There is a new person at the helm of downtown London’s business association.
Barbara Maly will take over as executive director Downtown London on February 24, the organization's Board of Directors announced in a statement on Monday.
Maly assumes the role from Janette MacDonald, who after nearly 20 years of service was let go last August. That sparked a hiring search to find her successor. In an effort to ensure that the hiring process was transparent and free of bias, local talent management firm Ahria Consulting was brought in to handle the recruitment process. Maly received unanimous support for the role from both the consulting firm and Downtown London’s Board of Directors.
A Chatham-Kent native, Maly has more than 28 years of experience in academia and the private and public sectors. Most recently she was the manager of economic development for the City of Guelph.
Maly has held several board positions on local business support agencies including BIOEnterprise and Business Centre-Guelph-Wellington. She co-founded and chaired the Grow Guelph Business Retention and Expansion Committee and Ontario Food Cluster. She also led and implemented technical research and industry training programs while with Guelph Food Technology Centre at the University of Guelph, as well as Nabisco, and Kraft.
The organization's membership will have a chance to meet Maly face-to-face at a three-hour event planned for later this month.
