NBLC Announces Joanne Webster as Incoming CEO
North Bay Leadership Council (NBLC) has hired Joanne Webster as their incoming CEO upon the retirement of longtime CEO, Cynthia Murray at the end of the year. Jordan Lavinsky, Chair of NBLC’s Board, said “The Board is confident that Joanne Webster can take North Bay Leadership Council to the next level in leading on public policy issues of interest to the leading employers in the North Bay. We are excited to have her as the voice of employers who have a big role to play in shaping sound public policy.”
Joanne Webster has been with the San Rafael Chamber of Commerce since 2011, serving as President and CEO for the past 9 years. For three decades, Joanne has been an active member of the business community, winning Marin’s Small Business of the Year and Spirit of Marin Awards in 1998 and 2008 and, as Chamber CEO, the North Bay’s Best Business Community Leader Award in 2021. Her specialties include business advocacy, connecting leaders and influencers, and building coalitions.
“I am honored and excited to succeed Cynthia Murray as the CEO of the North Bay Leadership Council and am deeply grateful for the opportunity. I look forward to working with the Board of Directors, membership and staff in the coming months as we move the organization forward together,” Webster said.
Lavinsky also thanked Cynthia Murray upon her retirement. He said, “Cynthia Murray led the last big transformation of NBLC and her 17 years as CEO and President have made NBLC a force in the North Bay, the greater Bay Area, and the state of California. We appreciate her leadership and ability to steer NBLC through uncertain times, having led the Council through the Great Recession and the pandemic.” Murray will continue to assist NBLC as a consultant after her retirement.
Cynthia Murray said, “It has been my honor to lead NBLC and see it grow in clout and effectiveness. I leave knowing that NBLC is in good hands with Joanne Webster at the helm. We have worked together for years and there is no one more capable of leading NBLC into its next iteration than Joanne. I look forward to a smooth transition as Joanne successfully steps into the leadership role.”
Webster will join NBLC starting in November and will work with Murray until the end of the year.
North Bay Leadership Council is an employer-led public policy advocacy organization committed to providing leadership in ways to make the North Bay sustainable, prosperous and innovative. As business and civic leaders, their goal is to ensure economic health by building more housing, improving mobility, promoting better education, and creating jobs to make our region a better place to live and work. Collectively, their members have over 25,000 employees.
