Atlanta Jamaican Association elects new president and board

Rev Dr Maxine Osbourne Foster is the new president of the Atlanta Jamaican Association, Inc (AJA) for 2022, the association has announced.

An experienced business leader, Osbourne Foster was elected at AJA’s recent annual general meeting to assume responsibilities on January 1. She succeeds Mrs Casmel Williams.

“I am honoured to have the opportunity to lead the Atlanta Jamaican Association,” she says. “The AJA is poised to expand its mission and build on the tremendous momentum of the past four decades. I look forward to being a part of the effort to take AJA to the next level, making a positive difference for even more persons living in the Atlanta area, in Jamaica, and the Jamaican diaspora at large.”

The board of directors for 2022 includes Althea Fatuga, vice-president; Evette Taylor-Reynolds, secretary; Tonia Jackson, assistant secretary; Nadine Ellis, treasurer; Leighton Salmon, assistant treasurer; and Karlene Williams Sears, parliamentarian. The president will also appoint two trustees to the board, subject to confirmation by the members at the AJA’s quarterly meeting in January.

FOCUS

Osbourne Foster and the new AJA board of directors will focus on community building, increasing membership, and community empowerment through systemic development in areas of education, culture, and economic advancement.

An ordained minister and licensed clinical pastoral counsellor, Foster is also actively engaged in providing counselling services to those in need, with a special focus on family, marriage, and crisis, and abuse therapy.

Osbourne Foster spent the last eight years in healthcare management. Before that, she spent over 30 years in business and financial services.

The new president is a former AJA trustee and current member of the AJA Education Committee. She is the founder/president of TransforMe, LLC, president of the D. Terrence Foster Foundation Inc, board director and Scholarship chair of the Morant Bay High School Alumni Association, Atlanta Chapter, and a board member at her local church.

As well, Osbourne Foster holds an MBA in finance from Montclair State University, and a PhD in clinical Christian counselling from Cornerstone University. She is married to pain management and stress consultant, the bestselling author D. Terrence Foster, MD.