Jamaican lawyer and entrepreneur Paulette Trowers carved out her path that intertwined her passion for law and business and her unwavering commitment to her homeland’s development.

The Portland native journeyed through life unable to shake the memories of her upbringing in Jamaica where she witnessed the stark contrast between privilege and scarcity. With the ethos of “charity begins at home”, Trowers embarked on a mission that would redefine her purpose.

Fuelled by a desire to make a tangible difference, she founded CHEETAH Toys and More LLC, in 2017, a business venture but also a conduit for change.

“My goal is to empower students and educators with the tools they need to succeed, regardless of their circumstances,” she said while participating in a JIS Think Tank on April 16. Trowers emphasised education as a key to empowerment, leading a philanthropic symphony focusing on community development and education, demonstrating her unwavering dedication.

“We were in the Rio Grande Valley where I came from. We were also in Comfort Castle where a group of about four surrounding schools came together, and we went through our products. We introduced them to the new tools that we have, and it was such a rewarding experience. Students were also there with us preparing for the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) exams”. she said.

Time away from community development is spent working closely with the Ministry of Education and Youth to develop innovative and interactive educational tools to enhance learning opportunities and promote academic achievement.

Over the years, the CHEETAH team, along with several key stakeholders, have published several workbooks for students sitting the PEP examinations, formerly known as the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT).

For the educational aspect of CHEETAH, several PEP workbooks that cater to the five core areas for grade-six students—namely mathematics, language arts, science, social studies and mental ability—have been published.

“We are proud to say that all our books have been reviewed and approved by the Ministry of Education and Youth. We were also one of the very first companies to produce these PEP workbooks for the ministry,” Trowers said.

The company also initiated the Jamaica Decodable Early Readers (JAMDER) tool, a book series that currently has a total of 78 books to stimulate reading among young children. Similar to this is the ‘Little Jamaican Early Childhood Learning Kit’, which was launched in 2022.

The kit has more than 30 books, poems, puzzles, posters, reward stickers, completion certificates, playing and flashcards, and animation. The resources include concepts such as colours, shapes, numbers, letters, phonics, animals, and related short stories. It targets children zero to three years old, parents, guardians and teachers.

Trowers is digitising CHEETAH’s content to make it more accessible to children worldwide, in collaboration with the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ), which provides funding support.

“I’m happy to be contributing to a society, a community and a country that has given me so much. I’m glad to be positively impacting the children,” she added.