Meghan Shannon Kwaskochathikis often says, “I am the first generation in my Indigenous family not to have attended a residential school.” Kwaskochathikis comes from a family filled with educators, but she was the outlier who went into economics. That provided an ideal background to support her career aspirations, and today she works as a senior relationship manager on the Indigenous Markets team at CIBC.
Based in Vancouver, Kwaskochathikis helps Indigenous clients navigate their Indigenous Trust needs, while also working closely with the bank’s Indigenous commercial banking team. Trusts are used by a wide variety of clients to manage wealth on behalf of a larger number of people. Trusts are also used by many First Nations communities as a way of independently managing their finances, which in the past were often controlled by governments.
“My primary role is being the first point of contact for the nation, for the beneficiaries, acting as a liaison between the community and the bank,” says Kwaskochathikis. CIBC, she notes, has greatly expanded its work in this area in recent years. “When the Indigenous Markets team was established, they really decided to commit to changing how we work with and for Indigenous communities,” she says.
“Once a community has set up a legal trust,” she adds, “we help them develop strategies, policies and governance, and so we’re really there to partner with them to help transition their ambitions into tangible action within the community.”
Kwaskochathikis is Cree and born in Saskatchewan, but grew up in the Parksville area of Vancouver Island and graduated from the University of Victoria in 2012. After working in various roles involving the Indigenous community, including at a major professional services firm, she was approached by CIBC in 2019.
“The bank gave me a seat at the table by hiring me at a senior-level position,” she says. “It speaks to CIBC’s commitment to reconciliation, because it’s one thing to hire Indigenous people but it’s another thing to hire Indigenous people in positions of influence. We are in those conversations, to participate in the changing narrative of how Indigenous communities are supported by our financial institutions.”
At CIBC’s headquarters in Toronto, Hugh Smylie, who is Métis, feels much the same way. Smylie is vice-president, Retail Product and Channel Support Services, and he is directly involved with his community as executive sponsor of the CIBC Indigenous Employee Circle (IEC), one of 10 employee-led people networks at the bank.
“Our vision for this people network is to enrich CIBC’s culture through promoting awareness of Indigenous history, lived experiences and culture to all employees, guided by truth and reconciliation,” he says.
The IEC has been active in educating colleagues about Indigenous history and culture through a series of initiatives, events and talking circles. In preparation for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, CIBC launched the Four Seasons of Reconciliation training for all Canadian employees, developed in partnership with First Nations University of Canada and Reconciliation Education.
The bank also created a Reconciliation Action Committee last June, co-chaired by Lisa Raitt, vice-chair of Global Investment Banking, and Jaimie Lickers, vice-president of Indigenous Markets, to steward CIBC’s Reconciliation Framework.
Smylie says the IEC talking circles have been beneficial for him as someone who, due to the overt and systematic racism experienced by his mother and maternal grandmother, did not directly engage with Indigenous culture growing up. “One of the things that really helped me, just processing all of this, is that I’m not alone,” he says. “It’s amazing how many people have a similar story to mine.”
