With this year’s theme being #EmbraceEquity, there has never been a better time to discuss and shine a light on the need to see more women leaders in finance.
A recent report on diversity disclosure practices for women’s advancement in Canada’s financial sector shows that women made up 24 percent of executive officers in Canada’s financial services sector in 2022. On a per company basis, the number of female executive officers in the financial services industry was 3.83 in 2022, compared to 1.94 for all TSX listed companies.
At CCUA, we’re proud that 50% of our Board of Directors is comprised of women. Read on to learn more about our female Board members. (From LEFT to RIGHT)
Shelley Besse, Chairperson
As First West Credit Union’s chief credit officer, Shelley Besse is responsible for credit policy, adjudication and recovery. She provides senior leadership oversight to all lines of business, including retail and commercial lending, loan syndication and securitization, joint ventures, junior debt as well as mezzanine and equity investments.
Shelley is a highly respected leader with extensive knowledge and experience in the financial services industry. Since joining Envision Financial in 1984, Shelley has held a number of increasingly senior leadership roles including branch manager, assistant vice-president of marketing and communications, vice-president of branch operations, vice-president of sales and service and vice-president of risk management and operations. She was appointed to lead First West’s merger transition in 2009 and successfully delivered against a three-year strategy to create a high-performing operations team within First West’s new operating model.
Following this role, Shelley was appointed senior vice-president of operations, sales and member experience and focused on providing employees with operations support and for developing and implementing an enterprise-wide continuous improvement strategy known as Lean. In 2012, Shelley became president of Envision Financial. Four years later in 2016, Shelley was appointed chief operating officer of First West where she was responsible for leading First West’s regional operations, encompassing retail, business and commercial banking, wealth management, general insurance, and operations for all of First West’s local market brands.
In 2012, Shelley received international recognition for her leadership and business acumen when she was awarded a Silver Stevie Award in the category of Female Executive of the Year – Consumer Services and a Bronze Stevie Award in the category of Female Executive of the Year in Canada.
Shelley holds an MBA from Royal Roads University, a certificate in financial planning, is a graduate of the Stanford Executive Program, specializing in strategy and organizational design and has received an Operational Risk Management professional designation from the International Council for Operational Risk Management. In 2022, she received the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD.D) designation. Shelley is the past chair for the Surrey Board of Trade. Shelley is currently Chair of the Canadian Credit Union Association’s board of directors and has also served on the Aviso Member Advisory Board.
Linda Bowyer
Linda joined First Credit Union in February of 2018 as President & Chief Executive Officer. With over twenty years of experience in Senior Executive roles within Canada Trust, TD Bank, CIBC and the insurance division of BCAA, Linda has developed expertise in change management, leadership, & continuous improvement. Some of the highlights of her roles include leading the Retail branches in Alberta for CIBC as Market Vice President, leading National Sales as VP Private Client Services for TD Wealth, introducing Lean Six Sigma methodology to TD Bank, and leading the Insurance operation and Contact Centre for BCAA as SVP & Chief Member Experience Officer.
Linda considers herself a lifelong learner; she has completed the Certified Financial Planning designation, holds Bachelor & Master of Business Administration degrees from Simon Fraser University, completed the Queen’s University Executive Sales Leadership program, and earned a Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma. Regarding Governance Education, Linda has completed the CUDA program and holds the ICD.D designation.
Currently Linda is Vice Chair of the Board of BC’s Stabilization Central Credit Union, is Vice Chair of the CCUA Governance & HR Committee and is the CCUA delegate on the Board of the World Council of Credit Unions.
Jodi Chambers
Jodi Chambers is Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer with Cornerstone Credit Union. Jodi started her career in Winnipeg with Assiniboine, where she enjoyed working in many different roles and areas for 20 years. In 2013, she moved to Alberta and worked with Alberta Central and Celero before taking an opportunity to remotely work with Conexus, Cornerstone, Innovation and Synergy credit unions in Saskatchewan.
Jodi is passionate about continuous learning and making a positive impact on the people around her. She has a Master Business Administration from Royal Roads and recently completed a Digital Leadership certification through eCornell. As past Chair of the National Young Leader committee, she was the thought leader that brought seasoned and young leaders together through experiential learning and networking opportunities. Jodi is an advocate for financial literacy and teaches courses at Momentum, a Calgary organization committed to community economic development through the principles of the sustainable livelihoods model. Internationally, Jodi spent 3 weeks in Africa coaching credit union managers and board members.
Jodi is known for her ability to inspire and motivate others. She is committed to creating a learning culture through her passion for innovation and strategic thought leadership. Jodi is often recognized for her dedication to drive positive transformational change and her belief in the benefits that technology and digital transformation can provide.
Tammy Christopher
With over 20 years of leadership experience, Tammy Christopher is Chief Executive Officer of OMISTA Credit Union in New Brunswick. Tammy heads up a dynamic leadership team who develop strategy with the credit union principles of honesty, fairness, and trust top of mine. She is passionate about the evolution of the Credit Union System and being a trusted partner of financial advice and guidance by members.
Tammy is a well-rounded leader who holds a Charter Professional Accountants (CPA) designation, is a Fellow of the Credit Union Institute of Canada (FCUIC), a graduate of the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD.D), the Credit Union Directors Achievement (CUDA) Program, and who is certified in Change Management through Prosci. At present, Tammy serves as a Director with Atlantic Central and is a past vice-chair of League Savings and Mortgage.
She lives just up the road from the world-famous Hopewell Rocks with her husband Tim. She is a proud mother to 3 children, Grace, Aidan, and Faith who are all currently attending post-secondary educational institutions. Tammy is an avid runner and logs many miles on the trails of her favourite location at White Rock Recreational Park.
Maggie Sinclair
Maggie Sinclair is Conexus Credit Union’s Chief Risk and Compliance Officer, with over 25 years extensive experience in the Financial Services Industry in Canada and Australia. Maggie is responsible for assessing and mitigating significant competitive, regulatory and technological threats to the Company. In other words, Responsible for leading and implementing efforts to reduce business risks that can put the organization at risk.
A proactive, results-driven business leader that has the commercial drive and presence to create and mold operational and sales teams to deliver against stretching business objectives. She combines advanced business practices and strategy to integrate focused programs that will increase revenue, enhance member advice delivery, improve internal processes, and align operations to corporate goals. Described as having a passion for making the ‘difficult seem simple’.
Maggie’s hands on experience is complemented by numerous academic accomplishments. She holds a Masters of Business (MBA) degree from the University of Southern Australia, with an additional distinction in Human Resources, is an alumnus of the Queen’s Executive Program and recently completed her ICD.D director designation through Rotman Business School.
