Barbara Stapleton serves as Senior Vice President of Economic and Leadership Development for the Greater Wilmington Chamber of Commerce, where she leads initiatives focused on economic growth, leadership development, talent, and strengthening connections among business, education and community partners across the Greater Wilmington region.
Barbara brings more than 20 years of experience in workforce and economic development, with a career focused on helping communities and organizations align talent, education, employers and economic priorities to create stronger economies and greater opportunity. Her work spans workforce strategy, talent pipeline development, economic development, strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, facilitation, labor market analysis and cross-sector partnerships.
Previously, Barbara served as Senior Vice President of Talent Advancement with the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, where she led regional talent initiatives and secured the $8.4 million U.S. Economic Development Administration Good Jobs Challenge to create the Lowcountry Careers Collaborative. She also served as Vice President of Business Retention & Talent Initiatives with the Greater Topeka Partnership, where she led business retention and expansion and workforce and talent initiatives and created the nationally recognized Choose Topeka talent attraction initiative.
Barbara is a U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation Business Leads Fellow and Talent Pipeline Management® Practitioner and a past fellow of the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) Fellowship for Education and Talent Development. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Purdue University and a Master of Science in Management from Baker University.
A longtime community and partnership builder, Barbara believes some of the most meaningful economic development happens when business, education, government and community leaders come together around a shared vision. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her family, exploring the Carolinas, and discovering the people, places and communities that make the region such a special place to call home.
