Women in Capital Markets Announces 2017 Recipients of WCM Emerging Leaders Program

TORONTO, October 20th, 2017 - Women in Capital Markets (WCM), a non-profit advocacy organization which promotes the entry and advancement of women into leadership roles in the financial services industry, is pleased to announce the winners of the fourth annual WCM Emerging Leaders Program. The Program is designed to support the development of high potential women with five – 10 years' financial markets experience who are currently employed in the financial services industry. The goal of the Program is to enhance their leadership skills so they have a better opportunity to advance into leadership roles within the industry.

We are pleased to announce that in 2017 there are 21 award recipients, including two from our newest Chapter in Victoria and one from Vancouver. This brings the total number of women benefiting from this program to 61 in the four years it has been active:

Thanks to the support of Felix Global Corp., WCM's exclusive coaching partner, the 2017 award recipients will each participate in a six-month integrated leadership program that runs from November 2017 to April 2018. The program includes a personality assessment, personal coaching, skills builds, group coaching and access to tools to enhance their leadership skills and equip them to compete for progressively more senior roles.

"Women in senior leadership roles are under-represented across all industries today said Jeannie Collins-Ardern, Interim CEO of Women in Capital Markets. "The goal of this program is to help high potential women early in their careers by providing the necessary leadership skills to enhance their likelihood of promotion. By helping these talented women develop their leadership skills, this program feeds the pipeline of qualified candidates for leadership roles in our industry and in corporate Canada more broadly. We are very proud to be able to offer this opportunity to 21 women this year, and congratulate each of them. We are excited to track the successes of all graduates of this program."

In addition to the Emerging Leaders Program, WCM runs many additional successful professional development programs for women in entry level positions through to senior executives in the industry. WCM also helps build the pipeline of talent for the industry with its programming for students at both the university and high school levels. Some of the key programs include:

WCM SheBiz, a day-long event for grades 9-11 students that features speakers from a variety of industries as well as interactive activities;
WCM Job Shadow Day for grade 12 students that features interactive financially focused activities and a half day with a mentor in capital markets;

Uni-Connect for university students, providing role models for women, education about the capital markets, mentoring, and basic skills development;

WCM Return to Bay Street Program which is designed to help professional women re-launch their careers in the Canadian capital markets after an extended period of absence from the industry and includes a minimum four-month paid contract;

Various mentoring programs, and
the WCM Executive Coaching Award for women with 10 or more years' experience in the industry that features six months of individual career coaching.

For more information about WCM's programs please visit wcm.ca.

About WCM

WCM (wcm.ca) is the largest network of professional women in the Canadian financial services sector and the voice of advocacy for women in our industry. WCM is committed to the advancement of women in business and increasing the number of women in senior leadership roles in the Canadian economy. We work with our partners, members and the broader public to promote initiatives that successfully increase the economic empowerment of women and move the dial on women's representation and impact in the boardrooms and executive suites of corporate Canada.

About Felix

Felix is a North American talent solutions leader specializing in high-impact Coaching, Career Management & Transition Support, and Team Effectiveness. Driving results for over 30 years, Felix has developed 75,000+ leaders with personalized career coaching and leadership engagements. We keep your people ahead of the curve, helping them thrive in the face of challenges created by rapid change in the constantly evolving workplace. Felix: real people, real results.

For further information:

Please contact:
Sonia Prashar
[email protected] 416-560-6753