OLIVIA EVANS

Age: 25 Investment advisor, Canaccord Genuity Cash Management Group

LIFE STORY: Olivia Evans's Linkedin profile doesn't do justice to her experience. It's a short scroll, unlike the actual number of roles she's served in since moving from Manchester to Newmarket, Ontario, in 2005. “I was always very aware of financial literacy,” says Evans. “Every job that you can think of under the age of 18, I probably did it.”

Her extensive list of occupations includes coaching gymnastics, cleaning gym toilets, bartender, server, hostess, securities valuation analyst at Toronto-based custodian bank State Street in 2019 and, as of 2021, investment advisor with Canaccord Genuity's Cash Management Group (CMG).

CMG is the biggest team by assets and employees at Canaccord. As an advisor, Evans spends her days helping institutional clients enhance their treasury services. But getting here was far from easy.

She rarely saw other women in finance classes at Mcmaster University, where she studied commerce. She also struggled to find mentors— to the point where, as an intern at State Street, she rode the elevator during breaks just to network with anyone who stepped in. “I expanded my network significantly through that,” she says.

Compelled to help other women in finance, Evans now volunteers with national nonprofit Women in Capital Markets. As co-chair of its B.C. steering committee, Evans works on university collaborations, mentorship opportunities and tailored networking events. “Being the only woman in the room—or one of 10—sometimes gets intimidating,” she says, “so we really push to make it a comfortable environment for people to come out and just be themselves.”

BOTTOM LINE: Canaccord Genuity is a Vancouver-based financial services firm specializing in wealth management and capital markets. With over 20 offices around the world—including Toronto, the U.K., China and Australia—the company reported $1.5 billion in firm-wide revenue for the 2023 fiscal year. –R.R.