News — News Releases & Articles
Centre of Excellence in Financial Services Education Appoints First Executive Director
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Please Contact: Brian Smith, tel. (416) 822‐3130
TORONTO, December 16, 2009 – The Toronto Financial Services Alliance
(TFSA) today announced that Dr. Catherine Chandler-Crichlow has been
appointed Executive Director of the newly established Centre of Excellence in
Financial Services Education (COE), effective immediately.
Dr. Chandler-Crichlow has more than 30 years of talent development experience
specializing in the areas of executive and leadership development; curriculum
development and implementation; technology-mediated distance learning and
program evaluation.
“The COE needs strong leadership – particularly now, in its early days,” said
TFSA President Janet Ecker. “We are delighted that we have recruited such a
fine candidate to launch this initiative and bring focus to the talent needs of
Toronto’s financial services sector.”
Establishing a centre of excellence in financial services education was a key
recommendation of the TFSA’s landmark report, “Talent Matters,” which warned
that a lack of critical talent will continue to grow unless steps are taken to attract,
develop and retain people with specialized skills. The government of Ontario
embraced the recommendation and pledged $4 million over three years to
establish the centre.
The COE, which is intended to act as a catalyst for sector-wide collaboration, will:
• Act as a research and information aggregator;
• Facilitate exchanges between employers and educators to enhance the
focus and quality of educational offerings;
• Partner with others to help attract local and global talent to the region.
“This is an exciting challenge for me,” said Dr. Chandler-Crichlow. “I look forward
to bringing together stakeholders from the financial services sector, government
and the educational community to make the most of Toronto Region’s ‘people’
advantage.
“Toronto has an international reputation for the quality of its workforce,” she
added. “The level of education, including specialized designations, the diversity
of our community, and the sophistication of the businesses themselves – all of
this provides us with comparative advantage, and the COE will help us maintain
our leadership.”
About Dr. Chandler-Crichlow
Catherine Chandler-Crichlow worked as an Associate Vice President – Education
and Training at TD Bank Financial Group. She then served as an executive and
leadership development advisor to a number of international agencies such as
the Toronto International Leadership Centre for Financial Sector Supervision, an
international financial sector development initiative funded by the Government of
Canada, the World Bank and the IMF. She has overseen the design,
development, delivery and evaluation of capacity building programs for financial
sector supervisors in countries such as Brazil, Malaysia, Poland, Singapore and
Trinidad and Tobago and also played a key role in the development of leadership
programs for international financial sector supervisory associations. She also
held curriculum advisory roles with educational and training institutions locally
and internationally.
She has consulted to international agencies such as the World Bank, The Central
Bank of Trinidad & Tobago, and the Securities and Exchange Commission of
Malaysia and has extensive experience in the private sector and advises leaders
on organizational change and staff development. She has conducted high-level
needs analyses for both industry sectors and large organizations for the
development of integrated education and training curricula designed to meet the
learning needs of diverse stakeholder groups.
Dr. Chandler-Crichlow holds a Doctorate in Education degree from the University
of Toronto – Canada (Ontario Graduate Fellowship), a Masters in Education
degree from Harvard University – USA (Fellowship from the Organization of
American States - OAS) and a Diploma in Education as well as a Bachelor of
Science degree (Honours) from the University of the West Indies – Trinidad and
Tobago. She is an author on human capacity development and a frequent
speaker on human capacity development at international conferences. and internationally.