High-Impact Keynote Speaker
Blind Ambition™: The Resilient Mindset That Flips Failure Into Fuel. Grit Into Growth. Ownership Into Outcomes.
As an award-winning business leader, international keynote speaker,and bestselling author of Blind Ambition™, Chad explains the anatomy of resilience — providing tried and tested tools that empower people to emerge from setbacks stronger, sleeker, and resolute to succeed.
- Trusted by top brands to fuse Human Performance with Artificial Intelligence
- Harvard-educated Executive Dealmaker, Billion$ Generator, Job Creator
- Change-Disruption-Mindset-Transformation
- Grit-Resilience-Accountability-Growth Through Adversity
Connecting inspiration to implementation™, Chad shares the insights gained from going blind at 21, and bouncing back to build massive enterprise value—enabling your team to embody the mindsets for success, adopting narratives that change the meaning of the challenges they face. They'll learn how to get comfortable with discomfort, equipping your organization to turn disadvantages into advantages, and obstacles into opportunities — creating a more resilient leadership culture and inviting diversity to drive business innovation.
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What Makes Chad Different?
Today is officially the slowest pace of change you’ll experience for the rest of your life. To keep up, organizations need to ignite resilience, accountability, and innovation—turning market volatility into customer value.
Resilience is more than a buzzword; it’s a set of learned behaviors. After going blind at 21, Chad built software Oracle said was “impossible;” led strategies that created billions in revenue, thousands of jobs, and industry-leading margins; became the first blind exec to graduate Harvard’s leadership program—even skiing black diamonds and grappling with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighters… all with his eyes closed.
Beyond feel-good fluff, Chad provides a fire-tested framework that breaks down the anatomy of resilience—empowering people to bounce back stronger, sleeker, and resolute to succeed. From Fortune 500 stages to global leadership summits, he has shared the stage with icons like Adam Grant and Daymond John—not just inspiring, but driving measurable momentum. After one keynote, a client reported 40% YoY revenue growth, calling it “unlike anything we’ve seen from a guest speaker.”
Chad connects inspiration to implementation™, equipping teams to shift mindsets, rewrite their stories, and turn obstacles into opportunities. Because comfort kills growth and innovation, Chad shows teams how to embrace discomfort and transform setbacks into springboards for success.
Who is Chad E. Foster?
Can you imagine going blind in your early 20's? When most people were preparing for the adventure of adult life, Chad E. Foster was watching the world he grew up with fade to black. But that didn't stop him from becoming the first blind person to graduate from the Harvard Business School leadership program and climbing the corporate ladder as a successful Finance/Sales executive. Before his inspiration to move into speaking as a profession, he worked at Red Hat, one of the most innovative Tech companies and the world’s largest open source software company. With determination, ambition, and drive, he created what Oracle said would be impossible. He gave hundreds of millions of people the ability to earn a living by becoming the first to create customer relationship software for the visually impaired.
With speaking invites from London to Beijing, and the Atlanta Opera crafting a story inspired by his journey, Chad inspires people to overcome their own blind spots.
Inquire about speaking
To inquire about speaking, call 855-GET-CHAD and press Option 1 to connect with Brandy Gibson at Executive Speakers Bureau.
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The people unwilling to make excuses are those who make it to the top.
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Featured Program
Blind Ambition™
Chad will provide your audience with a framework for thinking that will enable them to:
- Live happier lives
- Adapt to change with greater success
- Lead teams through change
- Set ambitious goals while crafting the right mindset to achieve them
- Nurture resilience, which is the cornerstone of grit/tenacity and success
- Discover unforeseen opportunities
- Be more productive at work
Happiness is not a feeling, happiness is not an emotion, happiness is a decision that each of us make every single day when we wake up.
Chad E. Foster
Timeline
With speaking invites from London to Beijing, and the Atlanta Opera crafting his journey for the stage, Chad inspires people to overcome their own blind spots.
Lost Eyesight
Lost eyesight and forced to switch college major due to blindness.
First Dog
Received first guide dog.
Dean's List
Relearned how to learn without sight and made the Dean’s List.
Graduated College
Graduated with straight-A's in College of Business Administration.
Promotion
Promoted to lead multibillion dollar commercial outsourcing deals in record time.
Software Developed
Developed software thought impossible by Oracle.
New Position
Hired to work on multibillion dollar sales strategy.
New Position
Hired to spearhead most strategic and complex deals.
Promotion
Promoted from Senior Pricing Analyst to Senior Director while capturing over $45 billion in contracts with industry leading growth and best-in-class margins despite tightening market conditions.
Graduated Harvard
First blind person to graduate from Harvard Business School Executive Education leadership program.
Harvard
Voted as graduating speaker for Harvard Business School Executive Education leadership program.
Career Milestone
Led a team that landed largest (9-figure) deal in company history.
Career Milestone
Led a team that redesigned the company's pricing/discounting framework, improving operational efficiency by ~57% while increasing customer satisfaction.
Career Milestone
Tapped to serve as VP in charge of 200-person organization responsible for closing the integration with IBM - a $34 billion purchase that was the largest of its kind.
Launched Blind Ambition
Launched Blind Ambition, LLC to empower leaders at all levels using the anatomy of resilience.
Published Book
HarperCollins Leadership published Chad's first book - Blind Ambition.
Published Book
Co-authored a book with Les Brown - Ignite the Hunger in You
Launched Blind Ambition Foundation
Launched the Blind Ambition Foundation to bring resilience, hope, and optimism to underserved communities.
Life without obstacles removes opportunity for growth.
Chad E. Foster
Get a Free Chapter from Chad's Bestselling Book
Blind Ambition™
If you don’t feel like you’re reaching the levels of happiness that you see others enjoy, or your goals seem out of reach, you’re not alone. Life is too short for regrets. Learn how to use your mindset to reach your most daring dreams. Chad’s stories and lessons will inspire, empower, and prepare you to face uncertainty with hope and optimism. Want to be mentally tough, strong, resilient and prepared to adapt and thrive in changing circumstances? Self-confident to become your best you? It’s time to break free from the self-destructive thoughts that hold you back.
Ready To Turn Your Biggest Obstacle Into Your Biggest Advantage? The stories we tell ourselves either limit us or propel us towards our goals.
