Pride 2022: An interview with Anna Trickey

Thank you for talking about allyship with us today, Anna. Would you be able to tell our readers a bit about yourself?

I’ve been with Canaccord for over 23 years. I am the Group Head of Compliance for CGWM, although my role also covers Legal and CoSec. Throughout my career, I’ve been involved with lots of different things.

I’ve been in the industry a while and have seen lots of change. I have often found myself to be the only woman in a meeting but, I think I help to bring a different perspective and I think that people appreciate that.

At CGWM, I am the lead on our internal ESG group. This encompasses our diversity, equity and inclusion and climate action committees/working groups. I’m an active member of both and I try to bring a lot of energy into making sure our colleague’s voices are heard.

In the spirit of Pride month, what does allyship mean to you?

Having LGBTQ+ friends and hearing their stories, I’m determined to help create an environment where people can be themselves. There shouldn’t be any stigma around who people love and how they identify.

Having children, I’m exposed to the conversations that young people are having about identity. It’s important for me that my children feel that they can be themselves but that I also teach them to respect others.

As a senior colleague, how do you use your senior position to promote allyship?

I try to ensure that a diversity, equity and inclusion lens is brought over our most important business decisions. At board level, I want our board members to think about how the decisions we talk about or make affect the lives of different people. There is no “one size fits all” approach and if it there is, it is likely that it only fits one group of people. Our business is diverse and so, we need to ensure we’re thinking about everyone’s voice when making decisions that affect the very DNA of the business.

There’s definitely momentum building up around this.

What does being a good ally mean to you?

For me, a good ally is someone who helps support and encourage conversations around LGBTQ+ inclusion. It’s important to not overstep the mark though and I think allies need to be aware of the space they may be taking. It’s also an educational journey. I take the time to do the research into how I can better use my position and about the issues that LGBTQ+ people are facing around the world.