The Mico Foundation — Trustee Legacy
A continuing story of leadership, stewardship, and educational transformation that has shaped generations across the Caribbean.
Lead Trustee
Joe Bartley
The stewards entrusted with safeguarding the mission, legacy, and future of The Mico.
Lead Trustee
Joe Bartley serves as Lead Trustee of The Mico Foundation, bringing decades of leadership and a deep commitment to educational advancement across Jamaica and the Caribbean.
His stewardship focuses on safeguarding the mission, legacy, and long-term sustainability of The Mico University College.
A British judge, Member of Parliament, and a radical for the abolition of slavery and capital punishment. He was influential in the transfer of the funds of the Lady Mico Charity to establish educational institutions in the West Indies.
The first chairman of the Lady Mico Charity from 1836–1845, and superintendent of the Negro Education Grant. Under his leadership, four teachers' colleges and 300 elementary schools were set up by the charity in the British colonies of Mauritius, the Seychelles, and the West Indies.
The first citizen outside of the United Kingdom to become a Trustee of the Lady Mico Trust. Professor Miller became a Trustee in 1984 and was instrumental in the modern partnership between the Lady Mico Trust and The Mico Foundation.
The bequest of Lady Jane Mico dates to 1670, when she left one thousand pounds in her will to ransom Christians held captive by the Barbary corsairs of North Africa. As the need for such ransoms faded, the fund lay dormant in the Court of Chancery for more than a century and a half, quietly accumulating interest.
In 1835, following the abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire, the accumulated sum was directed by Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton and his fellow reformers toward a new and enduring purpose — the education of the newly emancipated peoples of the West Indies. From that reimagined bequest sprang the Lady Mico Charity, and with it the teachers’ colleges and schools whose legacy The Mico Foundation carries forward today.