As it assesses its strategy for the coming years, Propel ICT is launching a search for a new chief executive following the announcement that current CEO Anita Punamiya is stepping down.

The regional tech accelerator announced on Friday that Punamiya, who took over the position last year, had only planned on a short tenure and would leave the executive position. A long-standing member  of the Propel community, she will retain a seat on the Propel board. Until her replacement is found, former Propel Executive Director Trevor MacAusland will be the Interim CEO.

“Propel ICT has a strong history and I am proud to have been a part of it both as a Board member and as the CEO,” said Punamiya in a statement. “From the perspective of a newcomer to Canada, I received tremendous value from being on the Board, and the CEO role gave me an opportunity to give back to the organization. I am happy to say that I am leaving the organization stronger than it was when I took on the role.”

The announcement comes as the Propel board and executive will meet June 8 to hold a long-term strategy session, at which they will plot out where the organization is heading in a rapidly changing landscape.

“We have a great team that’s in place now and we’re meeting on the 8th of June to have discussions on where we’re headed,” said Board Chair Steven Burns in an interview Friday. “We’re always trying to improve it. The executive will be present and we’ll look at the strategy and we’ll fine-tune it.”

What won’t change is that Propel will be dedicated to mentoring ICT startups in all four Atlantic Provinces. The accelerator is now holding an advanced Build cohort in Moncton and its more rudimentary Launch cohorts in Halifax, Fredericton and Sydney. It has also offered Launch programs in Charlottetown and St. John’s, and its Grow program for mature companies is taking place in Fredericton.

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Several startups have gone through Propel programs more than once, and overall the participants speak highly of the mentorship offered by Propel.

“Propel has been fantastic for us,” said Jim DeLeskie, the CEO of Mimir Networks, a Sydney cybersecurity company that is in the Build cohort. “It had highlighted some things we’ve been doing well and showed us some things we should be doing better.”

While Propel has built its capacity in the past few years, nurturing scores of companies each year, the landscape has been changing. Volta Labs in Halifax has brought in veteran entrepreneur and accelerator head Jesse Rodgers as CEO, and his duties will soon include heading up the Atlantic Canadian pod of the Creative Destruction Lab. And Mary Kilfoil and Ed Leach at Dalhousie University are spearheading the effort to establish Canada’s first I-Corps node in Halifax. Both CDL-Atlantic and I-Corps are expected to launch in the autumn.

Propel itself has changed. Two board members recently left – Jeff Grammer, a principal with Rho Canada Ventures, departed to spend more time on portfolio company (and Propel alumnus) Resson; and Steve Nicolle of Prince Edward Island left because he will be spending most of his time out of the country. And Propel is now looking for its third CEO in three years.

Burns said Propel will soon contact a recruiter in an attempt to find just the right person to replace Punamiya. The Board also has a list of names it would like to talk to and will take the proper amount of time in hiring someone.

“We want to make sure we get the right person,” said Burns. “They’ll have to have a really strong connection to the startup community in Atlantic Canada. They have to have a dynamic personality and have to be a relationship-builder. We have a lot of organizations now. What need to do is to make sure that we are all working together.”