Dear Outdoor Industry Association Members,
I never thought my first message to you all as the new chair of the OIA Board of Directors would involve a search for a new executive director. Amy Roberts’s departure is a big loss for the organization and the industry. She has been such a steady and respected leader over the past four years during some tumultuous times. She led the board in the strategic planning process which created important organizational focus on three strategic pillars: sustainability, policy and participation. She’s built a strong management team and staff, propelled advocacy work in government affairs and achieved widespread industry engagement on sustainability. She did all of this work as she navigated a big trade show move to Denver amidst a heated political climate. We are forever grateful for Amy’s ability to navigate change with a balanced perspective, and we wish her the best of luck in her new role.
To continue this great work, we have enlisted a highly respected and proven executive search firm to help us search for a new executive director. This firm successfully drove our most recent leadership hires for the Outdoor Foundation executive director and OIA’s VP of government affairs. We were very impressed with the candidate pools, the final hires and how the firm managed the processes. We are confident Amy’s successor will be no different.
It goes without saying that this leadership role in our industry is a critical one at a critical time. It is a great opportunity for someone to shape the future, to be the face of the industry and to lead with purpose as a champion for the outdoors and as a voice of change for generations to come. We will be looking for diverse candidates who possess natural leadership talent, business acumen, the ability to collaborate both inside and outside the industry, experience in government affairs, a proven track record with managing teams and expertise in long-term strategic planning.
We hope to fill the position as quickly as possible, but our main focus is finding the right fit. Overall, OIA is in an excellent position. There is positive momentum around the three strategic pillars, a strong leadership team and staff at OIA to drive execution of these efforts and a solid board of directors to support the overall direction for OIA. I am confident that we will land in the right place for the industry.
We appreciate your support and engagement in the important work of OIA on behalf of the industry. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly if you have any comments, questions or concerns as we navigate through this transition.
I look forward to seeing you all at Outdoor Retailer in November!
Nora Stowell
OIA Board Chair
