On October 1, 2025, Nancy plans to transition from full-time employment at NMDA to retirement, albeit remaining a consultant to support its new executive director through the end of the year.

Boating Industry spoke with Nancy about multiple topics including her illustrious industry career and her strategies for success, the role of mentoring, critical leadership traits, women’ s issues and opportunities, and what’ s ahead on her horizon.

Executive Director, National Marine Distributors Association

As Boating Industry recognizes this year’ s distinguished class of“ Women Making Waves,” who better to spotlight for our Profiles in Leadership

By Wanda Kenton Smith

National Marine Distributors Association( NMDA) Executive Director Nancy Cueroni is the current 2024 Darlene Briggs Marine Woman of the Year.

column than the current Darlene Briggs Marine Woman of the Year, Nancy Cueroni?

As the executive director of the National Marine Distributors Association( NMDA) since 1999 and only the second to hold this position, Nancy has contributed significantly to the nonprofit’ s growth and the success of its members, which include wholesale distributors, manufacturers and manufacturer reps in the aftermarket segment of the recreational boating industry.

Nancy’ s efforts and influence extend far beyond her employer. She served on the NMMA Growth Summit / Recreational Boating Leadership Council, has held various key board positions on the National Association of Wholesale Distributors and Small Business Legislative Council, was the former chairman of the board of the American Boat & Yacht Council, and remains actively engaged in supporting the MRAA and its workforce development initiative as an education champion at Dealer Week.

Boating Industry( BI): You ' re the daughter of a military officer. How did that affect your leadership development from an early age? Nancy Cueroni( NC): Growing up in a military home meant you were dealing with constant change. We moved about every two years. My parents made each move an adventure by including us in the whole process. Our moves were almost always from one coast of the U. S. to the other. We would drive( one car, then two cars, then three cars) across the country. We were very fortunate to see many of the incredible parks and sights in the U. S. during these drives.

Leadership was taught to us by example by both my mom and dad. We were raised to believe we could do or be anything we wanted – there were no limits, and none of us were boxed or pushed into just one path. Mom was very active in the Red Cross, the Officers ' Wives Club( there were no women officers at the time, so all spouses were wives) and school groups. She showed us that you’ re never too busy to be involved.

No matter where we lived, we were expected to pitch in and become part of the community, with the expectation that each of us would be involved. Being“ the new kid” was no excuse to not join, help, volunteer, and in many cases lead groups.

BI: What was your earliest boating experience? NC: My dad was in the U. S. Coast Guard and his career was spent mostly on ships. One of his commands was in Panama City, Florida, and it included a membership in the local yacht club. It was there in 1968 that I fell in love with sailing. I sailed / raced there, and continued racing in college, where I was captain of the sailing team. Later, in Connecticut, I raced in a Wednesday and Thursday night series.

BI: How were you introduced to the boating industry and NMDA? NC: One of my acquaintances told me that the Connecticut Marine Trades Association( CMTA) was looking for a director of membership. I applied and was hired and started at CMTA in March 1989. While at CMTA, I attended the NMMA’ s ABC and invited a CMTA board member to do my Capitol Hill visits with me. My sense is he was impressed with that day and when the NMDA was looking for a new Executive Director, he asked me to apply.

BI: At our recent ELEVATE Summit, you served on our Executive Women’ s Panel and spoke on the value of mentoring. Could you share some insight? NC: All of us are mentors, some formally and others simply by example. There are several people that I count among those I have mentored; some have spoken about this publicly and others simply know who they are. I’ ve always made myself available to those who are new to the industry and even some who have been around for a while. I’ ll meet for coffee, a quick call, a zoom or whatever they might need. Sometimes they need an ear to listen to a problem. Sometimes they want a specific opinion on something they are facing. My goal is to help lead them to their own decisions.

In some ways, I never thought about mentoring as a formal experience until I was asked about it last year. Turns out that many of my calls, meetings and emails

28 june 2025 www. boatingindustry. com