PETNA Welcomes a New Brathwaite Scholar to McMaster University

February 3, 2026 – The PETNA Foundation is pleased to announce that the recipient of the 2026 Nicholas and Janice Brathwaite Award is Kaeleigh Lewis.

Hailing from Jamaica, where she resides with her mother and grandmother, Kaeleigh studied at Immaculate Conception High School in Kingston and has an impressive record of volunteerism and community service.

Passionate about environmental justice and education, Kaeleigh will be studying electrical engineering at McMaster University, aspiring to a career in renewable energy.

The Nicholas and Janice Brathwaite Award was established by The PETNA Foundation to support students from the Caribbean in pursuing an undergraduate degree at McMaster University. The Award recognizes outstanding young people who may not otherwise be in a position to fund their undergraduate studies at a Canadian university and who demonstrate a clear commitment to giving back to their communities in the future.

“The idea of attending university overseas used to seem so impossible to me”, says Kaeleigh. I am extremely grateful to The PETNA Foundation, which saw my potential and decided to take a chance on me. I hope that my future at McMaster will be a cheerful one, filled with many opportunities.”

In recognizing Kaeleigh, Nicholas and Janice Brathwaite said “We are delighted to welcome Kaeleigh as the newest recipient of the Brathwaite Award. She is exactly the sort of inspirational young person we wanted to help when the Award was established, and we know she’ll make a remarkable contribution to McMaster and to society at large in the years ahead. Congratulations, Kaeleigh!”

Andy Moonsammy, McMaster’s International Recruitment representative for the Caribbean, noted, “For over a decade, Brathwaite Scholars have contributed to campus life and to a vibrant community of Caribbean scholars at McMaster. We are pleased to welcome Kaeleigh to the McMaster community.”

Kaeleigh joins a distinguished group of previous Brathwaite Award recipients, and we are confident she will make her mark at McMaster and in her future pursuits.