Donna Livingstone announced as new Pres and CEO of Glenbow

The Board of Governors of Glenbow Museum is pleased to announce the appointment of Donna Livingstone to the role of full-time President and Chief Executive Officer of Glenbow Museum, effective immediately.

The announcement marks the completion of extensive stakeholder and community consultation and an international search led by the Board in partnership with the executive search firm Odgers Berndtson.

“The community support and participation and the interest from local, national and international candidates was very impressive,” said Jack Thrasher, Chair of the Glenbow’s Board of Governors.

“While we interviewed exceptional candidates from Calgary, across Canada and beyond, Donna’s experience, passion for Glenbow, and the progress she has made to advance the organization during her time as the Interim President ultimately set her apart as the successful candidate in this process.”

Over the past six months, as Interim President of Glenbow, Donna has opened the doors to new opportunities and partnerships in the community, undertaken a review of all collections and operations, managed a significant reduction in the operating deficit, and strengthened the senior leadership team. She took on the Interim President role at Glenbow on November 6, 2012, while on secondment from the University of Calgary where she was Director of Cultural and Community Programs and Director of the University of Calgary Press within Libraries and Cultural Resources.

Donna has a long history in successful leadership roles with arts and cultural organizations in western Canada, and is well regarded in the communities that Glenbow serves. She previously worked at Glenbow from 1995 - 98 as Vice President, Program and Exhibit Development and served as a Governor from 2008 - 2012. She holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Lancaster and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Victoria. Donna has published extensively on western cultural history, and serves with several provincial and national cultural associations.

“This is a tremendous opportunity to refresh Glenbow as a place of significance in the arts and culture community,” Donna says. “We are already seeing great response to such exhibitions as No Roads Here: Corb Lund’s Alberta and Made in Calgary. It shows us what amazing results can come from inviting the community to participate with us.”

“The Board would like to thank Donna for her inspiring and effective work-to-date as Interim President and looks forward to working with her in revitalizing Glenbow as a cultural cornerstone in the Province,” says Jack Thrasher. “We are also very grateful for the support of the University of Calgary in allowing her to take on the interim role during a critical time of change for our organization.”