Destination British Columbia appoints Marsha Walden as first CEO

After an extensive global search, Destination British Columbia has appointed Marsha Walden as its inaugural Chief Executive Officer, announced Board Chair Andrea Shaw.

Ms. Walden, who was born and raised in Vancouver, joined the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) in 2002 as director of marketing and eBusiness. Over the last nine years, Ms. Walden served in a number of senior executive roles, most recently as vice president of Strategy, Transformation and Social Responsibility.

During her time at BCLC, Ms. Walden led a cross-functional team focused on driving player-centric strategies and transforming how BCLC approached innovation, corporate social responsibility, communications and enterprise-level marketing. Ms. Walden’s background includes leading teams in corporate communications, player relations, consumer research, customer support centre, customer relationship management, corporate marketing, responsible gambling, sustainability, enterprise innovation and creative services. Her team represented the organization's chief player advocates and acted as agents of change in driving business success measured by a balanced scorecard. Ms. Walden’s experience includes spearheading major new BCLC operational initiatives, such as Chances Gaming Entertainment centres and PlayNow.com. Working with private sector partners and local governments across the province, her vision for community gaming centres revitalized the entertainment experience for players and the future of an industry.

Ms. Walden operated her own marketing and communications company from 1997 to 2002. Prior to this, she spent 17 years in advertising and communications at BBDO Canada, holding a number of senior leadership roles and was responsible for strategic planning, business development and client profitability.

An active volunteer, Ms. Walden is currently a member of the Grey Cup Festival 2014 Organizing Committee and is on the board of directors of the VSO School of Music. Ms. Walden holds a bachelor of commerce from the University of British Columbia, loves to travel, and revels in the many pleasures of family life in our extraordinary province.

Ms. Walden will officially join Destination British Columbia on November 25, 2013.

Destination British Columbia is an industry-led Crown corporation that works collaboratively with tourism stakeholders across the province to coordinate marketing at the international, provincial, regional and local levels.