Melia has previously held several senior leadership positions at the agency.
Enterprise Ireland has appointed executive director Jenny Melia as its new CEO. Melia, who has been with the agency for nearly three decades, will assume her new role in July.
She is taking over from Leo Clancy, who stepped down as Enterprise Ireland’s CEO late last year. Executive director Kevin Sherry took over as the agency’s interim CEO at the time.
Melia has held several senior positions in the organisation, including as business development manager, leading the High-Potential Start-Up team and the technology and services division, and most recently as the executive director. Her current role also includes working as the chief client officer.
Michael Carey, the chair of Enterprise Ireland’s board, said that Melia has an “outstanding track record of providing clear vision and strategic leadership”.
As the new CEO, Melia will be leading the charge on Enterprise Ireland’s new strategy aimed at assisting innovative Irish exporting companies to grow and succeed in international markets.
“I would also like to thank Kevin Sherry for his leadership as interim CEO,” Carey said. Sherry is expected to return to his former position of executive director once Melia takes over.
Clancy stepped down from Enterprise Ireland last year to pursue new opportunities in the private sector. This April, he was appointed as the CEO of EI Electronics, a Clare-based multinational manufacturing company.
Enterprise Ireland is currently carrying out its Founders Listening Tour, travelling across the country to gather input from the start-up community. The agency claims that the initiative will inform the roadmap for its new strategy to support 1,000 start-ups in the next five years.
While earlier this month, the agency hosted its Start-Up Day event with hundreds of attendees, including several up and coming – as well as successful – companies supported by Enterprise Ireland.
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