Letter from the desk of Global President & CEO, Bill Darcy.
NKBA | KBIS recently celebrated 60 years of engaging, connecting and educating the North American kitchen and bath industry. As the leading association for manufacturers, designers, retailers, builders, remodelers and architects across all segments of home design with a focus on kitchen and bath, we are extremely excited about the future of our industry in North America and internationally.
After taking a more holistic view of our organization and its potential for global growth and influence, we’ve decided to make a number of internal changes to our organizational structure. We believe these align with our strategic growth initiatives and anticipated operational efficiencies, setting the tone for our future ensuring positive impact, relevance and strength.
To this end, we are pleased to announce the promotion of Heather Shannon to the position of Senior Vice President of Strategic Growth. This new position will further define the importance of our NKBA business development plans. Assuming responsibilities for Global Connect, Sponsorship and Revenue Growth, Member Relations and Learning, Heather will put in place new and innovative approaches to each of these areas, evolving and growing our Association. Heather was formerly Director of Brand Marketing at long-time NKBA member Perlick and has held numerous brand, public relations and marketing positions with agencies and media outlets.
Additionally, Suzie Williford, our Chief Global Relations Officer has departed the Association. Please join me in acknowledging Suzie’s contributions and commitment to the NKBA over the past 12 years.
It has been my personal pleasure to collaborate with Suzie as a key member of the leadership team. After more than a decade of volunteer service to the NKBA, Suzie served as Board President in 2009. She began her NKBA career in 2012 as Director of Business Development and Member Relations and was inducted into the Industry Hall of Fame in 2019. In her capacity as EVP and Chief Strategy Officer, Suzie was core to our Association growth by implementing the co-location of our industry trade show, KBIS, with NAHB and the International Builders Show, making it the largest industry trade event in North America; restructuring our Association governance, championing the NKBA Global Connect business development initiative and concepting and creating the Women2Women mentoring program. We thank her for her dedication and service and wish her health and happiness.
As the NKBA continues to grow and strengthen our presence in the kitchen and bath industry, we are confident this shift in organizational structure will put us in a powerful position to drive the industry forward.
