Portrait
FROM: JUL-AUG 2004 ISSUE
Template for Effectiveness
John Carpenter, FCGA, and the executive director of CGA Alberta since 1995, has a long and active history with the Association.
He has served on numerous committees, on the board of CGA Alberta, and was designated to be the CGA Alberta president for 1992-93, but was transferred to Ontario by his employer, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) that year. During his time in Ontario, he worked on the CGA Ontario Strategic Planning Committee. Carpenter has also done committee and task force work for CGA-Canada, and is currently involved in CGA-Canada’s strategic planning process. He is chair of the CGA Online Services Corporation — the group developing a portal site for CGA affiliates to share content and services.
Carpenter was appointed to the Financial Planners Standards Council board at its inception by CGA-Canada, became chair, and was appointed to the international Certified Financial Planners Council, which became the Financial Planning Standards Board (FPSB). He was named the first chair of FPSB.
An FCGA since 1996, Carpenter worked for CIBC for 20 years in a variety of positions, most recently as a regional manager, corporate business development. “I became a CGA in 1987 because the program provided the most appropriate set of competencies for the work I wanted to do,” he says.
Carpenter, who holds a BA in Psychology from Wilfrid Laurier University and is a Fellow of the Institute of Canadian Bankers, grew up in St. Catharines, Ontario, and moved to Alberta with his wife in 1979. The couple lived in Edmonton, Grande Cache, and Calgary before returning to Ontario for three years.
“I take great pride in being a CGA, and in CGA Alberta’s board, staff, and volunteers,” says Carpenter. “CGA Alberta is uniquely effective among professional bodies and other not-for-profit organizations: so much so that several other organizations have used our model as a template. We speak of ourselves as “leaders in business” and that is an absolutely true statement,” he states emphatically.
CGA Alberta’s principal areas of focus this year are the redevelopment of the CGA brand in Alberta, and taking member growth to a new level. “Our brand is well known, but not sufficiently differentiated relative to our competitors,” says Carpenter. CGA Alberta is actively addressing the branding issue, and aims to increase membership admissions by more than 50 per cent in three to five years.
Carpenter and his wife, Helen, have been married for 24 years and have two adult children. An avid hiker and skier, Carpenter is also passionate about football and hockey. “I have always wanted to pursue an MBA and I will begin doing so this fall. I also love reading and I have written an outline for a novel that I may even finish someday,” he muses.
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A First for CGA-Newfoundland and Labrador
Gary Burgess, CGA, is proud to be the first chief operating officer (COO) of CGA-Newfoundland and Labrador. He joined the Association as the director of student services in February 2001 and became COO in July of that year.
Three years later, Burgess says he is pleased with a number of accomplishments. “I appreciate having the opportunity to contribute to the growth and development of the Association,” he says.
“We are working at increasing the image of the designation throughout the region with the Atlantic Image Enhancement Initiative, and to increase the number of public practitioners in our area. Our total membership has increased by more than 48 per cent in the past seven years and we are currently implementing an intensive student recruitment campaign,” he continues.
Burgess started working in the accounting field as an auditor with the provincial department of the auditor general in 1975. He then became chief accountant at Wabush Mines in 1979; chief accountant with BP Canada Inc. at Hope Brook Gold in 1986; chief accountant at Abitibi Price Inc. in 1990; and chief accountant at Richmont Mines Inc. from 1996-2001.
“People are often surprised to hear that I have spent most of my career working in the mining industry in rural Newfoundland and Labrador,” he says with a smile. “But in the past, I played an integral part in coordinating and developing systems to assist in the construction and operation of two successful gold mining operations — in fact, the first two gold mines in the province,” he adds.
A CGA since 2000, Burgess has lived in Newfoundland all his life, with the exception of one year in Ottawa. Originally from Carbonear, he currently resides in St. John’s. He holds a bachelor of commerce degree from Memorial University and is currently completing a bachelor of education.
He has been married to Janet for more than 27 years and the couple has two grown children, Melanie, 25, and Andrea, 22. “I find balance by spending time with my family and playing the occasional round of golf,” says Burgess.
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