EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP
William Islar
President and Chief Executive Officer
William Islar is President and Chief Executive Officer at The North York Company. He has more than 20 years of executive management experience in the retail industry, more than half of which have been with The North York Company. William and close friend Jacqueline Maire founded The North York Company in 2008 as an investment firm; under his leadership, the company has expanded globally and experienced considerable growth, exceeding $417.6 million in sales.
William serves on the Board of Directors of PoweredUP Gaming and Shop Shop Pets and acts in an advisory capacity to several Graduate schools where he provides insight into the creation of Master of Business Administration programs with a focused concentration on Entrepreneurship and Sustainability. In 2016, William was named Chief Executive Officer of the Year by Entrepreneur Magazine for his progressive environmental, social and governance agenda.
A retired veteran of the United States Navy, the former Commanding Officer and Aviator is a designated Naval Aviation Warfare Specialist, decorated with four Meritorious Service Medals, seven Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals, and five Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals. Highly skilled, enthusiastic, and accomplished, recognized for making seemingly impossible situations work; he was selected as the Fiscal Year 2001, United States Naval Aviation Officer of the Year.
William holds Master’s degrees in Business Administration and Aerospace Engineering, and undergraduate degrees in Aeronautical Science, Business Administration, and International Business. He is an alumnus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the University of Miami, the University of South Carolina, and the University of Southern New Hampshire. William is influential, solution-driven and creative, pragmatic and focused; and he thrives in competitive and complex situations.
Jacqueline Maire
Chairwoman of the Board of Directors
Jacqueline Maire, cofounder and Chief Legal Counsel, serves as Chairwoman of the Board of Directors at The North York Company. She began presiding over the company’s long-term strategies in 2014 and has helped lead the company through numerous operational achievements, company growth and global expansion. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto and the University of Syracuse. Jacqueline holds a Juris Doctor degree and Master of Business Administration degree.
Jacqueline is also a founding principal of an international law firm that focuses on complex commercial litigation, public entity litigation, personal and surety law. In 2021, she received the Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating of “AV Preeminent” for reaching the height of professional excellence in the legal field. Because of her high levels of integrity and skill, she currently serves as General Counsel to the Board of Directors at Infants, Toddlers and Beyond, and Fierce, Fabulous and Beyond.
In 2018 Jacqueline was recognized by the National Association of Distinguished Counsel as being in the top 1% of litigation counsel and selected by Best Lawyers as the 2020 Lawyer of the Year for attorney’s representing defendants. In 2015 she was one of seven attorneys appointed to serve on the Blue-Ribbon Panel of Experts on the Fair and Efficient Administration of Civil Cases and led the Board of Trial Advocates from 2016 until 2018. She remains an active member.
Prior to starting her own legal practice as a solo practitioner, Jacqueline began her career in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps as a Navy Lieutenant. While on active duty she served as a military defense counsel, legal assistance attorney, discipline officer and brig officer. Jacqueline’s military awards include a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement medal, and various Unit and Expeditionary citations and awards.