COVER GIRL: Singer Lisa Punch on the cover of Guyana Entertainment Magazine (GEM)

A stellar achiever at a very young age and one of Guyana’s youngest dental surgeons, Dr. Sulan Fung aims to empower young women and spread awareness on her interest – maintaining a healthy mouth. Twenty-four-year-old Sulan began her scholastic career at Stella Maris Nursery at three years old. She later earned a place at Bishops’ High School where she received awards for best debater and best actress, along with elocution prizes. “I got prizes mostly…

Dr. Oneka LaBennett is Associate Professor of Africana Studies at Cornell University. She received her Ph.D. in Social Anthropology from Harvard University in 2002, and her B.A. in Sociology and Anthropology from Wesleyan University in 1994. Born in Guyana and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Dr. LaBennett’s research and teaching interests include popular culture; race, gender and consumption; urban anthropology; transnationalism and diaspora; and Caribbean migration. Dr. LaBennett is the author of She’s Mad Real:…

Born on October 31, 1993 in Georgetown, Guyana, Letitia Michelle Wright is an UK-based actress, known for her roles in Glasgow Girls, My Brother the Devil and Urban Hymn. Migrating to London with her mother at the age of six, Letitia first fell in love with acting at her Finsbury Park primary school when she got the opportunity to play a young Rosa Parks onstage. “I felt so comfortable,” she recalls. “I even did the…

Stabroek News Former Prime News reporter Folio Emis Richards was yesterday admitted to the local bar after her petition was presented to Acting Chief Justice Ian Chang by former chancellor of the judiciary Keith Massiah SC. Richards, 28, is the youngest of five children born to Oscar and Violet Richards and she grew up in Sisters Village, West Bank Demerara. After graduating from the West Demerara Secondary School in 2002, Richards first worked temporarily as…

Although I have not been back in years,  I am proud to be Guyanese says Sasha Pilgrim, author, motivational speaker and budding entrepreneur. Born in Linden in 1987, Sasha spent a few years of her childhood in Berbice before relocating to US.  She currently resides in New Jersey where she studied and obtained two (2) Bachelor degrees in General Sociology from Bloomfield College and BA in Business Administration & Management from Pillar College.  A devoted…

Maritza Lord is a NYC-based Artist and Musician, born and raised in Georgetown, Guyana. She became a professional musician after moving to Boston to attend Berklee College of Music. Marita grew up in a household filled with music. Her father sang and played guitar and her mother encouraged a career in music early on and began her education of classical piano and voice and performing publicly at a young age.   “As a kid, I loved to sing, play the…

Roxanne Jacqueline Persaud was elected to the  New York State Assembly in November 2014. In January, 2015 she was sworn in as the first female, first black, first Guyanese to hold the position of Assembly member for the 59th Assembly District in Brooklyn, New York . Assemblywoman Persaud is a longtime advocate for her community and an avid volunteer. Her dedication to serving her community has motivated her to serve in various capacities. Assemblywoman Persaud …

After downloading the app, repeatedly checking in and casting real-time votes, America (and Guyanese around the World) raised the Wall for twenty singers on Rising Star, and our own Lisa Punch is among the chosen few to perform tonight. For the next three weeks, each one-hour episode will showcase three duels. Two similarly-sounding singers will perform a solo of their choice — the first on the open stage, the second from behind the Wall — and whoever…

Christine Neblett’s journey from facing the hardships of single motherhood to becoming an influential entrepreneur is genuinely inspirational. Born and raised in Guyana,  the New York-based businesswoman has built a solid foundation with her degrees in Communication from the University of Guyana and Applied Management with a focus on Finance from Medgar Evers College. Christine has a  background in International Multi-level Marketing, which she began in 2004 with YTB Travel, followed by a significant stint…

The extraordinary life of Baroness Valerie Amos has taken her from the small island of Wakenaam at the mouth of the Essequibo River in Guyana to the House of Lords. It is a journey that includes time spent at the United Nations headquarters in New York and the British High Commission in Australia. She has now returned to London where she has become the first black director of a British University at the School of…

Guyanese Girl Lisa Mary Johanna Punch wowed the judges and viewers last night  during the premiere of  ABC’s new singing show Rising Star,  belting out Whitney Houston’s “How Will I Know” to move on to the second round of the competition.  Lisa, who was born in Guyana, migrated with her family to the USA only 6 months ago and made it to the top 30 out of 40,000 auditions. The  Rising Star show follows a group…

Waveney Ann Moore is a general assignment reporter for the Tampa Bay Times. She covers a wide range of topics in the metropolitan area, most recently the debate over the future of the St. Petersburg Pier. She was a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for “For Their Own Good,” about abuse at Florida’s oldest reform school. The series won the Dart Award for covering trauma, the Casey Medal for exemplary reporting on children and…

With a yearning desire for success and the belief that anything is possible, 21 year old Rafieya’s ambitions include becoming a CPA ( Certified Public Accountant), owning and operating a Financial Business, winning Miss World, walking the Runways of Paris and Milan and to support a Non-Profit that focuses on children. With several titles to her name, she is no stranger to pageantry and describes herself as fearless, persistent and dedicated and practical. She is…

Civil engineers have one of the world’s most important jobs: with creativity and technical skill, civil engineers plan, design, construct facilities essential to modern life, ranging from roads, bridges, to highway systems and are responsible for shaping our country’s infrastructure. Jean Ramkhelawan holds not only the title of Civil Engineer, but the coveted title of the first woman engineer of Indian descent in Guyana. With determination and resiliency demanded by this taxing profession Jean has…

Hon. Madam Justice Minnet Hafiz-Bertram is a Guyana-born Justice of Appeal, and is the first female judge to be elevated to the Belize High Court of Appeals. Before her appointment, Justice Hafiz-Bertram served as a Supreme Court Judge, Register General, Registrar of the Supreme Court and Crown Counsel in the Attorney General’s Ministry.  She studied law in Guyana and at the Hugh Wooding Law School, Trinidad and Tobago, where she received her legal education certificate…