Chad E. Foster is a motivational keynote speaker, sales/finance leader, and inspirational change agent who works at Red Hat/IBM. He was the first blind executive to graduate from Harvard Business School’s Program for Leadership Development and has been featured with NBC, CBS, Forbes, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, USA Today, and Chief Executive Mag.
“People are often surprised at what I was able to achieve in spite of being blind but to the contrary, I feel I am successful because I am blind, not in spite of it,” says Chad.
After losing his eyesight while attending college in his early twenties, Chad started at a top consulting firm and has built a career in the technology industry where he has directed financial strategies and decisions resulting in more than $45 billion in contracts.
Determination, ambition, and resilience are the key drivers of his incredible journey. The Atlanta Opera has commissioned an opera inspired by his life story and his first book, Blind Ambition: How to Go from Victim to Visionary.
Today, Chad speaks to corporate audiences and professional athletes to help them develop resilience in the face of uncertainty and show people how to overcome their own blind spots. He lives with his wife and his 2 children in Atlanta, GA, and is a daredevil of his own, enjoying snow skiing every winter.
"He energized the crowd with a laughter-filled presentation [and] a high-impact message, earning a standing ovation from the hundreds of business leaders in attendance."
"He energized the crowd with a laughter-filled presentation [and] a high-impact message, earning a standing ovation from the hundreds of business leaders in attendance."