NMMA’s Sara Anghel elected first female ICOMIA president
Following the 54th ICOMIA Annual General Meeting on May 22, NMMA’s Sara Anghel was elected new ICOMIA president. Anghel, NMMA Canada president, has led the association for more than 12 years and has nearly 25 years of government relations experience.
ICOMIA, the International Council of Marine Industry Associations, is the international trade association representing the global marine industry since 1966. It brings together national marine industry associations in one global organization and represents them at an international level, presenting a strong and united voice when dealing with issues challenging the industry.
“It is an honor and privilege to become ICOMIA President. I commit to the global recreational boating industry that I shall work tirelessly to steer us through this most difficult time while charting the future growth of the industry and ICOMIA,” said Anghel.
Under Anghel’s leadership, NMMA members have seen many firsts including the creation of a Canadian statistical abstract; Recreational Boating Day on Parliament Hill; more than $600,000 in federal government grant funding to support Canadian manufacturers to export abroad and $400,000 to develop boating safety programs in Canada and aided in bringing harmonized standards between the U.S. and Canada.
Her contributions extend to the advancement of women in the marine industry including building a case that led to the creation of an expanded maternity/parental benefits package for NMMA U.S. employees. Anghel is passionate about working with the millennial women in the industry to help them build confidence in their abilities and support their career development.
At the ICOMIA Annual General Meeting, a number of additional ICOMIA positions were voted on, including two new members to the ICOMIA Executive Committee: Lawrence Chow, Chair of the Hong Kong Boating Industry Association and Lesley Robinson, CEO of British Marine. Two new Vice Presidents were elected: Darren Vaux, President of the Boating Industry Association in Australia and Mats Eriksson, CEO of Sweboat. Also, The Exporters Committee and Market Intelligence Taskforce appointed new chairs: Jarkko Pajusalo (Finnboat) and Stefano Pagani (Confindustria Nautica).
For more information on ICOMIA, visit www.icomia.org
