Cindy was named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women of 2020 in the “BMO Entrepreneurs” category.
The 2020 Canada’s Most Powerful Women, Top 100 Award Winners list, was released by Women’s Executive Network (WXN) today, recognizing 106 outstanding women across Canada who advocate for workforce diversity and inspire tomorrow’s leaders. The BMO Entrepreneurs category award recognizes recognizes female founders who are growing their businesses while navigating challenging circumstances during the pandemic.
Cindy started her career in the finance at 21, where she was often asked if she was applying for administrative roles instead of the advisor roles she was actually there for. From the beginning, she was determined to rise in a male-dominated field at the helm of her own business, and ultimately change the industry by joining various groups and advocating for transformation.
Her journey to independence as the President and Estate Planner at Cindy David Financial Group Ltd. started over a decade ago. “Then, I was an independent consultant specializing in insurance and estate planning at Raymond James Ltd. During that time, I became the only person in Canadian history to negotiate simultaneous contracts with Canada’s largest, competing, non-bank owned securities firms and qualify consistently for Chairman’s Council (ranking production in the top 30 of over 500 advisors). I decided I wanted to build and grow my own firm, and embarked on my first mission: developing Raymond James’ independent contractor structure. Transforming their employee-employer relationship has enabled me and many behind me to launch my own firm. From there, I developed a unique home office approach to estate planning and insurance advice, creating a niche within the industry.”
In addition to providing exceptional service to clients across Vancouver, Cindy advocates for business, female entrepreneurs, seniors, and youth. She currently sits on three boards including National Board for Junior Achievement, the Insurance Council of British Columbia appointed by BC Minister of Finance Carole James, and in May 2020, she was elected chair of the board of the Conference for Advanced Life Underwriting (CALU) — only the third woman in 30 years to hold this position.
As part of the National Board for Junior Achievement program, which teaches kids about financial literacy and entrepreneurialism, she’s working to digitize the program’s curriculum to ensure it is ready for new innovations and can adapt to industry changes. Her goal is to make the JA Canada fiscally strong enough to double their programs and be able to adopt the digital strategy required to survive as an organization in the future.
Before becoming chair this year, Cindy had an impressive resume with CALU, lobbying government to change federal income tax legislation in 2017. Going forward, she will continue her work to protect small businesses and in particular, women in business with a specific goal of helping more women become advisors in her field.
Cindy will be attending the two-day virtual leadership summit Wednesday and Thursday where she’ll be a host for an Ask The Expert Roundtable.
For a full list of winners, please visit: https://wxnetwork.com/page/top100awards.
About WXN
Women’s Executive Network (WXN), a member-based organization, is Canada’s #1 and only national organization that meaningfully propels and celebrates the advancement of women at all levels, in all sectors, and of all ages. WXN delivers this advancement through training, events, mentoring, networking, and award and recognition programs for members and partners.
Launched in 2003, the Top 100 Awards celebrate the incredible accomplishments of Canada’s leading female executive talent as well as their organizations and networks. The awards serve to recognize talented leaders in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors as well as inspire the current and next generation of women to push the boundaries of what’s possible. The winners are selected by WXN’s Diversity Council of Canada.
