Tennessee Aquarium Adds Four New Members to 2026 Board of Trustees
Left to right: Dr. Rebecca Ashford, President, Chattanooga State Community College; Jay Dale, Market President, First Horizon Bank; O’Mally Foster, Chief People Officer, Vision Hospitality Group; Brittany McKee East, Vice President of Quality and Research & Development, McKee Foods Corp.
(Credit Doug Strickland / Tennessee Aquarium)
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The Tennessee Aquarium has added four new members to its 2026 Board of Trustees.
The appointments took effect January 15, 2026, expanding the board to 16 members.
The new trustees include:
- Dr. Rebecca Ashford, president of Chattanooga State Community College. Dr. Ashford serves on the boards of the Austin Hatcher Foundation, Blood Assurance, the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, the Enterprise Center, and serves as the chair of the McNabb Center Board.
- Jay Dale, the market president of First Horizon Bank. Dale is a banking executive with more than three decades of experience.
- O’Mally Foster, chief people officer of Vision Hospitality Group. Foster oversees workforce and culture initiatives at the growing hotel company and has nearly 30 years of experience in hospitality and human resources.
- Brittany McKee East, vice president of quality and research & development at McKee Foods Corporation. East has a degree in health science from Southern Adventist University, followed by an M.B.A. from the Crummer Graduate School of Business.
“These are respected voices in the community and they bring perspectives that will help guide the aquarium into its next chapter.”
– Andy Wood, the aquarium’s president and chief executive, said.
The Tennessee Aquarium says the four new trustees bring a mix of institutional knowledge, corporate leadership and civic engagement as the Tennessee Aquarium looks ahead to its next phase of growth.
