Rebecca Harris Appointed Executive Director, Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Greater Toronto Chapter
June 14, 2022 — On behalf of the Greater Toronto Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), it gives me great pleasure to announce the appointment of Rebecca Harris, CAE as the new Executive Director for the Chapter.
Recently, the Greater Toronto Chapter Board launched a comprehensive search, led by the team at KCI (Ketchum Canada Inc.), to identify a seasoned association professional to provide leadership to the Chapter during this exciting next phase of growth. Rebecca was selected from a long list of qualified candidates due to her extensive experience in the not-for-profit association and charitable sectors, including but not limited to working with not-for-profit Boards and Board committees; leadership of member service initiatives; extensive government relations and advocacy work, and leading subject matter expert teams to develop and promote standards and processes.
With a BFA (Visual) from Memorial University of Newfoundland and an M.A. (Art History) from York University, Certificates in Foundations in Diversity and Inclusion and Antiracism from CCDI Consulting Inc., and the Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation through the Canadian Society of Association Executives (CSAE), Rebecca brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to help deliver on the Chapter’s Strategic Plan and ensure we continue to enhance and deliver on our member services and promise. Rebecca’s experience includes:
- Governance: extensive experience working with Boards of not-for-profit associations and charities in various sectors, including participating in governance structure review.
- Operations: office management including oversight for human resources, finance, systems support, purchasing, reception and facilities.
- Human Resources: human resources management experience including staff recruitment, on-boarding, team leadership, training and development, and performance management.
- Leadership/Project Management: experience leading the development, implementation and monitoring of member service and sector specific strategies, policies, plans, communication initiatives, research projects, and education programs.
- Senior Management/Strategic Planning: extensive management experience including Board governance, strategic planning, committee liaison/support, objective setting and operational reporting.
- Government and Stakeholder Relations: experience in working with government and external stakeholders to push sectors forward including writing policy and position papers, advocating for change, and sitting on sector advisory committees.
- Communications and Marketing: social media marketing experience, development and implementation of e-newsletters, and drafting of various communication pieces including press releases.
- Financial Management: financial administration including budgeting, audit support, project costing and variance reporting.
“I am honoured to be joining the AFP Greater Toronto Chapter and look forward to working with and for members to continue the great success of the Chapter with our amazing AFP team. I look forward to meeting everyone at our 2022 AGM!” – Rebecca Harris
Rebecca’s first official day with AFP will be August 30, 2022 – however we are thrilled to announce that she will join us at our 2022 AGM on June 22nd to meet members and learn more about the great strides that AFP GTC has taken over the last year.
I would like to take a moment to thank KCI for a very successful search process, as well take a moment to recognize the other members of the search committee who worked with me on this recruitment. This includes HR Chair, Andrew Reddin, President-Elect, Jennifer Bernard, Chair of IDEA Sara Ly, Chair of Governance, Sandra Sualim and Lori Gusdorf, Executive Vice President, AFP Foundation for Philanthropy (AFP Global).
Please take a moment to welcome Rebecca to the Chapter.
Warmest Regards,
Amy Pawluk, CFRE
President, AFP Greater Toronto Chapter Board of Directors