Announcement
Canadian Physiotherapy Association Announces Release of New Three-Year Strategic Plan and Appointment of Krissy Bell as Chief Executive Officer
Mar 22, 2023
Ottawa
March 22, 2023
The Canadian Physiotherapy Association (CPA) Board of Directors is pleased to announce the release of its 2023–2025 Strategic Plan and the appointment of Krissy Bell to the role of Chief Executive Officer, marking a significant step forward for the Association.
Over the past year, the CPA Board of Directors has worked diligently to develop a new strategic direction for the Association based on the feedback received through a robust consultation process with members, partners, and key stakeholders. The resulting 2023–2025 Strategic Plan provides an ambitious, but achievable, roadmap for the next three years that identifies advocacy, professional partnerships, and growth as key organizational priorities and defines a future state where the Association has leveraged the changing face of health care in Canada to increase access to physiotherapy. The CPA’s full 2023–2025 Strategic Plan, including its new practical vision and its strategic imperatives for the next 12 to 18 months, is available here.
In conjunction with the development of the new strategic direction, the CPA Board also participated in a comprehensive executive search process to identify a new Chief Executive Officer to lead the CPA in realizing its practical vision. The appointment of Krissy Bell as Chief Executive Officer finalizes an extensive recruitment process led by Boyden Canada, a global executive search firm. Over the course of the recruitment process, a large initial prospect pool was narrowed by stages through a written assessment and interviews with the Board’s Hiring Committee and the Board Chair, and finalized through ratification by the Board earlier this month.
“The CPA Board of Directors is extremely excited to announce that we have named Krissy Bell as the next Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Physiotherapy Association,” said Board Chair and member of the Hiring Committee, Amanda de Chastelain. “In the four years I have known and worked with Krissy, and throughout the recruiting process, she has continually demonstrated that she has the right energy, experience, and approach to lead the organization to successfully achieving its vision of becoming the trusted authority on the advancement of the physiotherapy profession and the unified voice of physiotherapists in Canada.”
Krissy Bell, who joined the organization in April 2019 as Chief Marketing and Membership Officer, and whose role was recently expanded to Chief Strategy Officer, has been a respected leader and champion at the Association for the past four years, and has been integral to its ability to successfully navigate significant organizational challenges, including the pandemic. She has been responsible for overseeing consistent growth in the CPA’s membership portfolio and organizational revenues, as well as the creation and implementation of the CPA’s COVID-19 Member Relief Program, among other successes.
Krissy’s elevation to CEO brings continued and consistent focus to the Association as it generates momentum to accomplish the 2023–2025 Strategic Plan. Krissy is poised to leverage her well-established relationships with key partners, extensive knowledge of the organization and its trajectory, and keen understanding of the new strategic direction to lead the CPA through a critical time in Canadian health care.
“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to take on this role, especially at such an exciting time,” said Krissy Bell, Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Physiotherapy Association. “The clarity and direction provided by the Board, the support of our partners and members, and the changing face of health care in Canada create an opportune moment for the CPA to step up as a voice for the profession. The CPA has made great strides in strengthening its foundations in recent years, and we are now at a place where we can start to measure our growth and expand our impact.”
Former Interim Chief Executive Officer, Elisa Beselt, will stay on with the Association in a new role as Strategic Projects Lead. Together, Elisa and Krissy will transition the full scale of the CEO role to Krissy over the coming months with minimal disruption to operations, while continuing to fill key vacancies, including the Chief Corporate Services Officer role. Krissy looks forward to discussing the Association, the momentum generated for the 2023–2025 Strategic Plan, and her operational vision for achieving the Board’s practical vision at the CPA’s annual Congress event from July 13–15, 2023, in Quebec City.
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