AAC executive role changes | Farmtario

The Agricultural Adaptation Council’s (AAC) Executive Director, Terry Thompson, has announced his retirement at the end of 2021. Melanie DiReto, currently AAC’s manager of finance and administration, will replace Thompson effective Jan. 1, 2022. 

Thompson has been with AAC for 23 of the organization’s 26-year history, first joining in a financial management capacity in 1998 before becoming Executive Director in 2010. In 2020, he was instrumental in the development of Canlead Solutions, an organization formed as a complement to AAC for program delivery. 

DiReto first joined AAC as Finance Administrator in 2006 and has progressed through various finance and administrative management positions. She is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and a Certified Association Executive (CAE) and played a key role in the establishment of Canlead Solutions in 2020, where she provides accounting and organizational leadership to clients. 

More recently she was essential in the development and launch of the new Canadian Food Innovation Network, where she will continue to serve as Chief Financial Officer.