The Association of Corporate Counsel has hired a director of Canadian initiatives to help co-ordinate its efforts in this country.
Silvi Alzetta-Reali will be responsible for helping the ACC expand its membership in Canada and assist in the development of programming and resources for members. She was officially hired for the full-time role in January, but the association has been searching to fill the position for more than a year.
Alzetta-Reali was previously general counsel of Coca-Cola Ltd. in Canada. She started at the bottling company as a junior lawyer in 1992, becoming vice president, secretary and general counsel of Coca-Cola Ltd. in 1997.
During her last year at the company, Alzetta-Reali says she became a member of ACC as part of the company’s large law membership. “I remember exploring the site and thinking wow, this is a real boon. It had ?amazing resources, and would actually be useful to me in my practice.”
After her many years at the soft drink giant, Alzetta-Reali retired from law in 2008. When the opportunity at the ACC came up, she says she “jumped at it.”
“I’m really looking forward to helping the ACC continue to grow and develop in a Canadian context and I love being involved with the legal world again. It’s funny but absence does make the heart grow fonder,” she told
Legal Feeds.
There are currently
three ACC chapters in Canada — Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia — which have their own executive and organize programming locally. Between the three chapters there are about 50 programs a year. There are also efforts being made to launch an Alberta chapter.
“We are happy to have an executive of Silvi’s calibre to further carry out our Canadian initiatives. As ACC’s director of Canadian initiatives, Silvi will enhance ACC’s strategic membership initiatives and support the needs of our members,” explained ACC president and CEO Veta T. Richardson.
“ACC’s primary goal is to meet the needs of our growing membership in Canada, which totals more than 1,000 in-house counsel. As our in-house community grows, we want to continue to offer the resources, networks and educational programs necessary to meet the demands of today’s busy in-house counsel,” added Richardson.
