Lakehead Faculty of Business Students' Association (FoBSA) x WCM Present: Women in Finance Panel
Wednesday, March 1st 20237:30 PM to 9:00 PM
Join us for an inspiring pre-International Women's Day conversation and panel featuring several accomplished women as they discuss their career journeys in finance.
Topics will include the importance of advocating for oneself, leadership, overcoming challenges, breaking barriers, and lessons learned throughout their career.
Co-organized and presented by Lakehead University's Faculty of Business Students' Association (FoBSA).
This event is free and open to students of all genders.
Moderator
Aimee Palmer
VP Sales | NEI Investments
Aimee is the Vice President, Sales at NEI Investments / Aviso Wealth and supports advisors in varying capacities. She brings more than 13 years of experience in business ownership, senior leadership and marketing in different sectors. Her strengths include building successful teams with a focus on client acquisition, holistic planning and business growth strategies. Aimee held a corporate role developing recruiting systems and collaborating on regional events geared towards attracting more women to the advisor role.
Since joining WCM, she has received invaluable professional development and hopes to bring the same opportunities to the women in the WCM Prairies Chapter. As a founding Co-Chair, she will help facilitate local and national initiatives that engage and support the development of women in various roles in the finance industry.
Panel
June Zimmer
Regional President, Prairies | BMO Private Wealth Canada
June has been a long-time leader and advocate for women in our industry. She is a passionate advocate for women in the industry and works hard to facilitate opportunities for women to gain access, opportunity and ongoing success in the industry. In her current role as Regional President with BMO Private Wealth, June supports women in a variety of roles across Canada.
She has been recognized as a national leader for her professional work and advocacy both and the firm and industry levels. As a mentor to many, she is acutely aware of the challenges and obstacles that exist, and recognizes that allyship and sponsorship are key to opening doors along the way. Through her involvement with WCM across Canada, she has seen first-hand the benefit of WCM connections, relationships and programming.
She is passionate to expand the reach of WCM, and is the founding Co-Chair of the Canadian Prairies chapter, working to empower women across Canada with the opportunities to excel in their respective careers in finance and capital markets.
Pooja Gurrala
Investment Counsellor | Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel
Pooja has over 15 years of experience in the financial services industry and over 10 years of experience in Wealth Management. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree along with the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.Pooja is a Private Client Investment Counsellor at Dixon Mitchell, where she looks after individual clients and families by helping them identify, assess, and fulfill their investment objectives. She is passionate about developing enduring, collaborative relationships with clients where she seeks to understand their essential needs and financial goals.
Pooja is also the proud recipient of the 2022 WCM Emerging Leaders award and the 2022 Wealth Professional Rising Star award.
Sophia Lee
District Vice President | Manulife Investment Management - Retail Sales
Sophia joined Manulife Investments as an Internal Wholesaler in 2015. During her 8 years at Manulife, Sophia graduated from the company’s Wholesaler Development Program and was awarded Internal Wholesaler of the Year in 2019.
Most recently, she was promoted to the role of District Vice President. Previously, Sophia served as Hybrid Wholesaler, a new role at Manulife balancing the demands of a traditional wholesaler with the flexibility of working remotely.
For the past 3 years, Sophia was a speaker at Manulife’s national segregated fund conferences, performing live demonstrations on the company’s new digital tools.
Prior to joining Manulife, Sophia worked at two large investment management firms. Having spent time working in administration, event planning and working with both investment and insurance products, Sophia’s 13 years of experience in the industry make her a highly valuable business partner.
