Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton Names Kien Tran New Chief Executive Officer

CALGARY—Kien Tran, whose business career has progressed through both the private and public sectors, has been named chief executive officer of Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton.

Tran is an experienced finance professional and business leader with more than 20 years of experience in Investment Banking and Capital Markets in Calgary and New York City where he spent a decade working on Wall Street with international banks before joining Scotiabank as managing director where he led a new business unit in their Global Banking and Markets group. 

“Kien is a dynamic and passionate leader who brings the energy, drive and skillset required to lead our organization into a promising new future,” said Tara McNeil, president, Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton. “He stands out on the basis of his leadership qualities and business acumen while also having a profound understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing a non-profit sport organization. I know Kien is determined to succeed in steering our sport’s future and we are excited to have him lead our team.”

Most recently, Tran was president of Calgary Blizzard Soccer Club where he led the Club through the challenges of COVID-19 and secured funding and support for the construction of the Shouldice Dome – a premier seasonal venue in Calgary that allows for year-round play – while working with government and sport partners.

“I feel tremendously privileged to have the opportunity to marry my passions for business and sport in this role at Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton,” said Tran. “BCS has a rich history of strong results on the track. I am excited to work with the staff, athletes, and coaches to help continue to build on that tradition of excellence and extend it off the track as well in order to create a sustainable future for Canadian sliders, helping them reach their performance goals in the sport, while ultimately creating more heroes and role models in communities throughout the country to inspire all Canadians.”

In addition to his impressive work experience where he has demonstrated an uncanny ability to raise millions of dollars in capital for numerous private and public ventures, Tran’s leadership has always hinged on a people-first approach.

“The people are key to success in any organization or journey, and we will not be able to achieve our goals, in isolation. Success on and off the track absolutely requires a team approach to get the job done,” added Tran. “We have a tremendous amount of work ahead of us, but we also have an extremely passionate community who all need to work together within a culture of respect and purpose to build our programs back and deliver the resources our athletes, coaches and staff need to achieve our performance and operational goals.”

Over the last year, Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton has worked tirelessly to re-establish a strong foundation for the creation of a more promising and sustainable future. This included implementing good governance practices with a new, freshly-elected Board of Directors; providing operational leadership and stability; and creating a supportive culture that ensures wellness for all participants. This important foundational work now allows Tran to shape a new vision and guide the organization along a promising track forward while creating a supportive culture for all including athletes, coaches, staff, Board members, volunteers and officials.

“The number one priority for the Board of Directors over this past year was to restore order and lead from our respective positions to ensure everyone operates at Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton in a culture of respect, fairness and kindness. We always have more work to do, but safe sport is non-negotiable in our organization,” said Tara McNeil, who took over as president of the organization in November 2022. “With that foundational belief, we have worked diligently to serve our mission of creating, nurturing and supporting the champions in our sport – the athlete community. But more importantly, understanding and addressing how these champions are built. This is a fundamental part of our mandate for the foreseeable future.”

Tran’s immediate priorities will be to recruit a new high-performance director who will work with him to implement a healthy, respectful and accountable culture that is focused on winning well, strengthening relationships with sport and government partners, while putting increased focus on ensuring the organization is financially stable in order to deliver the resources the athletes need to achieve their performance goals.

Among his many leadership positions and accomplishments, Kien holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Calgary.

Bobsleigh CANADA Skeleton is a non-profit organization and the national governing body for the sports of bobsleigh and skeleton in Canada. With the support of its valued corporate partners – Karbon, Athabasca Oil Corporation in collaboration with Canada Actions I Love Energy – along with the Government of Canada, Own the Podium and the Canadian Olympic Committee, Bobsleigh CANADA Skeleton develops champions in the community, on and off the track, who have a passion for bobsleigh and skeleton. Please visit us at www.bobsleighcanadaskeleton.ca.