Jay Ireland

Mr. Jay Ireland was the President and CEO of GE Africa from 2011 until 2018, when he retired. He was located in Nairobi, Kenya, where he led GE’s operations on the sub-continent across power generation, health care, transportation, oil and gas, and aviation. He was a GE Officer and a member of GE's Corporate Executive Council.

Prior roles at General Electric include CEO of GE Asset Management (GEAM), a global investment firm; President of NBC Universal Television Stations and Network Operations; and CFO of GE Plastics. He began his career with GE in 1980, after serving three years as a US Army Officer.

Mr. Ireland is the Board Chair of the Mastercard Foundation Asset Management Company and a board member of Gates Corporation, where he serves on the Audit and Compensation Committees. He is also a board member of Delta 40, an African Venture studio and VC fund located in Nairobi, and is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Earlylands Advisory.

He was previously the Chair of the US President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa and was Co-Chair of the US-Africa Business Center, which was launched in 2015 to lead the U.S. business community’s engagement with Africa. Mr. Ireland was also a member of the African Development Bank’s special panel on accelerating the implementation of its 10-year strategy.

He is a Trustee of St. Lawrence University where he received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1977.