2013 Carlton Alexander Awardee Profile

The Hon Arnold Foote, OJ, CD, JP

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For more than 50 years Arnold Foote has distinguished himself as an outstanding representative of Jamaica in the fields of sport, business and diplomacy.

A true public servant in every sense of the word, his footprints can be found across the length and breadth of Jamaica in the numerous organisations he has founded or helped to establish and which continue to have an impact on various areas of national life.

Indeed, Arnold has been actively involved in nation building since the 1960s. He was the workers’ representative on Arbitration Tribunals for the Ministry of Labour between 1969 and 1972; a director of the Jamaica Festival Commission between 1967 and 1972, director of Things Jamaican and director of the Jamaica Parish Councils Services Commission during that same period.

In 1964, he founded Advertising and Marketing Jamaica Limited, now in its 49thyear of successful operation and in the pursuit of excellence and maintaining high standards in the industry,he founded the Advertising Standards Authority of Jamaica in 1971. He is also President Emeritus of the Advertising Agencies Association of Jamaica.

In 1969, he was appointed a Justice of the Peace for Kingston and was recognized in 2007 for over 30 years of voluntary service as a JP. In addition, he served as a vice president of the Lay Magistrates Association in 2002, and is a life member of the Association.

But before all this, Arnold has always been a star. Not only is he a great philanthropist and creative genius, he is also quite the sportsman. While a student at Jamaica College, Arnold was a member of the football, cricket, hickey, tennis, athletics and shooting teams.

Of course, it did not stop there. He went on to represent the Jamaica national football team in the 1950s and represented Kingston Club in football, hockey and cricket.

Some would call him an all-rounder, we’ll just call him the BOSS.

His passion for winning was made known from those early years and would later follow him into the business world where he again left a lasting impression.

Arnold Foote has served as a member of the Regional Advisory Board of the Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication at the University of The West Indies, chairman of the Agri-Business Council of Jamaica and as a director of the World Advertising Council.

His many exploits have also helped to cement Jamaica’s position on the world stage through his diplomatic relations.

In 1991, he organized the first trade mission to the European Common Market and became the first private sector representative of any African, Caribbean and Pacific country to address the European Commission in Brussels.

Arnold Foote is the current Honorary Consul General of the Republic of Turkey, a position he has held since 1995 and has been re-elected unopposed as president of the World Federation of Consuls from 2006 – 2009; 2009 – 2012 and again from 2012 to 2015.

It therefore came as no surprise when in 1997, he was presented with the national honour – Commander of the Order of Distinction (CD) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Jamaica in Advertising and Overseas Trade Promotion.

Understandably, a man of his stature could not stop there, his extensive philanthropic efforts and commitment to nation building was again rewarded in August 2010 when he was conferred with the Order of Jamaica, in recognition of his service to Jamaica and internationally in the fields of Advertising, Sports and Diplomacy.

Trying to summarise his many accomplishments is a feat within itself. Having served on more than 70 local and international organisations in numerous capacities, he is also the recipient of multiple awards for hiswork.

Among the international awards are the FICAC Gold Star – the highest honour of the World Federation of Consuls, presented at the World Congress of Consuls in 2009; the Diplomatic Society Order of the Knights of St. Gabriel, presented in 2008; the Emmanuel Nobel Medal for outstanding contribution to international cooperation and development, presented in December 2012; the Gusi Peace Prize – the Asian version of the Nobel peace prize – presented in December 2010; Grand Official Order of Merit for consular service from Brazil in 2006 and the Order of General Abreu E Lima also from Brazil in 2007.

The measure of his success knows no bounds. A formidable sportsman, businessman, diplomat, family man and above all – a philanthropy champion, the Jamaica College Old Boys Association honours a giant – Arnold Foote.