestigious Donalda Club. Geoff has been a Provincial coach for the Ontario Summer Games and Coupe Du Quebec (Ontario vs Quebec championships). He is a Tennis Canada Coach 3 candidate and also has the highest level of certification for USPTR and USPTA. Geoff likes to give back by sharing his tennis passion around the world. He has taught tennis camps to the children of Nairobi-Kibera, one of Africa's largest slums. He has also worked for Tennis Jamaica as a coach certification program Course Conductor and traveled around the island leading workshops for Jamaican Physical Education teachers on how to implement tennis in the school curriculum. Geoff has been visiting Jamaica yearly for the past 15 years and his love for the island and its people is why he's so proud of being part of Helping Hands.

Ted Kelterborn is a lawyer with the Toronto office of Wildeboer Dellelce LLP, a boutique corporate/commercial and securities law firm. Until recently, Ted was Vice President and General Counsel of Claymore Investments, Inc. and was responsible for the company's legal and corporate governance functions . Previously, Ted practiced law in the Bermuda office of Appleby, one of the world's largest offshore legal, fiduciary and administrative service providers and was Associate General Counsel-Corporate at Nortel Networks, where he was responsible for all legal aspects of Nortel's treasury, M&A and executive compensation functions. Before joining Nortel, Ted was a partner at McMillan Binch (now McMillan LLP), practicing in the firm's corporate/commercial and securities law groups. Ted graduated Magna Cum Laude from Ottawa University Law School in 1990, and received the University of Ottawa Silver Medal for second highest standing in his LL.B. graduating class. Ted is a member of the Ontario and Bermuda Bars.

Regional Director - Canada at Jamaica Tourist Board

George Ramocan is the newly appointed Jamaican Counsel General to Toronto.

Regional Sales and Marketing Manager, NAFTA Region, for Appleton Estate Jamaica Rum

In recognition of my performance in global consumer marketing, and the crucial role the NAFTA region of Canada, the US and Mexico play in Appleton's global sales, a new position was created giving Peter direct responsibility for all sales as well as marketing activities, brand personnel, distributors/agency relations and duty free sales in this key region, which accounts for nearly 80% of all Appleton Estate Jamaica Rum's global sales.

Former Consul General Jamaica -Toronto (HHJF representative in Jamaica)

Media Consultant and Independent Producer

Thank you to our charitable partners:

Thank you to our sponsors: