NON SOLIS NOBIS: THE STRENGTH IN NUMBERS

Our members are not just advisors, they are community leaders who are connected to so many communities across Canada. Passionate volunteers are our most powerful advocacy tool: building relationships with policymakers and elected officials in their community to demonstrate the importance of our work and the need for meaningful policy impact. We are making a positive difference for our clients across the country, and you – the Advocis member – are the most important component. This session will discuss our grassroots-focused advocacy strategy and the power of our membership network when applied to move policy forward.

Kris is the principal of Eagle Insurance Agency Limited and has 50 years of industry experience.

He is a past National Chair for Advocis and The Institute for Advanced Financial Education.

He served six years on the Board of the Financial Planners Standards Council. Currently, he chairs the Advocis National Government Relations Committee, and is a steward of the Century Initiative Fund. He is a charter member of CALU and a platinum member of the Century Initiative. Kris was an inaugural winner of the J.G. Taylor Award, and the Ottawa Chapter’s John Goebbels Award of Merit.

Kris served the United Way as a member of the Campaign Cabinet and Board of Directors and was the Founding Chair of the United Way’s Endowment Fund. He is a past President of Christie Lake Kids, and a past member of the Board of the Charlotte Birchard Centres of Early Learning. He is also the past Chair of the Tawingo Alumni Circle and Past Chair of Perley Health Community of Care, one of the largest and most progressive long-term care homes in Ontario, and a centre for research, education, and clinical innovation. Kris is a recipient of the United Way’s Community Builder Award.

Kris is married to Nancy, a retired schoolteacher, and has two adult children Ben: an actor/musician/producer living in Toronto and Heather, an environmental scientist/regulator with Health Canada. He has three grandchildren: Ella, Isaac and Cleo.

Speaker

Trevor has been practicing as a financial advisor for nearly ten years, having joined Sun Life in March of 2014. Trevor achieved his CLU in 2019 and CFP in 2021 and currently holds out as a Financial Planner under the “Financial Professionals Title Protection Act.”

Trevor Joined Advocis in 2021, and currently holds the board position for the Provincial Advocacy Committee (PAC) for the Toronto Chapter.

Trevor lives in Toronto’s downtown core and is a Toronto sport and music enthusiast. When not in Toronto, he can be found with his dog “Ruby” at his family farm on Upper Rideau Lake.

Sara has been serving clients as a financial advisor since 2009. At SPM Financial, she helps clients achieve their financial goals with personalized, professional service. Sara chairs the Institute’s Standards and Accreditation Committee, is Vice-Chair and treasurer of the board of trustees and is a member of the Advocis Legal and Regulatory Policy committee. She played a key role in her local Advocis chapter and served as Toronto Chapter President from 2015-2017. A proud member of CALU, she sits on their Government Relations Committee.

Sara is an experienced board director and financial services executive. Sara has served as a board member of for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, including Toronto Hydro and the University of Toronto Governing Council Business Board, and has been named to the Diversity 50 by the Canadian Board Diversity Council.

She successfully completed the Rotman Directors Education Program and holds the ICD.D designation. Sara is a member of Governance Professionals Canada and is a faculty member of the GPC.D program, having collaborated in the design and launch of the designation program. Sara has held senior leadership roles in the Canadian Financial Services sector and is currently a member of RBC’s Sustainability Team where she leads Human Rights and Sustainability initiatives.

Most recently she was an officer of Concentra Bank, where she led compliance and financial crime risk management teams and was a member of the Bank’s ESG/CSR Strategy Team. In a prior role Sara was Chief Compliance Officer for an insurer, and she has helped shape public policy through material contributions as a committee member at the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association, the Canadian Association of Financial Institutions in Insurance, and the Canadian Bankers Association.

Sara is no stranger to Advocis. From 2003 to 2008 she held the staff position of Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and earned a strong reputation for her critical thinking and her ability to build strategic relationships, successfully leading a number of key initiatives, including Advocis’ intervention in a landmark Supreme Court of Canada constitutional law challenge.

Sara obtained her undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto and attended Queen’s University for Law School. She is a lawyer, and also holds a Master’s degree in International Law from Cambridge University, and an MBA from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. She completed the Osgoode Hall Law School Certificate in Legal & Regulatory Risk Management for Financial Institutions, and has been a faculty member of the certificate program since 2013. She is a frequent speaker at conferences, including the Northwind Financial Services Invitational Forum, and is a past lecturer at the Rotman School of Management and Queen’s Law School.

Sara shares her home with her spouse and their two children, as well as their Leonberger, Golden Retriever, and Bengal Leopard cat. Her passions include travel and skiing, and she is a long-standing member of the Toronto International Film Festival and a volunteer at Toronto’s Out of the Cold Program.