Welcome back! I sincerely hope you enjoyed some leisure time over the summer months with your family and friends.

Shortly before we departed for our summer break, our Board approved a new three-year strategic plan. This plan is anchored around our North Star: “To enhance and expand our diverse community to promote an ethical, dynamic, and vibrant investment and financial services industry.” The foundation of our plan will be three strategic pillars, each containing key initiatives that will allow us to achieve our growth objectives as we remain firmly focused on the North Star.

Member Experience is at the forefront of our strategic priorities

Our 11,000+ member community is dynamic and diverse across different demographic cohorts, roles, and sectors within the industry. We need to offer members a highly personalized and increasingly digital experience that resonates with how you want to grow in your career, expand your professional learning, and engage with us. We will be enhancing our current offerings and introducing new programs in new learning formats on topics that are of the highest interest to members. We will also look to online community platforms as a way for members to engage with each other and make connections to further enrich your careers. Our goal is to ensure that your membership with CFA Society Toronto is both valuable and fulfilling.

Influence and Impact is our commitment to being a thought leader and driving force in the finance and investment industry

Over the next three years, we will grow our reach and audience across all our traditional and digital platforms: social media, the e-newsletter, The Analyst, and our website. Last year, we had tremendous success in attracting new followers to our LinkedIn company profile, and now over 13,000 followers are engaging on this platform. We will build on this success and introduce non-event content programming through digital media, such as video, podcasts, and infographics, among others. We will amplify our leadership position by collaborating with strategically aligned partners on programs and events. Additionally, we are in preliminary discussions with professional learning partners to curate course and certificate offerings for you to enhance your skills and knowledge with special member-only pricing.

Operational Excellence is about refining our internal processes and embracing innovation to serve you better

We will enhance our service delivery and member interactions by improving our operational efficiencies and leveraging digital technologies. A key initiative in this area will be a significant refresh of our website, as that is still the primary mechanism through which members and non-members alike engage with us.

We will also be reimagining and enhancing our volunteer program and committee model to create more opportunities for you to get involved in the manner you choose, with a range of opportunities from micro-volunteering to project volunteers to short-term task force members or as part of our Strategic Advisor Committees and Sub-Committees.

Our commitment to you is two-fold:  

• Providing you with an exceptional, industry-leading experience that provides tangible value
• Reinforcing the strength and collegiality of our community

Your engagement and involvement are crucial to our success, and we look forward to working collaboratively with you as we embark on this new chapter in our history.