The Fund is a community-led registered Canadian charitable organization that aims to help black communities reach greater economic and social success. Silvestre said it was launched with the public support of 51 black leaders, including financial institutions and investment firms. This includes Michael Williams, Richardson’s senior vice president and chief risk officer, who is also part of Richardson’s Black Employee Resource Group.
Richardson’s donation is part of the fund’s capital raising so it can prioritize education, health care, youth, women, social justice, arts, culture, immigration, technology, entrepreneurship, and government initiatives that improve the quality of life of the black community. affect.
“This is a group of people who are passionate about finding different ways to end anti-black racism,” Silvestre said. “But, I really like the concept that it’s a permanent pool of capital to fund many different opportunities. They also want to support a number of existing organizations that are already involved in the community, but They may need support. Therefore, we look forward to continuing to contribute to such efforts as a firm.”
Richardson’s Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer Lynn Brejak said the firm has taken several initiatives, but with recent ownership changes, “there’s been a lot of traction and focus over the past six to 12 months.” Not only does it have Black Employee Resource Groups, but there are LGBTQ and environmental groups, and it’s offering more.
Women are the main focus, she said, because “one of the things we’re really seeing is that 30% of our investment advisor population will be female in the next five years.” He is excited about it because women comprise 40% of his executives and he wants to see what he needs to do to attract more women and make them grow in the firm.
