Ann-Marie Campbell, the Jamaican who runs The Home Depot stores in the US, is set to participate in the upcoming Destination Expereince Visionaries Summit.

The event will be taking place April 4-6 2019 in Kingston under the theme, “Inclusiveness, Capitalism and Innovation under the Fourth Industrial Revolution”.

The summit offers an interactive master class in innovation and will explore ground-breaking ideas with industry pioneers who push beyond the boundaries of reality daily.

Presenters are leaders in disruption and will share their journeys to success and strategies for navigating the challenges and opportunities of the new technology-driven multidimensional global economy.

For many in the local business economy and within the diaspora, Ann-Marie Campbell is well known as the Jamaican who runs the The Home Depot stores in the US. Few, however, have enjoyed an encounter with the corporate mogul and as such this powerhouse executive has become somewhat of an enigma.

“She is a symbol of the potential of every Jamaican, a true personification of our saying ‘we likkle but we tallawah’,” said a recent release from Destination Experience.

Ann-Marie Campbell, 54, began her career with The Home Depot in 1985 as a cashier in South Florida soon after immigrating to the US. Today she is executive vice-president, US stores for the company.

In this role, she leads the company’s three US operating divisions comprised of nearly 2,000 US stores and the bulk of the company’s nearly 400,000 associates. Campbell has responsibility for the generation and management of more than US$90 billion of the company’s total US$100 billion-plus in annual revenues.

For context she oversees revenues of approximately six times Jamaica’s annual GDP.

After more than 30 years with the company, Campbell brings a deep understanding of The Home Depot’s operations, culture and customers.

When she was appointed to her current role, the company was US$88 billion in revenues. Campbell’s placement was a part of an overall strategic move by the company to increase revenue beyond US$100 billion — which the company succeeded in achieving within the three-year timeline set for this growth.

Founded in 1978, Home Depot has emerged into the world’s largest home improvement retailer with a market cap exceeding US$200 billion.

The Fortune 50 company is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and is a global hallmark of US capitalism in line with companies such as Walmart and Starbucks.

In 2010 Black Enterprise Magazine listed her as one of the 75 most powerful women in business.

In 2014-2018, Fortune Magazine listed her among the top 50 most powerful women in business.

She most recently landed at number 16 in 2018 amongst peers including Mary Barra, chairman and CEO of General Motors; Ginni Rometty chairman, president and CEO of IBM and Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook.

Campbell was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and attended Holy Childhood High School in the capital before immigrating to the United States.

She learned her first lessons in retail from her grandmother in Jamaica, a successful retailer in her own right who ran a furniture and appliance store in Kingston. Campbell would often work with her during the summers, but little did she know this was the beginning of her path to eventually leading one of the largest retail companies in the world.

During her career at the company, she has served in a variety of positions, including store manager, district manager and regional vice-president. She has also served as vice-president of operations, vice-president of merchandising and special orders, vice-president of retail marketing and sales for Home Depot Direct, vice-president of vendor services and, most recently, president of the Southern Division of The Home Depot.

Campbell is a graduate of Georgia State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and a master’s degree in business administration. She is a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, an international business honour society, and the National Scholars Honor Society. She shares her business expertise on a broad level serving on the boards for Georgia State University’s Robinson College of Business, Barnes and Noble, Potbelly Corporation, Georgia Aquarium and World Affairs Council of Atlanta.

Campell is a proud Jamaican and wears the national flag proudly. This is visible in the many profiles done on her which all mark her heritage.

“We look forward to hearing more from a series of local and global experts in the technology and innovation sectors at The Visionaries’ Summit,” the release said. “The summit explores how businesses can best profitably navigate the emerging multidimensional environment and presents a well-positioned occasion for dealmaking, convening a powerful and dynamic group of stakeholders, all of whom are vested to the economic transformation of the Caribbean.”