Mackenzie Investments commits $500,000 to charities and announces new educational partnership that supports women
TORONTO, March 8, 2022 - In celebration of International Women’s Day, Mackenzie Investments’ Mackenzie Together community program has pledged $500,000 in new support to Canadian charities that seek to provide financial security for women in need. Additionally, the firm announced a new female-driven educational partnership with Ivey Business School to help the investment industry better engage and inspire women.
“We believe that the only way to drive true inclusivity, improve the balance of men and women working in our industry and inspire the next generation is to be fully invested in change,” said Barry McInerney, President and CEO, Mackenzie Investments. “Our Mackenzie Together community program is designed to create a more inclusive investment world by supporting the collaboration of men and women including advisors, investors and the industry as a whole.”
Charitable Commitments
To deliver a more inclusive investment world, Mackenzie will be renaming the Mackenzie Investment Charitable Foundation to the Mackenzie Together Charitable Foundation and will be dedicating an additional $500,000, through the Mackenzie Together Grant, over the next five years to Canadian charities that support low-income women and their children through financial education and awareness. This commitment builds on Mackenzie’s charitable legacy, which has surpassed $13 million in donations over the past 23 years.
Women in Asset Management Program
In addition to its charitable commitments, Mackenzie Together has established the Mackenzie Together Futures Initiatives to invest in students and the future of the financial services industry. Through this, it has partnered with Ivey Business School to deliver the Women in Asset Management (WAM) program, designed to encourage more women to pursue a career in asset management. The program is a first-of-its-kind in Canada.
Beginning in May 2022, WAM will deliver educational programming for students, provide meaningful internships and foster a community of talented and inspired women interested in investment management, and finance and business more broadly.
“Building on our relationship with Ivey Business School, Mackenzie is thrilled to be a Leader Level partner in the Women in Asset Management program,” said Lesley Marks, Chief Investment Officer of Equities, Mackenzie Investments. “This program will allow more women to access the amazing possibilities that come with a career in asset management and, as such, help to build a pipeline of capable and talented women investors.”
These new initiatives, along with the firm’s ongoing support of Women in Capital Markets’ Return to Bay Street, Catalyst and Rotman’s Gender and the Economy program, serve to strengthen Mackenzie’s ongoing commitment to change and to grow inclusivity within the world of finance to become more invested, together.