KINGSTON, Jamaica — A rising 13-year-old Canadian-Jamaican musical artist is adding a new philanthropic title to her growing list of achievements, while one of Jamaica’s most prominent pageant organizations is launching a landmark new initiative to turn temporary pageant participation into lifelong national service.
Earlier this year, 13-year-old Jazmin Headley, a Mississauga-based ninth-grade student born to Jamaican parents, claimed the number one spot on the Reggae North Canadian Reggae and Dancehall Top 20 chart with her uplifting collaborative track *The Fire Inside*, which features renowned vocalist Richie Stephens and iconic dancehall veteran Bounty Killer. Now, Headley has been selected to serve as the official ambassador for Miss Universe Jamaica’s GOGETTER program — short for Giving Our Girls Educational Tools To Enrich & Reward.
Her appointment marks a renewed push to center youth leadership, diaspora collaboration and creative social impact in the organization’s community outreach work. Long demonstrating initiative that far outpaces her young age, Headley has already coordinated the collection and shipment of more than 50 containers full of emergency relief supplies for communities across Jamaica that were devastated by the powerful Category 5 Hurricane Melissa. In the coming weeks, she will travel to Jamaica to join the Miss Universe Jamaica Alumni Association on the ground, supporting aid distribution and coordinating local outreach efforts to affected communities.
Speaking to local outlet Observer Online, Headley said: “I like to hit the ground running, and now I have more vision, tools, and support to continue my mission.”
Headley’s appointment coincides with a major new milestone for the Miss Universe Jamaica organization: the official launch of the Miss Universe Jamaica Alumni Association, a formal network that expands the group’s decades-long legacy of national impact across Jamaica. The initiative creates a permanent, structured platform for former pageant contestants to continue their philanthropic work, mentorship and public service after their competition tenures end, turning one-time participation into a lifelong commitment to community uplift and nation-building.
For years, altruism has been a core requirement of the Miss Universe Jamaica program, with all contestants tasked with designing and executing meaningful community projects during their time in the competition. The outcomes of these efforts have been deeply transformative: contestants have led home reconstruction projects for vulnerable elderly residents displaced by house fires, organized international fundraising campaigns to rescue and relocate animals from overcrowded, underfunded shelters, and supported a wide range of other local initiatives. These sustained acts of service have not only lifted up underserved communities across the country, but have also shaped the public image of the modern Jamaican woman as compassionate, action-oriented and globally engaged.
Karl Williams, CEO of Atelier Dermoth Williams, which oversees the Miss Universe Jamaica organization, explained the timing of the formal alumni network launch: “It is in this spirit, particularly in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, that we are compelled to elevate and formalise the goodwill that has become synonymous with our brand. The Alumni Association ensures that this spirit of service does not end on stage but instead grows into a lifelong commitment to nation-building.”
Beyond expanding the organization’s philanthropic reach, the new alumni network adds a critical pillar of holistic wellness, empowerment and long-term support for former contestants. Pageant organizers recognize that former titleholders face unique pressures when transitioning out of public life after their competition ends, so the association will offer structured mental health resources, professional career guidance, and ongoing community connection through curated wellness events, formal mentorship programs, professional development workshops, and regular social gatherings.
Williams noted that the organization has already integrated medically trained wellness mentors into the pageant competition experience over the past two years, and the alumni network simply extends this critical support beyond the competition period. “Now, we are extending that care beyond the competition because the journey after the crown can be just as significant, and in some cases, even more challenging,” he explained.
As part of the network’s phased strategic rollout, the organization will soon appoint a former Miss Universe Jamaica titleholder to serve as president of the Alumni Association. This incoming leader will take on several key responsibilities: mentoring Headley in her role as GOGETTER ambassador, growing membership among former contestants, and shaping the association’s ongoing programming to advance wellness, empowerment and sustained community impact across Jamaica.