Kris Valerio Shock, an experienced business development and organizational leader, has been named President & CEO of Leadership Anne Arundel.
“As we celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Leadership Anne Arundel, we are thrilled to have someone as passionate and knowledgeable about value driven member engagement as Kris Shock sign on to lead the organization into the next chapter,” said Leadership Anne Arundel Chairman Kevin A. Chase. “The years Kris spent leading the regional tech sector and more recently engaging stakeholders across the state make her uniquely qualified to take LAA to the next level.”
“LAA is one of the best kept secrets in the county; yet the most vital and dynamic organizations in the community feature LAA graduates” said Ms. Shock. “As a graduate of the Leadership Anne Arundel Flagship program, I’m excited to mix my personal and professional experience to expand the visibility, value and reach of the LAA program and network.”
Prior to joining LAA, Ms. Shock served as the senior director of the Office of Strategic Industries and Entrepreneurship at the Maryland Department of Commerce where she led a team of experts in manufacturing, education and innovation, agribusiness and energy and entrepreneurship and capital attraction.
From 2008 to 2015, Ms. Shock served as executive director of the Chesapeake Regional Tech Council, overseeing its transition from a local group with a focus on Anne Arundel County to a regional business organization with members throughout the Washington-Annapolis-Baltimore region. The tech council’s membership also grew from 200 to more than 300 companies under her leadership, grant funding increased more than 200 percent and total revenue doubled. Shock also designed, developed and implemented a marketing strategy to promote the council’s new brand and ongoing program of work.
A native of Annapolis, Ms. Shock is the Co-founder and Co-organizer of Ignite Annapolis. She has a bachelor’s of science from Towson University and is a graduate of the Leadership Anne Arundel Flagship Program (2006).
According to Ms. Shock, “Inspiring, nurturing and developing local leaders has never been more important. LAA is known for the Flagship program but with nearly a generation of LAA graduates, Flagship is just the beginning. We have a remarkable opportunity to engage more than 1300 of the best and brightest leaders in the region to develop the leaders of tomorrow.”
Shock will begin in her role on May 1st. Current LAA Executive Director Eric Edstrom will assist through a transition period and retire from the organization at the end of June.
For more information visit https://leadershipaa.org
