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Storytelling, Fundraising, & Social Impact: Exploring Leadership in the Non-Profit Sector with Seanna Millar

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Seanna Millar, Corporate & Community Partnerships, SickKids Foundation

Seanna Millar joined SickKids Foundation in 2004 and has held progressively senior roles over her career with the Foundation. In her current role as SVP, Corporate and Community Partnerships, Seanna is responsible for leading a broad fundraising portfolio including building multi-faceted partnerships with corporations and community stakeholders.

As a seasoned fundraiser, Seanna has developed her career at the Foundation over 17 years, cultivating gifts through philanthropic, cause marketing and sponsorship channels with Canada’s largest corporations, as well as driving revenue growth in the community partnerships and signature events portfolio.

Seanna is also an active community volunteer and currently serves on the boards of Young People’s Theatre, Parachute Canada and the Association of Fundraising Professionals Greater Toronto Chapter. She is an active runner and a proud mom of two teenagers.

Recently, Seanna sat down with Level5 Managing Partner Hua Yu to discuss her career path, her passion, and her perspective on women’s leadership.

Hua: How did you get interested in building a career with social impact?

Seanna: My upbringing really defined me. From a very young age, it was apparent to me that my parents were very involved in volunteerism, they were chairs of boards, and volunteers at many organizations and non-profits. They encouraged me to give back to our communities and society from an early age. In high school, I had a spare period on Friday afternoons, and my parents said, “Look, you need to use that time in a meaningful way.” I ended up taking American Sign Language with my mother and then volunteering in a classroom for children with hearing loss. Although I didn’t think of it as a profession at that time, it was clear to me that making a positive social impact was an important way to be part of a good society and a good community. It wasn’t until after university that I had the opportunity to get involved in a volunteer committee that was for a fundraising gala for Camp Oochgeas, a camp for children with cancer. I had no idea what I was doing, I was scared and out of my comfort zone, but it was a tremendous experience and I loved it. I asked the Chair of the gala, who at the time worked for the MS Society, “Do you think you could make a profession out of this?” And she said, “Actually, we’re hiring, why don’t you put in your application?” And that was the start of fundraising for me.

People say, “Fundraisers say they fall into their career, and it’s not a great way to talk about the profession. “But the truth is that I did fall into my career, and truly, when I opened that first check, I thought, “I’m getting paid for doing this? I would volunteer to do this.” That desire to contribute, and having that purpose is what gets me out of bed every day. I feel fortunate that what I do all day, whether it’s easy or hard, has a greater purpose to it; that’s been a great driving factor for me.

Hua: Asking people to give as a career is really a tough job that not many people are willing to take, what is it about fundraising that you love so much?

Seanna: It’s the impact you can have. My first job at the MS Society was true grassroots fundraising 101. I was a coordinator for the MS Read-a-Thon, a huge fundraising program for MS Society in schools across Canada where students collected funds and made contributions to help people living with MS. My first three months on the job were cold calling 1400 schools across the province of Ontario, so I got a first-hand experience picking up the phone and making the ask.

“Fundraising is really about storytelling in a way that makes an impact on people.”

At the end of the day, even as a senior fundraiser, this is the basic tenet of fundraising: Can you pick up the phone? Can you succinctly sell the mission that you are supporting? And, can you close the deal? I had to learn that very quickly. The next part of the job was going out on the road and presenting to these schools, essentially storytelling.

Fundraising is really about storytelling in a way that makes an impact on people. What is MS? What does the money do? And can you modify it for the audiences that you’re speaking to – in this case, for children aged 8-15. The next part of the job was counting every penny in those pledge forms. We would sit around this huge table, open every envelope and count every dollar. You can just imagine what grade school kids put in envelopes that they send back to the schools, with gum stuck to them and toys stuffed in the envelopes. It showed me the value of a penny, the value of a dollar, and how it all added up to raise millions of dollars for the MS Society.

Hua: Cold calling is an important professional skill, not just for non-profit fundraising. What do you think is the key to a successful cold call?

Seanna: I think part of being successful is, what’s your elevator pitch? Can you tell it in 30 seconds, and can it be compelling enough to move someone to either A, listen to you more or B, take a meeting with you? I’m lucky to work with an amazing brand at SickKids, where it’s rare that someone would hang up on me or say, “SickKids doesn’t do important work.” I have the benefit of being heard, which is great, and that’s again why brand building is so important.

As you start to work on bigger gifts, we move away from cold calling and encourage the engagement of volunteer networks. But we’re still doing it — cold-calling and cold-emailing. I even got a response to a cold reach out this morning. I still get that same rush of, “Oh my gosh, they responded! They’re going to at least hear our story.” You have to truly believe in the cause that you’re raising money for, and for me personally, healthcare and children have been the space that I feel most dedicated to.

Hua: Many of us aren’t familiar with what a career path in the non-profit space looks like, can you share what your professional journey in the space has been like?

Seanna: My start in some really great charities was helpful, at the MS Society and at Sunnybrook Foundation. I also had an opportunity when my mentor switched from the not-for-profit into the for-profit world and asked if I would consider applying for a role under her at Foresters, a financial services company with a huge CSR platform. While I loved giving away money to great charitable causes at Foresters, and supporting many children’s hospitals across North America, I didn’t feel the same connection to the cause. It was through that two-and-a-half-year experience at a for-profit that I realized my heart, and soul was in the not-for-profit world. It’s where I felt I belonged and where I felt I could do my most meaningful and purposeful work. That’s what took me back to SickKids Foundation, where I’ve been so fortunate to have grown over 17 years. There’s not a lot of people these days who can say they’ve stayed with an organization that long.

“I believe when you find an organization that aligns with your values and allows you to grow and learn, you don’t leave. SickKids attracts amazing people, both at the hospital and at the foundation. I have a huge passion for science and health care, and I am fueled by all the interactions I get to have at the hospital.”

I started my career at SickKids Foundation on the event side, working mostly with bereaved families who were hosting fundraising events, which was a very emotional role. Here are families who have lost their children, and yet they’re giving their heart and soul to hosting community events in support of SickKids, to keep the legacy of their children alive, and to ensure that other families don’t have to go through what they had gone through. I was very lucky in that role to feel a true connection to the cause, but after I had my own two children, I found the emotion a bit too difficult. I was really fortunate to be offered an opportunity to cross the fence into the corporate team. Even though at the time, the lateral move was challenging for me to make, it was the best decision I ever made in my career.

The new team provided me with a whole new skill set and an opportunity to build my career. One of the pieces of advice I give to my team when they are looking for career advancement is, “Look within the organization, we’re lucky at SickKids Foundation compared to many small non-profits.” There are moves laterally that you can make that will then impact your career long-term, and we shouldn’t discount the value of that type of opportunity.

I believe when you find an organization that aligns with your values and allows you to grow and learn, you don’t leave. SickKids attracts amazing people, both at the hospital and at the foundation. I have a huge passion for science and health care, and I am fueled by all the interactions I get to have at the hospital. At SickKids Foundation I get to be a solution strategist, I take the desires and needs of a corporation and match them with an area of the hospital in need of funding. At SickKids, we treat every single disease, we’ve got education, we’ve got research, we’ve got care, and all those opportunities have allowed me to stay constantly challenged to find the right solution for the partner in that moment.

I’ve also been very fortunate to have our CEO, Ted Garrard, who has been a tremendous mentor and has cultivated my career in such a wonderful way. I recall Ted saying to me at a time I was feeling hungry for a more senior position, “Seanna, I may not have a new position for you right at the time you want it, but if you trust me, I will continue to look for opportunities for growth for you.”  I always loved his openness to showing me that my career path was possible at SickKids, even if I might have to be patient at times.

Hua: You’ve been a leader in the fundraising space for some time now, how have you seen the landscape evolve?

Seanna: It is vastly different than when I started 17 years ago. I think a number of things have changed, and one is the value of the brand, brand building, and the storytelling. The value of storytelling en masse has become more important for charities. Through the work of our B Strategy and Communications team, SickKids has done an amazing job to galvanize the community at large in the power of what a donation to SickKids can do. It’s about helping people understand the impact giving has on the children, physicians, nurses and healthcare providers that they’re supporting. Secondly, the digital space has exploded in the last five to ten years in terms of how people want to engage with a charity, how they’re willing to make a donation, and how they want the ease of donations through an online platform.

On the corporate side, there has also been an evolution. Corporate giving used to be more of a check writing exercise, where one executive would write a check and pat someone else on the back to say, “I gave this here, and now you need to give to my charity of choice”. Now it is about a much more structured corporate social responsibility platform, where corporations have had to say, “What do we really believe in? What are the values we have as an organization, and what do we want to communicate to our employees?” Now, with more rigorous mandates around ESG it’s not just about ticking the boxes, but truly saying, “As an organization, how are we moving the dial on our environmental, social and governance mandate? How does philanthropy fit into our social pillar, and what is the impact reporting we are going to provide back to our stakeholders, our customers, and our employees to ensure that we are staying true to that mandate?”

Even on our major gift side of things the accountability, the transparency and the reporting that individual donors are requiring of their gift in order to make strategic decisions in their philanthropy is tremendously important.

Hua: Sounds like increasingly non-profits have to think about how to grow the same way businesses do? Has there been a transformation for SickKids Foundation and what’s that been like?

Seanna: For over a decade now, SickKids has worked hard to align ourselves more with corporations, to see ourselves as a business, to make the investments that we need to make in order to continue to grow as a leading charity. As an organization, we have been very fortunate to have a tremendous group of board members, senior leaders and CEOs at their own companies and large Canadian corporations, who have pushed us to recognize that investment in our brand and in our activities is important. Because they are tremendous business leaders, they’ve challenged us to be on the leading edge of transformation, whether that’s in the digital and technology space, in the brand space, or in the customer experience space.

Hua: What advice might you give to Canadian corporates on building really effective and meaningful partnerships into their CSR?

Seanna: We’re always interested in building partnerships that are multi-pronged because we feel we can build cohesive partnerships with an organization that touch upon their corporate promise, their employee engagement, and their customer purpose. This is how we can really move the needle.

We recently created a partnership with Sobeys. They made a significant commitment ma to supporting youth and family mental health at the children’s hospitals across Canada. With a massive staff complement, Sobeys realized that mental health for their employees and their families was going to be an important area to focus on.

Sobeys really looked at their partnership holistically. First, they said, “If we don’t have the mental health supports in place for our employees, how can we make an announcement of supporting mental health across the country?” They looked internally first, with the approach of “we better have our ducks in a row before we do this externally.” Once they had that in place, they partnered with the hospitals externally to provide much-needed funding to tackle the issue while also thinking about how they leverage this for our customers, for our employees, for our vendors?”

I’ve been really impressed with Sobeys, and I believe that’s how corporations can be authentic. They can’t just say, “We’re going to give the dollars to get it done.” It’s about embedding it in everything that they do and live, and ensuring that their stakeholders, employees, customers are behind them and bought in.

“We prioritize education to ensure we’re giving our leaders and our staff an open space to talk about DEI challenges in our business. I’m constantly challenging myself to learn more and to be able to be a better leader from a DEI perspective.”

Hua: Canada has evolved too over your 17 years as a fundraiser, how have you seen the non-profit sector adapt to embrace diversity and inclusion?

Seanna: We’ve all been pushed hard given the events of the last two years, and I think charities are embracing this in two ways. The first part is about how we ensure diversity and inclusion within our staff, our boards and our activities. Then the second part is about how we ensure that we’re embracing diversity in the donors and communities that we’re reaching out to, we need to be open and authentic to all the different communities we support.

On the first part of it, we quickly realized that we needed to hire a manager of diversity, equity, and inclusion, who has been amazing in terms of bringing the education, the learning, the activity, and the rigour around measuring if we are moving the needle. As one example, SickKids Foundation signed the BlackNorth Initiative led by Wes Hall and we are tracking our progress on that. We prioritize education to ensure we’re giving our leaders and our staff an open space to talk about DEI challenges in our business. I’m constantly challenging myself to learn more and to be able to be a better leader from a DEI perspective. The organization also looks to our donor database and said, “How can we ensure that we’re reaching out to the communities that we serve at the hospital?” We serve an immensely diverse Greater Toronto Area and beyond. From a patient perspective, our emergency department delivers services in more than 18 different languages.

So far, we’ve really focused on fundraising within the Chinese Canadian community and the Black Canadian community, areas that we felt that we weren’t authentically working with. I believe our activities in those communities have been well-received because we’ve focused on engagement, rapport, and respect versus fundraising to start. We recognized that we needed to have those core values in place before anyone would ever give us any money.

Our Brand Strategy and Communications team just undertook an audit of all our marketing materials. Are we being representative of the communities in which we serve? That’s been a very interesting exercise as well.

Hua: What about gender representation? The non-profit space is often perceived to be women-dominated, but even in this female-dominated sector, there aren’t that many women leaders at the top. How do you see female leadership in the non-profit sector?

Seanna: It’s really interesting, because I have a team of 45 people, and I don’t think I have more than five males on my team at this point in time. I have two pieces of work to do. One is to ensure that fundraising in the not-for-profit sector is open to males, and that we are seeing men enter the space at the more junior levels and cultivate that throughout. The other is to mentor women to ensure that they move into senior leadership positions. I think that there are a variety of reasons why women may be self-selecting out, and then a whole bunch of reasons why women are hitting reaching a glass ceiling.

I do think there’s more women at the top in the not-for-profit sector, than in the corporate sector, but still, we have a lot of work to do to ensure that women don’t feel Imposter Syndrome, and to ensure women understand that they can do the job. We have to support a more flexible work environment, respecting the fact that women are often dealing with different pressures at home and different responsibilities. And so, I think we have a job as women to lift up other women, to mentor other women, to amplify those women’s voices around the table, and also in the not-for-profit sector, ensure that we’re listening to the and cultivating the male perspective, especially as they’re coming into the organization.

I also think that women traditionally have been drawn to more caring careers. If I think even about the percentage of women nurses at SickKids versus male nurses, more than 75% of our nurses would be women. Though it is changing I think there is more work to break down some of those preconceptions to make it a more open environment. From a pure diversity perspective, we haven’t been very good at attracting talent from BIPOC communities into the fundraising space. I sit on the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and we have a huge mandate to make sure that when we are attracting members, putting on educational programs and conferences, that everything we do is open and inclusive to all.

I think the not-for-profit sector has been seen as a lower-paying sector. There are people out there who feel fundraisers shouldn’t be paid at market rates and non-profits should be fully volunteer organizations. There are 85,000 registered charities in Canada. Some of them are run with volunteers on a low cost per dollar, and I would challenge, are they really delivering much impact? I would suggest that when you’re running what is an almost a $200 million organization like SickKids Foundation, while volunteers are a tremendously important part of our organization, you need a strong staff team too. Fundraising needs to be seen as a paid profession that delivers true value and return on investment.

“I think we have a job as women to lift up other women, to mentor other women, to amplify those women’s voices around the table, and also in the not-for-profit sector, ensure that we’re listening to the and cultivating the male perspective, especially as they’re coming into the organization.”

Hua: What guidance do you have for early career professionals interested in building a purpose-driven career, what kinds of opportunities do you see for them?

Seanna: There are lots of opportunities for purpose-based careers both, in the for-profit and the not-for-profit sector. Many companies are more committed to purpose-based activities within the corporate sector to attract employees who want to be aligned with those values. I was at a conference where I met a young woman who had joined a book publishing company. I asked her why she had chosen the company and she said, “I knew they were involved in charity, and I wanted to ensure that I was aligned with an organization that had strong CSR mandates or ESG mandates. That was part of my research that I did on the companies before applying.”

In terms of those that want to get into non-profits or not-for-profit sector, I’ve always talked about how volunteering can open so many doors. I think giving back to an organization in a volunteer role shows us the importance of being involved in our communities and opens the door to meeting leaders within those organizations. Getting some on-the-ground experience shows your commitment to the not-for-profit space and gives you skills that you may not develop otherwise got through education or other activities.

Five Essential Insights on Leading an SME in the Post-Pandemic Marketplace

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The pandemic and accompanying industry and cultural shifts profoundly impacted the SME sector. Earlier this year, Level5 Strategy Managing Partner Hua Yu hosted a three-part series with SME founders and CEOs to discuss how they’ve led their businesses and what insights they have about success in the post-pandemic market. The featured CEOs include: Brandi Leifso, CEO and Founder of Evio Beauty Group, which is redefining luxury beauty to be kind, conscious and affordable, Julia Bao, founder of skincare brand BAO LABORATORY, an international brand of scientifically developed custom skincare products, and Elle AyoubZadeh, founder of luxury footwear company Zvelle.

Here, we share their five essential insights and learnings on leading an SME in the post-pandemic marketplace.

Understand the Consumer Need for Purpose

COVID-19 prompted a profound consumer behavior shift, whereas previously convenience was one of the top key drivers in buying choices. However, the massive move over to online shopping during COVID meant that customers now had more choice than ever and more time to consider the power of their spending dollars. Against a cultural and social landscape of upheaval and growing social awareness, consumers have increasingly started looking for more from the brands and products they support. Regardless of industry, sector or product, businesses need to understand that reflecting their customers social values and interests will be essential to sustaining their growth.

Nimbleness, the SME advantage

Rapid change has been the defining feature of the past 18 months. Across industries, businesses had to reimagine their workplace structures, their customer journeys and core offerings. Zvelle was able to launch V, a new shoe line to reflect the changing needs of consumers. BAO did a digital upgrade and launched a consumer loyalty program. Evio shifted from in person events to finding new digital experiential ways to connect with their customers. Each CEO emphasized that as SME’s they realized just how nimble they could be in their responses and that this competitive disadvantage over large legacy competitors is one they will continue to leverage.

Relationships Are Growth Accelerators

When reflecting on their moments of rapid growth and opportunity, networks and relationships surfaced as the common denominator. The clear lesson is that the best investments a team can make in the post-pandemic marketplace, is a commitment to deepening relationships with clients, customers and other business leaders and influencers. One of the most effective ways to approach this is to make the focus on customers and clients. Zvelle for instance, launched the #walkhowyouwant campaign to celebrate the one-of-a-kind journeys of their community and activate their support for one another.

Look Outside the Industry

It can be tempting to look within the success stories of established industry players to find answers to a business question or decision point, and this instinct is amplified during moments of change and uncertainty. Evio founder Brandi Leifso cautions against this, “…it’s important to do things differently, because what got you here is not going to get you there.”

Leverage Canadian Brands

While they serve customers globally, all three of these founders are Canadian and one common observation among them is that post-COVID, Canadian brands are hotter than ever. Across the Canadian market, an increased focus on local companies during COVID helped drive their brand and consumer profiles. BAO, which has a strong customer base in Canada, found that being a “Made In Canada” product has helped consumers connect with the purity of their ingredients.

To watch the full Level5 Strategy BusinessWomen of Influence Roundtable Series, here are the links below to their corresponding parts:

Part 1 – The Pandemic Impact On Consumer Behavior

Part 2 – Adapting and Reassessing Business Offerings

Part 3 – Building and Strengthening Connections with Consumers

“Know your why and go all-in,” An interview with Kathleen Kresky, Vice-President of Enterprise Transformation Initiatives at Gore Mutual Insurance Company (Part 2)

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Read Part 1 of our interview with Kathleen Kresky on Gore Mutual’s transformation.

Kathleen Kresky
Before joining Gore Mutual, Kathleen held a variety of roles leading complex, large-scale operations. She was in charge of projects and client relationships with major Canadian employers in providing HR, benefits and pension services to employees.

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Joe: Insurance has the components of a commodity product. Purchasing insurance is essentially a promise to pay a claim at some point in the future, which is provided by all carriers. Still, opportunities exist to create a unique value proposition or a differentiated offering. How is Gore Mutual carving out a differentiated offering in the insurance space?

Kathleen: As a mutual company, we are driven by our purpose: we offer insurance that does good. We reinvest our profits and resources to make a positive impact in our communities.

The way we approach the claims process reflects it. Our customer focus groups have revealed that the people who have gone through a claims process with us said that the experience encouraged them to remain our customers. That says something about the values we hold.

Joe: All organizations undergoing transformation face challenges. Tell us about the common challenges and the solutions companies should implement to resolve them.

Kathleen: The biggest challenge is getting distracted. Distractions are a recipe for failure in a transformation. One solution to this lies in setting the most aggressive timelines possible. If the timeline is too long, it won’t be possible to pause other initiatives until the launch happens and the distractions will take hold. It’s critical to set a timeline where the stakeholders can visualize the target state becoming a reality. That way, they won’t be tempted to spin up other initiatives in the interim.

The second solution is to be disciplined. This is why the first step in our transformation journey was to set up a Transformation Office and has kept us laser focused.

Number three is to establish dynamic resource allocation. Focus the talent and investment in the areas that are needed the most. Be deliberate in selecting the top talent to dedicate their time to what’s most important. There’s no time for business as usual.

Number four is – go all in. To implement true transformation, you must let go of old methodologies. They won’t fit anymore. By incrementally transforming an organization, you constrain the design, waste resources fitting that incremental improvement into the old world and limit the results.

Save the continuous improvement until after the launch. As soon as the target state is launched, examine what works in production, listen to customer feedback, and hear from employees about the features they like and dislike. Then, develop a pipeline of continuous improvement. And continually test and monitor it to ensure that the newly transformed environment remains relevant.

“Save the continuous improvement until after the launch. As soon as the target state is launched, examine what works in production, listen to customer feedback, and hear from employees about the features they like and dislike.”

Joe: What do you see as the main function of the Transformation Office and its role in change management?

Kathleen: It is to orchestrate the moving parts and make sure they fit together so all stakeholders can remain focused on the priorities. The Transformation Office has the luxury of thinking only about the transformation. Other functions need to juggle day-to-day operations that keep the business running as usual. While I said it’s a luxury, it’s also essential. No matter what happens during the routine activities, the organization needs a team of people dedicated to delivering successful and meaningful change, and nothing else.

Joe: What’s your advice to executives in the insurance industry, based on current trends?

Kathleen: Our benchmarks are no longer set by the insurance industry players. They’re set by every organization that delivers personalized, accessible and enjoyable interactions. People don’t look at the insurance industry and say, “Oh yeah, I get it. This is how insurance operates.” They view insurance as a convoluted process. They think, “Wait a minute – I can order a pizza and see on my phone where it is and when it’s going to arrive at my door. How come I can’t buy insurance and access it immediately like buying an eBook?”

Joe: Do you have any advice for executives in any industry who are about to embark on organizational transformation?

Kathleen: The first thing I would say to them is to know your why. If your why is not compelling enough, you will not have the drive to see it through. There’s no version of transformation that doesn’t come with challenges. If it were easy, it wouldn’t be transformation. So, if the why isn’t there, there won’t be anything to ground the organization through the problems. Every obstacle that is overcome will amplify the alignment and commitment as people feel the adrenaline rush of solving problems and achieving success.

“The first thing I would say to them is to know your why. If your why is not compelling enough, you will not have the drive to see it through.”

Joe: How has Gore Mutual kicked off its strategic transformation?

Kathleen: Gore Mutual’s first step in its strategic transformation was the launch of a national contact centre in July with the goal of providing Ontario customers faster and more efficient service.

The centre is underpinned by industry-leading technology that is enabling brokers to offer their customers superior service in the area of Ontario personal lines automobile and Individually Rated Commercial Auto (IRCA) insurance. Read the press release to learn more here.

“Know your why and go all-in,” An interview with Kathleen Kresky, Vice-President of Enterprise Transformation Initiatives at Gore Mutual Insurance Company (Part 1)

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This is the first of a two-part interview series. To read Part 2, click here.

What does it take to deliver a successful transformation in Canada’s oldest insurance carrier? Level5 Senior Consultant Joseph Smith talked to Kathleen Kresky to find out.

As the head of Gore Mutual Insurance Company’s Transformation Office, Kathleen is leading the largest and most significant transformation in Gore Mutual’s history. In just a few short years, Gore Mutual plans to transform its business from a mid-size, regional carrier to a national scale, purpose driven, digitally-led insurer. Gore Mutual continues to invest heavily in its people and core capabilities, with plans to scale its business together with broker partners across Canada. During the first half of 2021, Gore Mutual announced its new operating model for Ontario personal lines automobile and Individually Rated Commercial Auto (IRCA) insurance. The carrier has also taken the first step in its strategic transformation with the launch of its national contact centre, underpinned by industry-leading technology.

Kathleen’s extensive leadership experience in the insurance and financial services sector gives her the right background to drive business value and implement Gore Mutual’s transformation strategy into action. Before joining Gore Mutual, Kathleen held a variety of roles leading complex, large-scale operations. She was in charge of client relationships and projects with major Canadian employers as clients in providing HR, benefits and pension services to employees.

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Kathleen Kresky

Joe: Cross-functional expertise is instrumental in change management. How has having a cross-functional background helped you in the delivery of Gore Mutual’s change management project?

Kathleen: A transformation of this scale has impacted every part of our business – from every process, customer experience and broker experience, to every product, document and system. There are a lot of moving parts, and the role of transformation is to bring all these pieces together across various stakeholders and strategic partners we work with. My cross-functional background has helped me develop the vocabulary to understand the implication of all these pieces. It’s an incredible asset.

Leading transformation is a bit like being the conductor of an orchestra. Although I don’t have to know how to play every instrument, I have to understand what those instruments are capable and not capable of doing. I also have to know how to bring the best out of the musicians and keep them playing together in sync.

Joe: What do you consider the core principles of successful change management?

Kathleen: In my opinion, change management has two key principles. The first is having a viable vision and plan with all the leaders in full alignment with the funding, talent and strategic partners. If companies don’t start with that, they’re doomed.

The second is the role of the leader in guiding people through this transformation journey. Leaders are typically engaged early on in the planning; they have ample time to absorb what this means for them and their team. As the change starts to take place, and more people are involved, the leaders are already ahead of everyone’s understanding and acceptance of the changes.

As leaders, we need to invest time in clearly articulating the changes to our people so that they accept it as a real and tangible process. They need time to absorb this information and become comfortable with what this change means to each of them individually. We must also be available to answer everyone’s questions, guide them through it and encourage them whenever possible. Employees should be given the opportunity to be active participants in the change. They shouldn’t be treated as passive observers who feel that change is being subjected to them. People need to be able to see what’s in it for them and have an experienced leader to coach them and walk beside them through this journey.

“Employees should be given the opportunity to be active participants in the change. They shouldn’t be treated as passive observers who feel that change is being subjected to them.”

Joe: What is Gore Mutual’s vision that has inspired the implementation of this change?

Kathleen: Our vision is to transform from a mid-size, regional carrier to a national scale, purpose driven, digitally-led insurer underpinned by industry-leading technology, talent and operating models. We plan to make this happen in a few short years.

Joe: What do you think is inherent in Gore Mutual that made the leadership believe this vision was possible?

Kathleen: I think it’s our history that spans over 182 years. We have thrived and triumphed over adversity and have continually adapted through the many changes and challenges we have been faced with since we wrote our first insurance policies in 1839. We supported communities through the First World War, the Great Depression and the Second World War. We’ve been through it all and we continue to support our communities. That spirit of ingenuity and resilience, along with our deep connections to our communities, are ingrained in our identity today. As a mutual insurer, we’re governed by our members who are also our customers. For that reason, we choose to protect what matters most – people and community.

Joe: You’ve been around for almost 200 years and the insurance industry has evolved so much during this time. In what ways are brokers’ needs changing, and what is driving these changes?

Kathleen: One of the main trends at present is the consolidation among brokers. It’s likely to continue because we can expect the brokers with the scale and capital to invest in new technology solutions. This trend is also pressuring insurance carriers to innovate further. At Gore Mutual, we’re committed to working with our broker partners. We recognize that, as their needs change, we need to be able to meet and exceed those needs.

“As a mutual insurer, we’re governed by our members who are also our customers. For that reason, we choose to protect what matters most – people and community. ”

Joe: How are you transforming your technology to meet and exceed those needs?

Kathleen: We’re transforming technology by boosting the efficiency of transactions and taking the administrative burden out of the equation. We’re focused on enabling real-time quotes and digital transactions. Gore Mutual is dedicated to going paperless and taking the friction out of insurance processes.

We’re the first insurer in Canada to launch InsuranceSuite in Guidewire Cloud and implement full-service capabilities across our three core business operations – policy, billing and claims – at the same time. This will enable our brokers to provide their customers with faster and more efficient service.

This is the first of a two-part interview series. To read Part 2, click here.

Making the world a better place through “Soft Power” – An interview with the world’s foremost museum planner Gail Lord (Part 2)

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In Part 1 of the interview, we introduced Gail Lord who together with her late husband Barry Lord, is recognized for transforming museums and promoting their positive role in society.

In Part 2, we learn about the gender, racial and ethnic imbalances specific to the museum sector; and the fundamental responsibility that museums, as public cultural institutions, play in promoting healthy and thriving communities.

Gail is co-founder and president of Lord Cultural Resources, the world’s leading cultural planning firm.

An influential voice in the fields of museums, creative economy and cultural districts, Gail sees museums as powerful levers for cities aiming to boost economic prosperity and grow their international standing.

Gail has authored six museum planning manuals and several books including “Cities, Museums and Soft Power,” that have served as guiding principles for over 2,600 projects completed by Lord Cultural Resources across 57 countries.

In 2017, Gail was honoured as a Member of the Order of Canada for her contribution to museum planning and management, and her work in supporting the cultural sector in Canada and abroad. In 2014, the Government of France appointed her the Officer in the Order of Arts and Letters for her contributions to the arts.

Level5 Strategy’s Managing Partner Hua Yu interviewed Gail to gain insights into the $50 billion museum sector and learn about her fascinating career journey.

Gail Lord

Hua: You have done so much for the museum sector. What are your proudest achievements?

Gail: It’s hard to choose because my wonderful colleagues at Lord Cultural Resources and I have worked with talented museum professionals on projects in 450 cities world-wide.

A personal favourite is the cultural centre called The Lowry, in Salford, a small city just outside Manchester. Salford was the poorest city in Europe in 1848 and still in 1968. In the 1970s, the city government decided to modernize the city, starting with the polluted Manchester ship canal that was making parts of the town unliveable. After cleaning up the ship canal and building a new commercial center around it, they planned to create a destination cultural attraction “like the Sydney Opera House.” But Salford residents rejected this concept — this was a working class city, and opera didn’t relate to them.  So, the architects called Lord to find an alternative cultural attraction — and I went to Salford.

Our general philosophy then and now is that cultural facilities have to relate to people’s lives and history and can’t be copied from somewhere else. The Sydney Opera House was transformational for Sydney, Australia — it wouldn’t be for Salford.  We also believe that every community has culture and creativity — our job is to help develop it.

When we conducted interviews and met people in Salford, we learned that one of the most beloved English artists, L.S. Lowry, lived and worked in Salford. To give some context, Lowry is to England what the Group of Seven is to Canada. He painted the daily life of working people going to and from work, at home and in pubs. The characters look like stick figures and have a very particular local meaning. Salford had a large collection of L.S. Lowry paintings stored in a basement in very bad conditions. I recommended that the Lowry Collection be re-installed in the new cultural center building. The community was enthusiastic, while the financial support came from government, the private sector and the European Union. The Lowry Centre (as it is called) opened in 2000 and was named the best millennium project outside London. With success came economic and social benefits for the local population and considerable pride when Salford won the BBC competition to be the location for its northern headquarters, defeating Manchester!

Gail Lord with Lowry’s then director David Alston at the opening of The Lowry, the flagship of the 2000 Millennium Project for the Arts and a cornerstone of the transformation valued at £1.4bn.
Gail Lord with Lowry’s then director David Alston at the opening of The Lowry, the flagship of the 2000 Millennium Project for the Arts and a cornerstone of the transformation valued at £1.4bn. It is a proof that museums and galleries can and do change lives.
The Lowry in Salford, Greater Manchester, England.
The Lowry, a theatre and gallery complex at Salford Quays, Salford, Greater Manchester, England.

I am especially honoured to have provided planning services for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, which is the world’s first national museum dedicated to human rights. This is a powerful visitor experience — a story-telling museum that is the most technologically advanced in North America.  The museum has changed the identity of Winnipeg which had a racist reputation because of its treatment of indigenous residents. Today Winnipeg continues to struggle with these issues but identifies as a human rights education city and the repository of the archives of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The Canadian Museum for Human Rights is also Canada’s first national museum located outside the National Capital Region — thereby opening the door to national museums being located closer to Canadians, like Pier 21 National Immigration Museum in Halifax which we also worked on.

A U.S. project I am particularly proud of is the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco, a tiny museum created as part of a downtown redevelopment zone in the 1990s. When we started the work, we conducted a lot of community consultations and looked at the history of San Francisco. We learned that the city was the home of The League of Nations, formed in 1919, which was the predecessor of the United Nations. So, there was this important international context, a kind of soft power context. But then we have the tragedy of the city where African American people were marginalized. Many lost their homes due to urban development that created the city tourists like to visit. In the 1990s, few used the word “diaspora” to refer to the spreading of Africans and African culture through the world. In this museum the African diaspora starts with the evolution of humans in Africa and takes visitors to the present. To give you an idea of the power of this place, when you walk in, you look into a mirror with the following question written on it: “When did you discover you are African?” This museum is dedicated to the concept that there is no such thing as race — we’re all human and we all came from Africa.

Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg, opened in 2014.
Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg, opened in 2014, is one of Gail Lord’s great museum planning and strategic achievements.
Construction site of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. approx. 2013.
Construction site of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Gail Lord with Gail Asper, Trustee, Canadian Museum for Human Rights, approx. 2013.

Hua: Can you tell us about how your experience has reflected your vision of the firm you created? Lord Cultural Resources has a multicultural and multilingual work force in the service of your clients who are globally diverse. Your team of consultants speaks 15 languages and you have offices around the world. How do you grow your business while continuing to be one of world’s foremost museum planners? 

“…in the post-COVID world, the ethos is somewhat different. As a result, our entire staff worked together on a new vision statement that I love — ʻMaking the world a better place through culture.ʼ”

Gail: We always believed that if we shared knowledge, we’d gain more knowledge.  Neither Barry nor I had a business background, and if we had MBAs, we probably wouldn’t have started the company because it’s very risky. We didn’t know anything about business. But we love museums and the cultural sector and how it improves human understanding and well-being. Fortunately, there are professionals who share these values and have joined the firm bringing essential skills to museums and culture. Our team includes financial analysts, architects, designers, historians, urban planners, strategists, marketing experts, scientists and writers —each with a cultural focus and experience.  Today the company includes people who have worked with Lord for decades and others who joined just a few months ago. Most consultants in the firm travel extensively, up to 50% of the time, even more. COVID has limited travel and meant working from home. We have used the time to be closer as a team with weekly “huddles” where we all get together to share ideas via Zoom.

For many years, our vision statement was “Creating cultural capital” to communicate that culture is a form of capital that improves cities and local economies. Now, in the post-COVID world, the ethos is somewhat different. As a result, our entire staff worked together on a new vision statement that I love — “Making the world a better place through culture.”

Hua: You are the recipient of the Order of France and Order of Canada. What do these recognitions mean to you personally?

Gail: For me personally they mean a lot. As a woman in business, I’ve been fortunate in that my husband was proud of me and supported me and gave me an enormous amount of self confidence. We were completely equal partners. However, I’m very aware of the fact that there are many people who see women as inferior. They thought it was my husband who had all the ideas. No matter what your partner says he can’t alone change the perception of the business world about women. These awards were recognition of what I had accomplished as an individual leader.

It was magical in 2017 when McMaster University conferred honorary doctorates on both Barry (who was an alum) and me (who was not). It was only the second time in its history that the university had conferred this honour on a married couple.

Gail and Barry Lord receiving honorary doctorates at McMaster University, Hamilton, 2016
Gail and Barry Lord receiving honorary doctorates at McMaster University, Hamilton, 2016
Gail Lord during Order of Canada Reception, Rideau Hall
Gail Lord during Order of Canada Reception, Rideau Hall, Ottawa 2017.

Hua: Why is it important for museums to have their own brand identity?  

Gail: A museum’s identity has to be rooted in the reality of the community. It has to link its collections, research and ideas to the content of peoples’ lives and concerns. I think that, in the post-COVID reality, the sense of identity needs to extend beyond the walls of the museums and into place making. This is why, in our projects today, we’re equally concerned with the exterior space. Unless people are engaged with the exterior space of the museum, they’re not going to venture inside. The good news is that thanks to technology they may visit digitally, and that may lay the ground for a first physical visit.

Hua: The majority of people working in museums are women. The majority of people who visit museums are women. And yet, in the museum sector, most of the senior leaders are still men. How can we change this?

Gail: In the smaller museums across North America and the UK, women directors outnumber men. These museums are underfunded and underprivileged. When you get to the higher-level museums with the bigger budgets, the directors tend to be men. So, there’s a class aspect to it. Now, there has been significant social change and women, including women of colour, are being recognized for their skills and achievements. However, characteristics that would be acceptable in a man — “aggressive” and “outspoken,” for example — are often perceived differently in a woman. Women exhibiting these qualities are frequently described as strident or loud, or angry; so we have to stand up for each other and work very hard against stereotyping.

The challenges women experience in the sector are even more pronounced for people of colour. I have made it a strong mission, in partnership with Joy Bailey-Bryant who is President of Lord USA, to create leadership opportunities for indigenous and people of colour at Lord Cultural Resources and in the cultural sector. This is why we established the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) Fellowship. It helps fund leadership positions for BIPOC professionals in the gallery, library, arts and museum sectors, and provides a mentorship program for the fellows and their employer institutions. This is important because museums won’t be able to fulfill their potential as places for people until their leadership reflects the people.

Making the world a better place through “Soft Power” – An Interview with the world’s foremost museum planner Gail Lord (Part 1)

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Together with her late husband Barry Lord, Gail Lord has turned museum planning into a discipline by creating an international consultancy practice. Now she wants museums to help cities apply soft power so they can yield influence on the global stage.

Lord Cultural Resources has established itself as a leader in the global museum sector, estimated to be worth around $50 billion, where Gail Lord is a name that resonates.

As co-founder and president of Lord Cultural Resources, the world’s leading cultural planning firm, Gail is a powerful modernizer in the fields of museums, creative economy and cultural districts.

She’s known as a champion of soft power — a method of influencing through negotiation, persuasion and agenda setting — which Gail believes can assist cities in gaining clout to address some of the most important issues of our time.

Gail is also a tireless advocate for a stronger connection between cities and museums as a means of delivering tangible public benefits. She urges cities to embrace museums as places that do more than captivate visitors – they increase quality of life, education and real estate value, while attracting investment, tourists and creative workers.

She has authored six museum planning manuals and several books including “Cities, Museums and Soft Power,” that have been used as guiding principles for over 2,600 projects completed by Lord Cultural Resources across 57 countries.

In 2017, Gail was honoured as a Member of the Order of Canada for her contribution to museum planning and management, and her work in supporting the cultural sector in Canada and abroad. In 2014, the Government of France appointed her Officer in the Order of Arts and Letters for her contributions to the arts.

Level5 Strategy’s Managing Partner Hua Yu interviewed Gail to gain insights into the museum sector and learn about her fascinating career journey.

Gail Lord

Hua: You are one of the world’s foremost museum planners. Tell us about your career highlights and stories of building the world’s leading museum and cultural planning firm.

Gail: It started 40 years ago when my late husband Barry Lord and I were working for the government in Ottawa. We both had deep cultural backgrounds – Barry had experience as a curator in a number of museums and I had been an art critic for The Toronto Star, and had taught art history at Ryerson. One day, Barry came home from work and said, “You know, I think there’s a need in the world for museum planning. It doesn’t exist, but there is a need.” We had two young children at the time so I was busy cooking dinner after work and I just said, “Yes dear,” not realizing what I was saying “Yes dear” to. Barry had a clear idea that this was something that we could do together and that we should do. He set about creating a framework and we left Ottawa to live in a small town outside Hamilton. That’s where we started the company. Barry was able to continue working in the sector and I started building the company. I remember that some people thought we were crazy while others thought we were brilliant. But we wanted to do what we liked and we wanted to work together.

The first project that we undertook was a tiny museum Musée Acadien/Acadian Museum in Prince Edward Island (PEI). The museum wanted to reinvent itself because people usually think about the Acadian population as being principally in Nova Scotia. But when Acadians were dispersed, they were dispersed everywhere, including to very poorest land in PEI. Gradually, our work spread across the country, especially in the small communities. This is very important because it has always been part of our philosophy that big museums learn from small as well as the more usual small learning from big. A small museum is going to be really close to its population and reliant on local people, including local businesses. It also has a capacity to change quickly. Larger institutions are much more complex and they take a bigger shift to turn around. So we learned a lot from those early days and we worked in every Canadian province and territory including the farthest regions in the north. That was a very good background for what we eventually did, which included working with tiny communities internationally and some of the biggest institutions in the world. Without that background, Lord Cultural Resources wouldn’t be the inclusive company that it is today.

Another thing that started us on our journey was the creation of a book on museum planning. This project came from Barry’s work for the then National Museums Corporation.  When we were writing the book, we thought that Canadians were probably the only people in the world who didn’t know how to plan museums… Americans must know, the British, the French etc. – that was our assumption. But when the book came out, and started receiving orders from all over the world, we realized that Canadians weren’t the only ones who didn’t know. Nobody knew. That’s where the concept of the company really took root, as something that there was a need for.

Co-authors Gail Lord and Ngaire Blankenberg at the launch of the “Cities, Museums and Soft Power"
Co-authors Gail Lord and Ngaire Blankenberg at the launch of the “Cities, Museums and Soft Power”, Gardiner Museum, Toronto, 2015.

Hua: You have been championing the concept of “soft power” for a long time. What is the definition of “soft power?” What is the role of modern museums and how can they provide tangible public benefits?

Gail: Soft power as an idea was coined by Harvard professor, Joseph Nye, in the early 1990s. He used it to describe a new approach to international relations which creates power through persuasion and culture rather than force. In 2014, my co-author Ngaire Blankenberg and I applied the concept of soft power to museums and cities. Artifacts have always been used in diplomacy as gift exchanges between royal families and governments, so that type of diplomatic culture was nothing new. But what happened between 1991 and 2015 was that cities became new power houses in the world economy. In 2014, cities were already accounting for more than half of the world’s population, while in advanced economies cities were accounting for 80% of GDP. Cities don’t have control over the economy and they have no way of exercising hard power. When we studied cities, we realized that they were exercising soft power through scores of organizations. These were civil society organizations that addressed such challenges as immigration, climate change and refugees. So, cities had already begun to flex their soft power beyond local issues and into the international arena.

But what about museums? Museums occupy prominent places and spaces in cities, yet they were largely absent from those big urban issues—and so our book “Cities, Museums and Soft Power” was born and published in 2015. Our thesis stood the test of time because many museums were keen to exercise their soft power but didn’t know how. The book helped to build confidence in new roles for museums. Meanwhile museums had changed from government institutions to more independent civil society ones. The events of 2018 caused a major re-think about the role of museums in society which is continuing.

Gail Lord speaking about complex issues, and whether to talk or keep silence in the museum at the Museum Guide Forum in Moscow, Russia, 2018
Gail Lord speaking about complex issues, and whether to talk or keep silence in the museum at the Museum Guide Forum, VDNKh, Moscow, Russia, 2018
Gail Lord giving a keynote address on museums and soft power, Museum of Tolerance, Los Angeles, 2017
Gail Lord giving a keynote address on museums and soft power, Museum of Tolerance, Los Angeles, 2017

Hua: What is the relationship between museums and people?

Gail: When we formed the company 40 years ago the really big message that we had was that museums are for people. Back then, museums were for collectors, specialists and socialites. They weren’t conceived as places that should be accessible and welcoming to everyone. Museums were also thought of as judgmental organizations that were creating a hegemonic environment in which some cultures are superior and others inferior. These deep-seated colonial perceptions took years to establish and couldn’t be changed easily.

“The challenge for museums is learning what people think about them and what actions they can take to be meaningful and relevant to the diversity of people.”

For this reason, museums are uncomfortable places for some people and they don’t want to enter. For others, museums are places where they can go to explore new ideas. Then, there are people for whom museums are about memory; and, this can create the impression that museums are only for elders. This is why museums need to make sure that the voices of all people are integrated and heard. The challenge for museums is learning what people think about them and what actions museum staff can take to be meaningful and relevant to the diversity of people.

Hua: What are some of the leading trends of the museum sector? How has COVID-19 changed and evolved the sector?

Gail: COVID has impacted every sector of the economy by accelerating trends that were already there. The trends for museums included appealing to the broader audience and being more relevant to diverse communities. Even the degree to which museums deliver their content online also precedes COVID; but what the pandemic has done is to speed it up exponentially. This is going to be a very good result for museums. Data tells us that the per cent of first-time museum visitors – a very important metric – online has increased during COVID. After all, it’s logical – people are at home and they’re looking for engaging things to do. Museums have pivoted quickly to the online delivery of services, including gift shop sales, programs and tours that they could charge for if they were interesting enough. Museums were able to offer a number of free services as well, so the result is going to be a much more vital museum sector in the next 20 years. It’s going to be a hybrid of online and on-site visits, which will result in a huge increase in the number of people who are engaged in museums and experience the soft power of museums. While COVID has been a tragedy, museums can emerge as stronger institutions.

It’s important to understand that museums have been around for only 200 years. But as institutions, they’ve always been strong in their mode of communication. Museums are known for their collections but they are also incredibly effective communicators. Museums have always been early adapters of communication technology.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the interview with Gail Lord, where she discusses her proudest achievements, the importance of museum branding and increasing the number of women in the museum sector.

BusinessWomen of Influence Roundtable Discussion Pt. 3: Building and Strengthening Connections with Consumers

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In Part 3 of Level5 Strategy’s BusinessWomen of Influence Roundtable Series, three SME leaders share how the pandemic has influenced their go-to market strategy.

Despite COVID restrictions, Brandi Leifso, CEO and Founder of Evio Beauty Group Ltd. , Julia Bao, Founder of skincare brand BAO LABORATORY and Elle AyoubZadeh, Founder of luxury footwear company Zvelle, kept the promises they made to their customers by helping others, building connections and strengthening their community of patrons.

Zvelle has gifted one pair of shoes to a healthcare worker every day during the lockdown and featured personal stories of real women; BAO Laboratory has continued its China entry strategy by leveraging its Chinese network and promoting the company’s Canadian-made label; and Evio has harnessed people’s need for relationships and community in the wake of disruption and social distancing.

 

BusinessWomen of Influence Roundtable Discussion Pt. 2: Adapting and Reassessing Business Offerings

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Missed Part 1 of the series? Click here.

In Part 2 of the BusinessWomen of Influence Roudtable Discussion series, Julia Bao, Founder of skincare brand BAO LABORATORY, Brandi Leifso, CEO and Founder of EVIO Beauty, and Elle AyoubZadeh, Founder of luxury footwear company Zvelle, talked about how they’re adapting their offering to better meet the needs of their customers amid the pandemic.

Zvelle has launched a comfortable loafer, BAO LABORATORY has established a customer loyalty program and started sending product samples to customers, while Evio Beauty is creating a better digital experience for its shoppers.

BusinessWomen of Influence Roundtable Discussion: The Pandemic’s Impact on Consumer Behaviour

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Level5 Strategy interviewed three female SME leaders for our BusinessWomen of Influence Roundtable Series – Brandi Leifso, CEO and Founder of Evio Beauty Group Ltd. , Julia Bao, Founder of skincare brand BAO LABORATORY and Elle AyoubZadeh, Founder of luxury footwear company Zvelle.

In Part 1 of the series, they discussed the change in consumer behavior as a result of the pandemic and industry shifts.

These changing behaviours include a spike in consumer interest in backing companies they believe will help their social interests, they have more time to research products and there’s more pride in supporting Canadian brands.

Doing Business Like a Woman – The Triumphs, the Challenges and the Rewards

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COVID has changed the way we do business from many perspectives, including the perspective of women business owners. Many female entrepreneurs are navigating the complexity of the new normal while disrupting the status quo – and upending the rules of the game.

Level5 Strategy Managing Partner Hua Yu interviewed Julia Bao, founder of skincare brand BAO Laboratory, and Elle AyoubZadeh, founder of luxury footwear company Zvelle. Both women are challenging consumers and the market by raising expectations and encouraging women to pursue their dreams.

Hua caught up with them recently to find out what drives them during these testing times, how they’re beating the odds and the joys of female entrepreneurship.

From Women’s Shelter to Vogue:
EVIO Beauty Founder Talks About How She Leveraged CSR Strategy to Create a Successful Beauty Brand

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In continuing our BusinessWomen of Influence series, Level5 Strategy’s Lily Hou chatted with Brandi Leifso, CEO and Founder of EVIO Beauty about her journey from a women’s shelter to building a multi-million dollar cosmetics company, all with a greater purpose – to help women and create a kinder, more socially conscious future.