Powering Strong Communities
Press Release

Joy Ditto Resigns as APPA President and CEO; Jeff Haas to Serve in Acting Capacity

Statement from APPA Board Chair Tony Cannon

American Public Power Association (APPA) President and CEO Joy Ditto has resigned her position, effective January 31. The Board is launching a nationwide search for APPA’s next leader. Given that this is a personnel matter, we cannot provide any further detail.

We thank Joy for her many years of service (15 years on APPA’s government relations team and three years as president and CEO), and we certainly wish her the best. As president and CEO, Joy made significant contributions to the association’s success, including:

  • Spearheading the development of a five-year business plan to guide the association’s priorities and focus its financial targets.
  • Leading staff in securing refundable direct payment tax credits for public power as part of the Inflation Reduction Act signed into law — an APPA priority for over 20 years.
  • Successfully guiding the association through the turbulent early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We look forward to building on this successful momentum as the staff and APPA members work together to shape the future of public power.

The APPA Executive Committee has appointed APPA Senior Vice President of Membership and Education Jeff Haas to serve as acting president & CEO while the Board engages an executive search firm to seek out the best possible successor to lead APPA. We are confident in his ability to lead the organization through this transition with our leadership team and staff.