Managing Director
Mrs. Glasgow is the Founder & Managing Director of BizTactics Limited and a Co-Founder of Jamaica’s first angel investor network, FirstAngelsJA. BizTactics Limited manages the end-to-end processes for FirstAngelsJA. She is a Senator, representing Jamaica, in the World Business Angels Investment Forum (WBAF) and is a GrowthWheel™ Certified Business Advisor.
She is an Angel Investor and a Mentor to many start-up Founders and CEOs of small and medium sized firms and their boards. She is an experienced board member serving as an independent director on the boards of Jamaica’s largest and most profitable financial services group – the NCB Financial Group Limited, listed on the Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchanges, and its main subsidiary, the National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited. She also serves as an independent director on two other publicly listed companies in Jamaica – Stanley Motta Limited and Medical Disposables & Supplies Limited. She also serves on the boards of two of the companies in the portfolio of FirstAngelsJA, DRT Communications Limited and SiFi Studios Jamaica Limited. She chairs the Boards of the National Crime Prevention Fund (Crime Stop Jamaica), and the SMART Retirement Fund and is a Trustee of two Superannuation Funds. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Multicare Youth Foundation and is the Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Students Loan Bureau. An Eisenhower Fellow, she serves as a member of the Eisenhower Fellowships (USA) Global Network Council.
She founded the Technology Innovation Centre at the University of Technology, Jamaica and over the past 30-odd years she has focused her energies on developing the Caribbean’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and supporting growth-aspiring firms.
She earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Applied Zoology and Applied Botany and a Master of Business Administration specialising in the Management of Technology, from the University of the West Indies, Mona. She is certified as a Trainer of Trainers in Corporate Governance Board Leadership by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and a Trainer of Trainers in Business Ethics by the Inter-American Investment Corporation and the US Department of Commerce.
Chairman
Joseph M. Matalon, C.D., B.Sc. (Hons.) Econ.
Mr. Matalon is Chairman of ICD Group Holdings Limited and is a director of certain of ICD’s other subsidiary and associated companies including British Caribbean Insurance Company Limited, West Indies Home Contractors, CGM Gallagher Group, Advantage Communications and Amber Connect Limited.
He is the Chairman of the Board of the publicly listed companies RJR Communications Group and 1834 Investments (formerly The Gleaner Company Limited). He is also the co-founder and Chairman of First Angels Jamaica (FAJ), the first angel investor network to be established in Jamaica, and which began operation in July 2014. He serves as Honorary Chairman of St. Patrick’s Foundation, which supports charitable activities in inner-city communities. He is Chairman of the Board of the Multicare Youth Foundation, and serves as the Vice Chairman of the US-based International Youth Foundation.
Between 2007 and 2016 he served as Chairman of the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ), the Government of Jamaica’s principal development finance institution and in that capacity served on a number of Enterprise Teams overseeing privatization as well as PPP transactions. Between 2016 and 2019, he served as Chairman of the Office of Utilities Regulation.
He served with distinction as President of The Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) in the period 2009 -2012, and during his tenure initiated the formation of the Private Sector Working Group on Tax Reform (PSWG), a forum designed to achieve consensus on tax reform among disparate private sector interests and which subsequently made comprehensive reform recommendations to a Parliamentary Select Committee.
Also during his tenure as PSOJ President, he was responsible for the establishment of Youth Upliftment Through Employment (YUTE), a 3-year US$10 million intervention focusing on inner city at-risk youth and involving skills remediation/upgrading, job placement and provision of opportunities for entrepreneurial endeavor to approximately 1600 young persons. In 2014, YUTE came under the aegis of the ICD Group and he continues to serve as its Chairman and chief benefactor.
In 2010 the Government of Jamaica awarded him the Order of Distinction in the Rank of Commander (C.D.), in recognition of his contribution to the Public and Private Sectors, and to community service.
He is a graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Directors
Neil A. Glasgow BSc.
Mr. Glasgow is the Chief Executive Officer of National Rums Limited. Neil’s experience in the Spirits and Beverage industry puts him in a position to effectively lead the affairs of National Rums as Chief Executive Officer, as the company continues its drive to be a major player in the industry both at home and internationally.
A graduate of the University of the West Indies (UWI), holding a Bachelor of Science (Hons) Degree in Pure and Applied Chemistry, as well as a Diploma in Management Studies, he also holds a Diploma in Brewing Technology from the Siebel Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois. Neil’s career in manufacturing management spans over 45 years, with past roles including, Vice President, Plant Operations and Brewmaster at Desnoes & Geddes Ltd/Red Stripe; Chief Development Officer, J. Wray & Nephew Ltd; and most recently Chief Operating Officer of National Rums of Jamaica Ltd.
Alicia Glasgow Gentles, MBA, BA
Mrs. Glasgow Gentles is the Executive Director, The MultiCare Youth Foundation, a registered Jamaican charity and youth development organisation providing critical social intervention programmes geared toward supporting vulnerable children and youth residing in marginalised communities in Kingston, St. Andrew, St. Catherine and St. James.
Mrs. Glasgow Gentles is charged with driving the strategic direction, management, growth and sustainability of the Foundation. Under her leadership over the past five years, the Foundation is now an amalgamation of three dynamic youth-serving programmes which were legally merged in 2017: MultiCare, Youth Upliftment Through Employment (YUTE) and Youth Opportunities Unlimited (YOU).
Mrs. Glasgow Gentles’ substantial work in youth development and wide expertise in Integrated Marketing Communication over 14 years has allowed her in previous professional roles, to support the efforts of several charitable organisations and private sector companies, in executing their work and/or corporate social responsibility initiatives geared toward the development of Jamaica at the community and national levels.
Throughout her career, she has worked in various capacities with leading development agencies, including: the Jamaica National Building Society Foundation, the Mutual Building Societies Foundation, Digicel Foundation and Stella Maris Foundation; as well as, supported projects with many of their funding and implementing partners.
A firm believer in the transformational impact of community development, Mrs. Glasgow Gentles has a proven passion for excellence in developing and supporting initiatives based on critical partnerships to effectively and efficiently unearth human capital and community potential. She is committed to leading The MultiCare Youth Foundation in strengthening its position as NGOs of note, working toward achieving their shared mantra of being ‘in the business of changing lives…’
Mrs. Glasgow Gentles earned her Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the Mona School of Business, The University of the West Indies, Mona. She is also a graduate of Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey – New Brunswick, USA and holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication with a concentration in Public Relations and a minor in Psychology.
In addition to her professional and academic achievements, Mrs. Glasgow Gentles is a trained dancer. She has been a member of the National Dance Theatre Company (NDTC) of Jamaica for 20 years. As a dancer, she has performed in thousands of local and international productions, touring the United States, Canada, Central and South America, the United Kingdom, Finland, and the Caribbean. She has also served as the NDTC’s Public Relations Officer.