November 3, 2022

New President and CEO of the Ottawa Humane Society

On behalf of the OHS Board of Directors, I would like to inform you that the successful candidate for the position of President and CEO of the Ottawa Humane Society is Sharon Miko. She is expected to begin in her new role in mid-November. 

The board appointed a search committee from among its members in April of this year. The committee recruited the firm of Odgers Berndtson to assist it in conducting a country-wide search. The committee reviewed a long list of candidates, interviewed a select short list from that group, and asked for a presentation and conducted second interviews from a final shorter list. In the end, Sharon was the successful candidate.

As you may be aware, Sharon left the private sector to join the OHS in 2003 as Manager: Outreach, subsequently becoming Director: Operations in in 2007. Her first years were focused on helping to streamline processes to improve the OHS’s animal sheltering practices and outcomes for animals. She was heavily involved in the years-long project to create a new home for the OHS in 2011. In 2015, she led the creation of the OHS’s mobile spay neuter services program, followed by the new Community Programs and Intervention Services departments after that. In 2020, she led the initiative that saw the OHS become the first humane society to become nationally accredited by Humane Canada.

Prior to joining the OHS, Sharon served on the board of directors of the OHS, Ontario SPCA and Canadian Federation of Humane Societies, now Humane Canada. She is currently the Vice Chair of the Association of Animal Shelter Administrators of Ontario.

I hope that you will join the board in welcoming Sharon when she begins her new role, and that you will give her the support she needs to help the OHS achieve its mission in its next phase.

Travis Webb

Chair, OHS Board of Directors