Recently Ascend Canada announced the appointments of Farah Qasemi, Victor Tung and Vincent Lee to its Board of Directors. Drawing from their experiences and knowledge within their respective fields will help Ascend Canada to continue moving forward.
Here is a quick bio on each of the Board of Directors:
Farah brings the best of KPMG's people, intellectual capital and assets to Canada's largest banks. She has served the Canadian banks in this capacity for over a decade, and has focused strictly on the financial services sector for the majority of her career.
Farah sat on the United Way of Toronto GenNext leadership team and the Campaign Cabinet for the two years prior to leaving Toronto for London in 2013. She is very passionate about community development and women in leadership. She is an expert in the world's leading sales and client relationship management methodologies and frameworks.
According to Farah, Ascend members should take full advantage of the networking opportunities that are offered. Running one of the first Ascend Café Office Hours powered by Ten Thousand Coffees, she shared her story and career journey with several professional women from the financial sector. She credits her constant cultivation of her own network to her seamless transition between the UK job market and Canada
Victor leads a global team of technology professionals. He is responsible for technology solutions delivery for Human Resources, Marketing, Legal, Compliance, Procurement, Anti-Money Laundering, Corporate and International Technology.
Victor is a respected and sought-after thought leader, he is a member of AT&T's Global Advisory Council, sits on Coupa Technology's Executive Advisory Board and is a part of the Canadian Financial Services Cyber Security Governance Council. Victor is also dedicated to making a positive impact within his community. He is an advocate for continuous learning and established the Victor Tung scholarship which is awarded annually to a student in the Rotman School of Management, Masters in Management Analytics program. A child of immigrant parents, Victor feels compelled to give back and sits on the board of Skills for Change, a non-profit focused on supporting new immigrants.
He was named to the Top 40 under 40 in Canada, recognized for his vision, leadership, impact and influence. Victor’s advice to Ascend members is “hold true to your heart, always keep learning; recognize your insecurities so that you can overcome them and have fun in the process”
With over two decades of experience, Vincent leads teams in Toronto and New York serving CIBC's largest foreign exchange clients. Vincent started his career as an intern at TD Bank in 1994 and quickly established himself as a builder of relationships and the provider of innovative solutions. He rose through the ranks to eventually become the Canadian Head of Institutional FX Sales at TD before joining CIBC. Vincent Lee is a Chartered Financial Analyst charter holder and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of British Columbia.
He is an active participant in visible minority, mentoring and charitable initiatives. Vincent stresses the importance of having good role models within the corporate world. “My career breakthrough came about when I first met a senior Pan-Asian leader in my industry. This pivotal moment helped me push through self-imposed mental barriers and cultural beliefs that I’d carried throughout the early stages of my career”
Farah, Victor, and Vincent have actively been engaged with Ascend Canada over the years and now we welcome them to the leadership team and look forward to working together in advancing the mission and vision of the organization.