IN BANKING AND FINANCE

Canadian Immigrant presents our tenth annual ‘Immigrant Women of Inspiration’ special – this year, the spotlight is on immigrant women who are contributing to strengthening the Canadian banking and financial sector.

Every spring, in recognition of International Women’s Day, March 8, Canadian Immigrant spotlights women of inspiration in different fields. This year, we feature women in finance and banking who have embraced their position of influence to make a positive impact on our economy. While these women come from diverse cultural backgrounds, and even generations, they all have inspirational stories — and advice — about pursuing their passion and have committed to leading and inspiring others to do more!

Here are the journeys of Haiping Fu, Juliet ‘Kego Ume-Onyido, Souzan Esmaili, Ranjini Jha and Mehrsa Raeiszadeh.

By Rita Simonetta, Vivien Fellegi and Lisa Evans

me,” says Fu. “He worked so hard to make a good living for his family.”

Seizing opportunities

Haiping Fu’s successful career in the banking and finance sector began decades ago in China. The 41-yearold was born and raised on the island of Hainan, which was far removed from the hustle and bustle of neighbouring cities.

To provide a bright future for his five children, her father worked in business and trading, which involved extensive travel throughout China and time away from home.

“My father was always a big influence on

She was also inspired by her father’s affinity for new experiences.

“When he would return, I was always so excited to hear his stories, to meet his new friends and to receive the gifts and toys that were not available on the island where I grew up. So, in a way, my father planted the seed for my growth in the outside world.”

In time, Fu seized the opportunity to explore the outside world. Her cousin moved to Saint John to study at the University of New Brunswick. And once Fu graduated high school, she wanted to follow suit.

It was a big step, but her father was her most ardent supporter. “He said ‘go for it!’”

Those words have served as a guiding philosophy throughout her life. “I believe if I didn’t have this encouragement and support, I wouldn’t be who I am today.”

It’s also what convinced her to persevere as a new immigrant to Canada faced with the challenges of learning a new language and culture all while far from home and family.

At the University of New Brunswick, Fu earned her Bachelor of Business Administration. “I was always good at numbers,” she says, adding that her degree allowed her to combine her interest in math and business.

After graduation, Fu embarked on a journey of change and growth – she worked her way up the banking and finance sectors in Halifax, Calgary, and then in Saint John, New Brunswick, where she also completed her MBA.

“When I was presented with opportunities, I didn’t let them pass me by,” she recalls. “At the time, I had no idea where I would end up – many of us don’t, but I kept growing and preparing for ongoing learning.”

In January 2018, she joined RBC as an investment advisor, and she’s never looked back.

“It’s the best decision I have ever made. My team is now the biggest Chinese investment advisor group in the Atlantic Region. I am proud to be the only female Chinese-speaking investment advisor to serve my clients in Atlantic Canada.”

The mother of a young son, she finds time to volunteer at Imperial Theatre, a performing arts venue in Saint John. As a member of the Imperial Theatre Ambassador program, which is supported by RBC, Fu helps connect newcomers to the performing arts.

“The Ambassador Program is a wonderful way for me to share history and culture with new arrivals and to help other immigrants form meaningful relationships and feel that sense of belonging that I do.”

Providing a sense of belonging also extends to her role as an associate wealth and investment advisor with RBC. She says that throughout her career, she’s had the opportunity to meet many new immigrants and realized that regardless of their level of wealth, most felt insecure about their financial health and their future. But she also knew she could make a positive difference.

“I learned how financial security and independence can have an amazing impact on people’s lives, especially women,” she says. “I developed a desire to help my clients financially achieve what is important to them in their life and to help them along the way when they are embracing their new life in Canada. And I always feel more accomplished in the process than anything else I do. Fortunately, by helping others to achieve their dreams, and as a woman, I have also reached my own financial independence.” – By Rita Simonetta.

Juliet ‘Kego Ume-Onyido has always been curious about the lives of the women around her. But, growing up in Nigeria, a country filled with women professionals and yet dogged by patriarchal norms, a lot of their stories were about entrapment.

‘Kego, fortunately, was born into a progressive family. Her father nurtured her potential, “He gave me wings to fly.” Both ‘Kego’s grandmothers opened their own businesses after they were widowed. Her paternal grandmother once slapped a customer who tried to squirm out of his debt. “This was a woman who stood up for her rights,” says ‘Kego. “[She] inspired me.” After high school, ‘Kego entered the maledominated field of electrical engineering.

But when ‘Kego was 28 years old. political instability swept through Nigeria, and she and her family decided to immigrate to Canada.

After arriving in Toronto, ‘Kego embarked on a Master of Engineering Program at the University of Toronto. But she couldn’t juggle the demands of the courses with the needs of her children, so she quit the program to work in the more flexible financial sector. But as ‘Kego shelved her dreams, she felt herself slowly slip away. By the time she hit her early 30s, she was just “going through the motions of life,” she says.

‘Kego turned to personal coaching to reclaim her identity. Her mentors encouraged her to use poetry as a tool, and, as she began writing and performing her works, she found her way back to herself. Poetry distilled her essence, she says. “It allowed me to be me.”

Building a new community was also healing. After befriending another Nigerian woman, Diana Barikor, who felt similarly lost, the duo vowed to take charge of their lives. They began going on daily walks and were soon joined by other immigrant women. Together they shared advice about relationships, finances and healthy living.

As the women made strides in each of these areas, they decided to formalize this process of empowerment. ‘Kego and the others pooled their money in an indigenous financial model known as a Rotating Savings and Credit Association (ROSCA). In this system, the group collects a fixed amount of money each month, and each of the members receives the pot on a rotating basis. Whole Woman Network (WWN) was officially launched in 2010, and theatres, beauty salons and virtual platforms welcomed these speakers for workshops on topics ranging from fashion to personal transformation.

Soon, the WWN gained an international following, and women in trouble worldwide began reaching out for help. Most lacked the financial resources to leave situations of domestic violence. The WWN drew on their ROSCAs to loan them money or give them grants to start their own businesses and free them from psychological captivity.

As ‘Kego worked to liberate these women from their circumstances, she thought coaching could help them peel away the layers of societal expectations holding them back. “Something had happened for them to believe they were not worthy,” says ‘Kego. The lack of financial agency also put them in harm’s way. Recognizing the influence of these factors, ‘Kego acquired multiple certifications in personal and leadership coaching, as well as in financial literacy. Today these courses are the mainstay of the WWN. ‘Kego puts her own spin on the programs, using poetry to help clients recover their voices, and enroll them in leadership classes where they learn to become their own guides.

Today, ‘Kego is thriving. She has completed an MBA from the Alliance Manchester Business School and is currently working full-time as a financial advisor for Sun Life Canada.

She also has a new, exciting venture she joined in 2021: the Banker Ladies. This is a Federation of women who run ROSCAs and are educating the government and financial institutions to create legal frameworks to make ROSCAs safe and effective to practice.

But ‘Kego’s biggest satisfaction is changing lives through the WWN, where she continues to volunteer. One recent coaching client, immigrant Bilkisu Umar, credits ‘Kego for helping her transform her love of cooking into a successful business, Elsutra Foods, whose products have landed on the shelves of over 30 stores across Canada. “I celebrate and appreciate (‘Kego),” says Umar in a testimonial.

This kind of happy ending fuels ‘Kego’s sense of optimism. “It reminds me why I do what I do,” she says. – By

Vivien Fellegi.

Souzan Esmaili

For many women in business, it’s common to find a personal connection that has led them to their chosen field. For Souzan Esmaili, the motivation for pursuing a career in financial anti-crime came from an event that happened before she was even born.

Esmaili’s family were victims of an act of terrorism. During the Iranian Revolution, a 17-year-old armed with an assault rifle entered her aunt’s home during a family gathering and opened fire, instantly killing Esmaili’s grandfather, uncle and aunt. “It had a really traumatic effect on my family,” she says.

While she didn’t initially seek out the field of anti-crime – Esmaili studied computer science and business – her work led her to discover its importance. Esmaili was working for an insurance broker right out of school. The company got fined and started a compliance division.

“When I started to educate myself around the topic, I got more and more understanding that it is important for every one of us to be able to identify and find out how we can stop terrorism and money laundering.” When she realized crimes like what had happened to her family were so deeply tied to finance and could be stopped before they happened, she decided this was what she was meant to do.

Financial crime was also intriguing to Esmaili due to the constant need for education. “It’s a field that you really need to be on top of. There are a lot of changes that happen very frequently and significantly.” On a daily basis, regulations change, or a new type of scam emerges.

“It’s constant and never-ending learning. To keep up with the bad guys you have to keep learning. They become very creative, and their creativity motivates us to try harder to stop them,” she says.

Esmaili never stopped learning. She earned an MBA from the American University of Sharjah, a Post Graduate Diploma in GTC from Manchester Business School, a Certificate in Anti Money Laundering, a FinTech Program Certificate from Oxford University and a Chainalysis Cryptocurrency Fundamentals Certification.

For 18 years, Esmaili worked for several firms in Dubai building their compliance framework, but when she immigrated to Canada in May 2019, she had a hard time finding a position. “They all told me that I was overqualified or that I don’t have Canadian experience,” she says. “It took me six months and 70 job applications to find my first job.”

During her exhausting job hunt, Esmaili took a break from sending out resumes and attended industry events, meeting others in the financial sector and continuing to learn. Esmaili summarized the events she attended and shared them on LinkedIn.

In October 2019, Esmaili decided to start TCAE (Toronto Compliance & AML Enterprise). It began as a hobby, with the goal of creating a community of professionals in the financial field and educating them on anti-crime and compliance.

Shortly after, in December of 2019, she started her first job in Canada at Wells Fargo, working on their anti-bribery and corruption program for Canada and Latin America.

When the pandemic hit in March 2020, Esmaili began organizing training sessions with TCAE on Saturdays, her day off, bringing in speakers from around the world. “On the first, call we had about 80 people. By the fourth call, we had over 200 people on the call who came from over 90 different countries,” she says.

After 13 months at Wells Fargo, Esmaili resigned to incorporate TCAE and decided to devote herself to the the company. TCAE has now held over 70 knowledge sessions and has a staff of over 20 volunteers from around the world. “So far we’ve educated more than 400 people in the financial community,” she says. TCAE has partnered with one of the biggest companies in the cryptocurrency space to educate on the risks of crypto and partnered with Seneca College to provide education on crypto compliance.

Esmaili is also passionate about speaking with newcomers to Canada. TCAE even has a newcomer program, a seven-week mentorship program to help newcomers in Canada in Regulatory Financial Crime and Crypto Compliance find their first job in Canada.

She tells other newcomers that the experience and knowledge they have in their home countries is not lost once they arrive in Canada. “It’s not that you had it in your home country, and you have to start from zero. It has a value.” – By

Lisa Evans.