TD Bank Financial Group has appointed Donna Hayes, publisher and CEO of Harlequin Enterprises Limited, to its board of directors.

“Throughout her extensive professional career, Ms. Hayes has continually demonstrated the ability to evolve and grow a global organization through strategic leadership,” said John Thompson, chairman of the board of TD Bank Financial Group, in a news release.

“Donna brings a tremendous amount of business experience to the table and we look forward to the insights that she will be able to offer to our deliberations and decisions as an independent director of the bank,” he added.

Hayes has held progressively senior positions since first joining romance publisher Harlequin in 1985. A graduate of McGill University, she is the first woman to run Harlequin since it was founded in Winnipeg in 1949. Hayes started her career in publishing at Doubleday Canada and subsequently worked for Ogilvy & Mather before returning to publishing at Harlequin.

The appointment of Hayes brings the total number of TD directors to 17.