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Wednesday, November 20, 2019

woman achiever of British Columbia, Vancity !

Most likely that her photo would attract viewer into reading more details of this post – not much is known about British Columbia and the person in picture – Ms Tamara Vrooman .. .. it is stated that in 1991 she attempted to earn a position with the BC Ministry of Finance but was rejected because her interviewers assumed that she had poor mathematical skills.  She went on to enrol Finance courses and 12 years later, became British Columbia’s first and youngest female Deputy Minister of finance.  While in office, she won Knowledge & Leadership award .. she was also to become the first Dy min in BC to take maternity leave !


Vancouver City Savings Credit Union, commonly referred to as Vancity, is a member-owned financial co-operative headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. By asset size, Vancity is the largest community credit union in Canada as of 2018, with CA$27.4 billion in assets plus assets under administration, 59 branches and more than 534,000 members.

Interestingly, when the men returned from the First World War, they discovered the recently enfranchised women of the province had helped vote in the prohibition of liquor in an effort to end the social problems associated with the hard-core drinking Vancouver and the rest of the province was famous for until the war. Because of pressure from veterans, prohibition was quickly relaxed so the "soldier and the working man" could enjoy a drink, but widespread unemployment among veterans was hardened by many of the available jobs being taken by European immigrants and disgruntled veterans organized a range of "soldier parties" to represent their interests .. .. curious to know where ?

Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast.  Victoria is the southernmost major city in Western Canada, and is about 100 km (60 mi) from British Columbia's largest city of Vancouver on the mainland. The city is about 100 km (60 mi) from Seattle.  Named after Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and, at the time, British North America, Victoria is one of the oldest cities in the Pacific Northwest, with British settlement beginning in 1843. The city has retained a large number of its historic buildings, in particular its two most famous landmarks, Parliament Buildings (finished in 1897 and home of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia) and the Empress hotel (opened in 1908).

British Columbia - is the westernmost province of Canada, located between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains.   The first British settlement in the area was Fort Victoria, established in 1843, which gave rise to the City of Victoria, at first the capital of the separate Colony of Vancouver Island. Subsequently, on the mainland, the Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866) was founded by Richard Clement Moody  and the Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment, in response to the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush.  In 1866, Vancouver Island became part of the colony of British Columbia, and Victoria became the united colony's capital.  First Nations, the original inhabitants of the land, have a history of at least 10,000 years in the area.

The Order of British Columbia, is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Instituted in 1989 by Lieutenant Governor David Lam, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier Bill Vander Zalm, the order is administered by the Governor-in-Council and is intended to honour current or former British Columbia residents for conspicuous achievements in any field, being thus described as the highest honour amongst all others conferred by the British Columbia Crown.

Tamara Vrooman, is one of its notable recipients.  The woman born in 1968 is the CEO of Vancity Credit Union. Previously, she served as British Columbia's first and youngest female deputy minister of finance.  You read the description of her education and career progress in para 1.

Vrooman stayed in her role as deputy minister of finance for three years before leaving in 2007 to become CEO of Vancity Credit Union.  The next year, Vancity became the first carbon-neutral credit union in North America. During the 2010 fiscal year, Vancity hit a financial high and Vrooman was named Canada's most powerful woman in the corporate executives category by the Women's Executive Network. By 2011, Vancity became the largest Canadian organization to adopt a living wage policy  and she was appointed to sit on the Board of Vancouver Airport Authority.

As CEO and president of Vancity, Vrooman helped develop and chair Canada's first Schedule 1 bank focused on impact in the Greater Toronto Area, called the Vancity Community Investment Bank.  She was honoured with honorary degree of Doctor of Laws.  She went on to become the  recipient of the Order of British Columbia for "contributing to a better quality of life in B.C. and beyond." She was also awarded the 2019 PEAK Award from the Association of Women in Finance.

Interesting !

With regards – S. Sampathkumar
20th Nov 2019.

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