Gunilla Girardo has been President of SACC-USA for nine years.
Gunilla Girardo is stepping down as president of the Swedish-American business network after nine years as its top executive. She resigned formally on June 30th to join the executive training and management company Next Level in Washington, D.C., but she will continue to support SACC-USA’s programs for two days a week until September 30th.
Gunilla Girardo tells Currents Online that it was a hard decision after having worked so long to facilitate Swedish-American business and trade for many years. In her resignation letter to SACC-USA’s Chairman Urban Lundberg, and EXCOM (the Executive Committee) she wrote “I am now looking forward to focus on the next level in my professional career, less travel, and most importantly spending more quality time with my children. As I hope you know, it has been truly rewarding both professionally and personally to serve such a fine organization for the past nine years.”
“Gunilla has done a fabulous job for SACC-USA and we will all miss her dearly,” says Urban Lundberg, Chairman of SACC-USA. “I wish her the very best,” he adds.
Urban Lundberg, Chairman of SACC-USA.
The resignation came as a surprise, but Urban Lundberg sees no reason to panic because of the leadership change. He is already in touch with many of the veterans of SACC-USA and the executive committee will meet tonight, July 1st, to begin developing a new job description and a plan for the search and transition. He also intends to call for a SACC-USA summit, where all member chambers can come together. He expects the entire transition to take about six months.
Gunilla Girardo says that she is confident that SACC-USA can handle the transition.
“I am staying in the D.C. area and I will do my best to ensure that SACC-USA’s most important projects, undertakings and relationships to sponsors and other stakeholders are properly transitioned,” she says.
“The preparations for the E-Days in Gothenburg is on track and the event will be a great success. We are also moving fast to strengthen our Gateway program and setting up a SACC-USA office in Sweden in cooperation with the Growth Agency (Tillväxtverket), which will give us a national Swedish reach and presence. This should also aid our membership recruitment.”
Gunilla Girardo, who is a native of Sweden, has worked in international business for sixteen years, thirteen of them in the Washington, D.C. area. Before joining SACC-USA she was a manager at the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA). Prior to that she was Program Director for the International Business School (IBS) of Sweden, responsible for their marketing, PR- and journalism programs in Washington D.C., and its Executive Secretarial Program in England, Germany, Spain and France.
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