Kathy Gregory, President and CEO of Paradigm Quest, has 25 years experience in the mortgage industry and has been voted Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada.
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• Where: President and CEO of Paradigm Quest
• Number of years spent in the business: 25 years
‘MY CAREER MILESTONES’
• 2004 - founded and launched Paradigm Quest Inc. and have since grown it to $20 billion of assets under administration and over 250 employees.
• CMA winner for employer of choice.
• WXN Awarded Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada.
• 2013 - Inducted into the Canadian Mortgage Hall of Fame.
Why are you influential?
I built an organization where the core values are innovation and change to move forward. We’ve built a very strong and focused culture of a customer/borrower advocacy model in the mortgage industry.
I have supported mentorship program for others since 2005 and I’m one of the very few female CEOs in the mortgage industry.
I founded and chair the Ontario Women’s Mortgage Industry Golf Tournament eight years running and raised over $100,000 for the Canadian Women’s foundation, helping women and their children out of poverty. I also founded and chair the BC Women’s Mortgage Networking Summit.
Who has influenced you?
My mentors include my father, two of my previous bosses, and one in particular who took a big risk putting me in a role and my business partners today. They motivate and influence me every day.
What are some of the challenges that face female brokers?
There aren’t enough leadership roles across the broker channel and it is still a male-dominated industry. The lack of professional training, leadership, sales, etc. is also an issue.
Is a list like this even necessary today?
YES, YES and yes.
In Canada, women still trail behind men in leadership and management roles, particularly in financial services. Men occupy two to three times more senior management roles than women.
Women earn 75-80 cents on the dollar in Canada versus men. Canada trails even the U.S. with female senior management, CEOs and board members. Females make up less than 10 per cent of top 500 fortune financial companies, and board of directors members. Women increasing their leadership in Canada has stalled and not increased since 1987.
This is why we need this list. Awareness of the above to ensure women have a much more equal voice at the leadership table, driving the industry forward.
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