Page 32 - CCCA 243725 Magazine_Winter 2015

{ FeatuRe }

“ the most effective executives think

about their roles as fduciaries and
in service to the organization, its Bankers, a national association made up of global bankers who
shareholder and clients. our training as serve as country heads for their respective internationally head-
lawyers teaches us to do this. My legal quartered banking/fnancial institutions operating in the U.S.
”
She has found the collegial group to be a source of constant
training has been invaluable. learning.

Since becoming a leader at CIBC, accountable for people
and business leadership through the fnancial crisis on both diverSity and incluSion
sides of the border. management, Jennifer is convinced that the discussion of di-
Having proven her broader talents with a wide audience of versity is critical to how the bank manages its talent and how
business leaders and other functional peers, she spoke up and it performs.
asked for another stretch opportunity at the bank—landing the CIBC’s President and CEO Victor Dodig is personally com-
role she has today. mitted to diversity for “all the right reasons,” she says. “”CIBC was
selected as one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers in 2015, for
the challengeS and opportunitieS the ffth consecutive year, and has committed to advancing the
It was not enough to be a strong lawyer and leader to qualify her representation of women at the executive level and on boards.”
for her current role. Jennifer had to take and pass a series of Fi- CIBC has put a real spotlight on discussing and eliminating
nancial Industry Regulatory Authority securities exams. “I stud- unconscious bias in the organization.
ied like mad and went through 12 hours of exams!” she recalls.
Even then, she was initially apprehensive about the move: FroM gc to ceo
“It’s a big, deep, complex marketplace here in the U.S. I saw that Although it is still rare for GCs to become CEOs, a strong case
as a tremendous challenge.” can be made for this transition in fnancial services, where there
CIBC’s acquisition of Atlantic Trust, a U.S.-based private is a heavy regulatory accountability. More broadly, Jennifer be-
wealth management company, closed on January 1, 2014—the lieves that legal training is an excellent foundation for any CEO:
very day Jennifer offcially moved to New York. She was charged “The most effective executives think about their roles as fdu-
with bringing onboard a national frm with 350 employees and ciaries and in service to the organization, its shareholder and
ensuring a good working relationship with a new regulator to clients. Our training as lawyers teaches us to do this. My legal
the bank, the Offce of the Comptroller of the Currency. Right training has been invaluable.”
away she was put to the test as a leader. She rolled up her sleeves Jennifer Warren is an inspiring example of someone who
and got to work with the Chief Administrative Offcer of the continually looks for new opportunities, even those that take
Wealth Business and the CEO of Atlantic Trust to ensure the her outside her GC role. Her path upwards is marked by hav-
success of this important acquisition. Today the business has ing the drive to seek out and meet new challenges head on. A
been successfully integrated, and Jennifer now serves on the At- Stepping Stone indeed! ❚
lantic Trust Board and as Chair of the Audit Committee.
In addition to her signifcant leadership responsibilities
within the bank, Jennifer has broadened her external industry Kirby Chown is the former Ontario Regional Managing Partner for McCarthy
profle. She considers it an advantage to have been invited to Tétrault. Carrie Mandel is a lawyer and consultant at Spencer Stuart, and part
of the North American Legal, Compliance & Regulatory Practice, which she
join the Executive Committee of the Institute of International leads in Canada.

32 CCCA MAgAzInE | WIntEr 2015 HIVEr