New Grand Prior for the Grand Priory of Jamaica

Jamaica, a Caribbean island nation, has a lush topography of mountains, rainforests and reef-lined beaches. Many of its all-inclusive resorts are clustered in Montego Bay, with its British-colonial architecture, and Negril, known for its diving and snorkeling sites. Jamaica is famed as the birthplace of reggae music, and its capital Kingston is home to the Bob Marley Museum, dedicated to the famous singer.

It is also one of the jurisdictions of the Order with its Grand Priory being established in 2013. The Grand Priory has been led in the past by Dame Janice Karema Simmonds Fisher, who held various offices within our sister organisation, the Sacred Medical Order of the Knights of Hope. This year, the Supreme Grand Priory recieved the petition of the Chevalier Garfield Heron to be appointed as the Grand Prior of Jamaica. During the Sixth International Lazarite Symposium which was held in October 2026, the Grand Chancellor announced the appointment of Confrere Garfield to this position and the Grand Vicar of the Order handed the latter his brevet of authority.

Garfield Heron is an engineering leader and technology architect whose career spans enterprise software, banking and payments, healthcare, energy, and commerce. His work brings together technical strategy, complex systems integration, and the leadership needed to deliver change.

His experience includes digital banking transformation, card-processing platforms, cloud architecture, platform modernization, and AI-assisted workflows. He has led engineering teams and worked across business, technology, and vendor organizations to turn complex requirements into working systems.

The Supreme Grand Priory congratulates the Jamaican team of Lazarites led by Confrere Garfield and looks forward to initiatives and projects from this jurisdiction.