For almost two decades Kim Osborne has dedicated herself to the socio-economic development of the Latin American and Caribbean region. As a pioneer of the OAS Small Tourism Enterprise Program, an internationally recognized best practice, she focused on assisting small and medium enterprises achieve competitiveness and profitability by combining internationally recognized standards with high-value products, targeted marketing and branding. She is co-author of the Business Management and Operations Manual for Small Hotels and led the tourism training and capacity building program in the region.
From 2008 to 2011, she was appointed as the OAS Country Representative to Belize and in that role managed the OAS’ programs and relations with that country; navigating the political spectrum, while implementing numerous initiatives on sustainable livelihoods, institutional capacity building, tourism training and certification, women’s empowerment, among others. Osborne is a founding member of the Center for Community Resource Development, an NGO set up to assist the most disadvantaged communities, by combating poverty through the application of an Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) methodology.
More recently, Osborne has served as the head of the Technical Cooperation Section at the OAS Secretariat for Integral Development where she oversaw the Organization’s Development Cooperation and partnerships program. In that capacity she led the re-structuring of the OAS Development Cooperation Fund and spearheaded the application of an alliance model to maximize multi-stakeholder partnerships for development and south-south cooperation.
Ms. Osborne has successfully negotiated and secured several partnership agreements with international and regional organizations to foster the work of the OAS in the hemisphere. She is a three-time winner of the organization’s outstanding performance award and in 2016 was elected as President of the Staff Association, where she led the effort towards the establishment of the OAS’ alternative work schedule scheme.
Before joining the OAS, Ms. Osborne was employed at the National Development Corporation of Dominica and has also held private sector positions in both Dominica and the Netherlands Antilles. She holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration with a concentration in Public Management and Bachelor’s degree on Hospitality Management-Travel and Tourism Studies.
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