"One UWI, One Alumni Family" 

LEIGHTON AINSWORTH MCKNIGHT IS A MANAGEMNENT PROFESSIONAL

LEIGHTON MCKNIGHT is the immediate past Territory Leader/Senior Partner of PriceWaterhouseCoopers [PwC] Jamaica, one of the premier professional services firms in the island. He is was also the firm’s markets’ leader and also a member of PwC Caribbean Region’s Extended Leadership Team , served as Region’s  Diversity, Equality& Inclusion Leader. He also served as the region’s Advisory Leader and locally as managing partner, assurance leader and human capital leader.



He is a Chartered Accountant, and Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Jamaica with over 36 years of extensive and diversified experience, spanning: audit, taxation, financial management, financial reporting, business accounting, public accounting, business advisory services, management consulting, corporate reorganizations, acquisitions, mergers and divestitures, business planning, feasibility analysis, business valuation, system design and implementation and setting up businesses and performing due diligence exercise for multinational and foreign companies, international funding agencies, major listed companies and large business enterprises in Jamaica.

He is a Fellow member of both the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Jamaica and the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants.

SERVICE IN THE FIELD OF ACCOUNTING

Mr. McKnight has provided audit services for several years to numerous charitable organizations and statutory corporations, spanning including public service/charitable entities such as:

• Jamaica Red Cross Society,
• United Way of Jamaica, 
• Council for Voluntary Social Services,
• Environmental Foundation of Jamaica,
• Environmental Health Foundation, 
• Sports Development Foundation,
• Shortwood Foundation,
• Mico Foundation.

He has been the leader for the statutory audits of several Public Sector entities including HEART Trust-NTA, Petroleum Corporation Group of companies, Fiscal Services Limited, Airports Authority Group of companies, Jamaica Business Development Corporation, JUTC, Betting Gaming & Lotteries Commission, Jamaica Bauxite Institute and JAMALCO in addition to private sector companies including Kingston Wharves Group, Supreme Ventures Limited Group,  Facey Commodity Group ,Jamaica Broilers Group, University of the West Indies and University of Technology.

He also led the PwC’s outreach programs with projects including the adoption of the St. Michael’s Primary school in inner city Kingston, annual donations to Project Smiles (Jamaica AIDS Support) and the granting of scholarships annually to selected accounting students at UWI and UTECH.

An alumnus of MSBM where he earned a B.Sc. in Management Studies (Hons.) and the Emile Woolf College of Accounting in London where he completed studies for the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), McKnight has sat on the boards of several public and private sector entities and is currently the Chairman of the Independent Commission for the Judiciary. He is a former chairman of the Government of Jamaica (GOJ) Audit Commission, a former member of the Parliamentary Integrity Commission and he has served as Advisory Leader and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Leader for PwC in the Caribbean.

Renowned for his philanthropy and community service, Mr. McKnight was honoured by the Government of Jamaica with the Order of Distinction, Commander Class for Public Service, Philanthropy and Community Service in 2013. He has also received several other awards including Distinguished Lieutenant Governor of Excellence issued by Kiwanis International in August 2010 and the ICAJ Distinguished Member Awardee in 2017 for sterling contribution to the accountancy profession and nation-building. He is presently a Trustee on the board of the Eastern Canada & the Caribbean District of Kiwanis International.

The Executive-in-Residence initiative was developed to advance the relationship between the business community and tertiary institutions.

Mr. McKnight will work with the MSBM to maximize its capacity by engaging in the following activities: procurement of endowments, fundraising, education-business sector partnership development, boosting the institution's profile and garnering international support for programmes.  He will also assist with the establishment/maintenance of internship, mentorship and work/study programmes, deliver guest lectures and market the UWI to high school students.