Canadian Badlands is moving forward after announcing a challenging future in the months ahead.
The Board of Directors recently announced Cindy Amos would take over the helm of the organization as interim executive director.
“She was with the Foundation side of things and we’ve asked her to take over, on a temporary basis, as executive director,” said Doug Jones, president of Canadian Badlands. “She came back to Alberta earlier this week and is working full-time.”
This is not the first time Amos has held the position. During the organization’s infancy, Amos helped lay the groundwork for Canadian Badlands.
“She was our first executive director and came in to lay the ground work. Then, she was doing the (Canadian Badlands) Foundation work for us on a contract,” said Jones.
Amos replaces Bob Davis who departed Canadian Badlands on April 12. She is tasked with implementing changes to the organization following a meeting between Canadian Badlands and the provincial government.
Canadian Badlands is looking at how they can operate within the province’s new mantra of results-based funding and streamlining the organization, which is split into the municipally-driven Canadian Badlands Ltd. and private sector Canadian Badlands Foundation.
“We’re looking at how we can create efficiencies and the overall structure will be addressed at the next board meeting,” said Jones.
Amos is expected to fill the position during the transition process. Once things stabilize, the hunt will begin for a permanent executive director.
“I think before we do that, we want to make sure the organization is situated where we want. It’s hard to hire someone new when the structure is changing, so we hired someone on an interim basis to get the organization where we want to be,” said Jones.
Drumheller will remain the head office for the organization and Mayor Terry Yemen was appointed to the board of directors as a member at large in May.
“I look forward to travelling in the Canadian Badlands once again to leverage tourism opportunities, assist economic prosperity through tourism development and ensure the region becomes Alberta’s next iconic tourism destination,” said Amos.
