Mary Weimer | Incoming CEO, Regina Food Bank

As incoming President & CEO of the Regina Food Bank, I bring my passion for community, innovation, and organizational leadership.

My leadership approach is grounded in lived experience. Over nearly 30 years, I’ve worked as an entrepreneur as well as inside organizations as an executive, board member, and advisor.

Entrepreneurial roots

My career began in 1999 when I purchased Assiniboia Gallery, a well-established art gallery in Regina, Saskatchewan. For more than 25 years, my husband Jeremy and I have grown the business while navigating the realities of founder-led decision-making, creative vision, operational discipline, and sustainability.

This experience has shaped how I work with entrepreneurs and small business leaders today. I understand the weight founders carry and the importance of building leadership and operational systems that allow a business to grow without losing what makes it distinctive.

Scaling and Executive Leadership

In 2013, I stepped into a Chief Operating Officer role at Hillberg & Berk, a fast-growing jewelry company. Over five years, I supported the organization’s expansion from a single location to eight, helping translate a founder’s vision into operational structure, leadership rhythms, and execution.

This period reinforced a pattern I’ve seen repeatedly: growth succeeds when leadership systems such as roles, decision-making, accountability, and culture evolve in step with ambition.

Leadership at scale

I later held senior executive roles at Conexus Credit Union, including Chief Member Experience Officer and Chief Advice Officer, with responsibility for diverse portfolios spanning retail and business banking, wealth management, marketing, community investment, and a technology incubator.

Working within a regulated environment deepened my understanding of governance, accountability, and stakeholder responsibility. It also strengthened my leadership philosophy which is rooted in trust, autonomy, and clear decision-making along with my comfort operating at the board–executive interface.

In 2022, I transitioned to Harvard Developments (The Hill Companies) as Chief Operating Officer. I oversaw Property Management, IT, Legal, Marketing, and Human Resources for the Canadian real estate division. This role reinforced the importance of long-term thinking, leadership continuity, and legacy within private family-owned enterprises.

Most recently, I founded Ready Executive Consulting. As a fractional executive, I worked as an integrated leadership partner to organizations across the private, public and non-profit sector. Rather than parachuting in as an outside advisor, I worked alongside leaders from the inside. I became embedded in their teams, their decisions, and their day-to-day realities. Through Leadership Systems Advisory, Fractional COO engagements, and executive coaching, I supported leaders navigating growth, transition, and complexity. It was deeply rewarding work, and it sharpened my belief that the most meaningful leadership support happens when trust, presence, and systems-thinking come together.

Community and governance

In 2026, I was appointed to the Board of Directors for the Regina Public Library. I believe deeply in the importance of public libraries as spaces where everyone is welcome. I believe that as communities evolve, public institutions must evolve with them. The role of the library has shifted well beyond books and borrowing. Today, libraries serve as catalysts for community development, social inclusion, and reconciliation, and I’m honoured to help steward that work.

Since 2022, I have served as a director with Cowessess Ventures Ltd., the economic development arm of Cowessess First Nation. CVL’s mission is to create wealth for the Nation and to open pathways for Cowessess band members to participate and benefit in the economy through employment, training, and wealth-building projects. It is meaningful work, and a privilege to contribute to an organization focused on self-determination and long-term prosperity for its people.

Past board roles include SaskArt, Globe Theatre, Youth Ballet of Saskatchewan, the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce, and the Regina Food Bank Capital Campaign Committee.

Outside of work

I live in Regina with my husband Jeremy and our four children. Family, community, and creative pursuits are central to my life and shape my perspective on leadership, sustainability, and impact.