The Board of Directors of the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) has appointed Ryan Foster as its chief executive officer (CEO).

Foster, the former Group CEO of Tastee Lmited (having served the company previously as its group chief financial officer and chief operations officer) is a well-respected achiever in the corporate world and sport fraternity, with a proven track record of delivering outstanding business and commercial results and dynamic sport governance and management.

In the field of business, Foster is widely acknowledged for his exceptional skills at organisational re-engineering and transformation that have resulted in increased efficiencies and profitability, enhanced stakehokders’ satisfaction levels, increased public confidence, and institutional reputation.

A very accomplished corporate executive, he continues to distinguish himself as a transformational leader and has been the recipient of several awards including:

• The Business Ingenuity Award from GK Investments for the year 2009, in recognition of his invaluable contribution to GraceKennedy Financial Group in the area of financial management and business process re-engineering.

• Service Award from First Global Financial Services Ltd for the year 2007, in recognition of outstanding performance, productivity and dedication to service.

• The GraceKennedy Award for Performance Achievement for the years 2005 and 2006.

In relation to sport, Foster is a well-respected speaker on various topics including sport governance, branding and marketing, the monetisation of assets, and sport as a community and national development tool and GDP driver.

He has the distinction of spearheading several initiatives for increased private sector sponsorship of sport in the primary, secondary and tertiary education, as well as at community levels and, as the chief executive officer of Tastee Limited, he successfully implemented, among other projects, a sport support and welfare programme for representative sport associations and federations and a scholarship and welfare programme, along with prize monies, for JISA Preparatory Schools track and field, football and netball teams.

President of Skateboarding Jamaica Limited and a director of the Jamaica Paralympic Association who served as head of Jamaica’s delegation to the 2017 London World Para Athletics Championships, he brings to sport administration a wealth of knowledge and competences in policymaking and operations born out of a demonstrative commitment to, and love for, sport.

Foster holds a masters in accounting from The University of the West Indies (Mona) where he lectured in financial accounting and management in the Department of Management Studies, and was the recipient of the prestigious Carlton Morrison Award from the Dean’s Office of the Faculty of Social Sciences in the area of advanced financial accounting.