President & CEO 

Doug Rothwell has worked as an executive in the public, private and non-profit sectors having worked for three state Governor's and two Fortune 500 companies.  Currently, Doug is President & CEO of Business Leaders for Michigan.  He helped form this organization and develop the Michigan Turnaround Plan, a five-step strategy to make Michigan a top ten state for job & economic growth that has gained broad support throughout the state.  

Prior to his current position, Doug served as:

• President of Detroit Renaissance, a regional CEO roundtable where he led the Road to Renaissance, the first time the Detroit region coalesced around a regional economic growth strategy.  
• Executive Director of Worldwide Real Estate for General Motors
• President and Chief Executive Officer of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, an organization he founded and helped Michigan be named the number one state for attracting and retaining corporate site location investments an unprecedented four years in a row, cited for achieving one of the top business climates in the nation and consistently named as having the best state economic development agency.
• Chief of Staff to the Governor of Delaware
• Executive Vice President at MBNA Corporation (now part of Bank of America)

Doug holds a Masters of Public Administration degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Delaware and attended the John F. Kennedy School’s residential program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at Harvard University.

He is one of handful of state executives to be honored with the National Governors’ Association’s outstanding public service award and also received the President's Outstanding Public Service award from the University of Delaware.  His community service extends to serving on the Board of the School of Government Foundation of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and chairing the Corporate Relations Council for the University of Michigan's Musical Society.