Paying it forward is part of the TD culture

Fifteen years ago, while still a university student and part-time barista, Julia Kelly was drawn to TD Bank Group because of its focus on customer service and opportunities for growth across the organization.

“I felt that by joining TD, I could build a meaningful career around my passion for the customer,” says Kelly, now vice president, small business banking and segment strategy.

Joining TD as a co-op student with the national real estate team in Vancouver, Kelly advanced through different departments including branch banking, credit risk and commercial banking. She received guidance from leaders within each team on how to help build her career and was assisted in completing external educational courses through the bank’s Tuition Assistance Program. Years later, Kelly herself is a leader at TD.

Darlene Osborne-Lawrence started her career at TD as a part-time customer service associate at a retail branch in the Greater Toronto Area. Now a senior manager in the ‘Next Evolution of Work’ team, she says it’s the culture that attracted her to TD.

“It’s a caring culture that’s very inclusive,” says Osborne-Lawrence. “Walking into my neighbourhood branch, I could see representation not only of myself, but of various backgrounds. I liked seeing the camaraderie of the staff who worked together. It was apparent you could be yourself at TD.”

Now a member of multiple employee resource groups, including the Black Employee Network (BEN) and Women@TD, Osborne-Lawrence is actively helping to make an impact and support the career growth of colleagues across the bank while balancing her time as a caregiver at home.

“As a leader in the BEN professional development pillar, I would ask colleagues, ‘What help do you need?’ Then my team would leverage the feedback and create workshops to help address systemic obstacles and provide training resources.”

Back in Vancouver, Kelly also benefited from the support of leaders across TD. “I was encouraged to explore my professional passions,” she says. “It feels like we have a limitless number of programs for development – from internal learning pathways that can be customized by employees, to external courses.”

Through a bank-supported program, Kelly attended external courses to become a chartered professional accountant. “Adding new skillsets undoubtedly elevated my career,” says Kelly. “Many of my development conversations balanced the importance of skills and experience.”

Mentorship has also played a major role in Kelly’s career — whether it's through one-on-one conversations or bank-wide programs. Now, as a leader, she’s passionate about supporting colleagues with personal career advice, group mentoring and panel discussions.

“That’s really what our culture is based on – caring about others’ success, because that means we can all move forward together as an organization,” she adds.

As a mentor to many employees across TD through the Each One Teach One mentoring program, Osborne-Lawrence helps junior employees and shares similar feelings. “Helping colleagues navigate their career paths, achieve their goals and complete different types of training helps us all move forward together,” says Osborne-Lawrence.

Although they’ve never crossed paths, Osborne-Lawrence and Kelly separately noted that the reason they love working at TD is their ability to make an impact, experience growth and be part of a caring and inclusive culture. It’s a culture that undoubtedly has helped TD remain one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers for 17 consecutive years.

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Canada's Top 100 Employers winners, published November 17, 2023 in The Globe and Mail. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.

TD is creating inclusive experiences in the GTA

Jill Zou came to Canada when she was a 17-year-old international student from China, and soon joined TD Bank Group as a contact centre specialist. A manager saw her potential and offered life-changing advice when she was considering what was next for her career.

“My first team manager inspired me to look at career opportunities within the bank,” says Zou, who recently became district vice president, Markham North, after serving there as a district lead in the personal banking delivery excellence team. “Since then I've had nine different roles over the past 13 years at TD and did that intentionally to expand my breadth within the organization. Throughout my career, everybody I've interacted with, whether peers, managers or executives, have been very supportive of my growth.”

Supportive leaders and a caring culture also describe Yasmien Fadl's experience at TD. For Fadl, associate vice-president, head of workplace design & experience, enterprise real estate, in Toronto, growing her career at TD has been a positive journey. After starting on a contract in 2017, she joined as a permanent employee six months later, attracted by the bank's inclusive culture and her ability to grow professionally there.

“I’m a Black, Sudanese Muslim immigrant,” says Fadl. “I know the power of diverse leadership and the positive impact it has. I see myself reflected at TD, and my role also offers me the opportunity and autonomy to make things better for people across the organization. I knew I wanted my next opportunity to be one where I could have influence to improve the quality of colleagues’ lives and experiences at work.”

Fadl and her team lead workplace design for all the TD workspaces across the globe, including the new LEED and WELL-certified TD Terrace at 160 Front Street West in Toronto.

“It’s not every day you get to help create a new flagship campus for TD,” says Fadl. “I feel very fortunate to have worked on this project with the goal of creating spaces and experiences where people can thrive, not only to do their best work, but to feel they belong.

“What’s interesting about the building is that it’s modelled as a vertical city, with an interconnected campus equipped with state-of-the-art amenities, intuitive technology, wellness offerings and inclusive spaces,” Fadl explains. “That includes accommodating a culturally and neurodiverse workforce with people who need lower light or more acoustically private environments, as well as places for people to collaborate, recharge, reflect and connect with colleagues or host meetings and events.

“Culture doesn’t just happen – you’ve got to foster it, create it, nurture it – so we strive to create environments that reflect who we are and what we value at TD,” she adds. “It’s one of the ways our culture of care is manifesting into our workplace strategy.”

Zou is also experiencing the bank's caring culture as a junior leader in the visible minority mentorship program. This program pairs senior executives with junior leaders to engage in regular mentorship conversations as an investment in the bank's future. The bank says this supportive leadership cultivates growth and empowers colleagues to make an even greater impact across TD.

“I try to reflect on what I’ve learned and share my wisdom with other colleagues,” say Zou. “I want to provide my teams with the same support I'm receiving from leaders in the bank.”

From its people to its premises, TD says it is creating opportunities for unique and inclusive experiences to help its employees achieve fulfilling and impactful careers across the GTA and beyond.

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Greater Toronto’s Top Employers winners, published December 5, 2023 in The Globe and Mail. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.

The caring culture at TD is inclusive by design

Yvonne Wright, event coordinator, diversity & inclusion (D&I), has experienced working in many different departments during her 34-year career at TD Bank Group, but that’s not the only reason why she’s stayed so long.

“There’s so much opportunity to be able to move around and try different things,” says Wright. “It’s like a new job each time, but in the same company. You get to improve your skill set and acquire a fresh lens to bring to the next posting. I love that about TD!”

Wright initially started out with TD Credit Cards and then moved into telephone banking before going back to school to do her bachelor of arts. While studying, TD accommodated her schedule, allowing her to cut back to part-time and then return to full-time once she graduated. When an opportunity arose in the D&I team, an area she wanted to pursue, Wright jumped at it.

“Being a woman of colour and someone who has an invisible disability, I was already a big advocate for volunteering and giving back to the community,” says Wright. “I enjoy working in D&I because I get to see first-hand what the bank is doing to be more inclusive, by helping provide access to designated spaces such as prayer rooms, mothering rooms, gender-neutral bathrooms and workplace accommodations for individual needs.

“At TD, we encourage everyone to bring their authentic self to work, whatever your gender, diversity, disability or ability. TD really tries to accommodate everyone.” Wright believes in TD so much that her daughter Eltisha also works for the company.

Upal Hossain, associate vice president, product group technology lead, joined TD in 2015 as a software engineer and briefly left, but returned after 14 months. He quickly got a management opportunity and then grew into more senior levels of leadership, becoming an executive three years ago.

“One thing that became clear to me very quickly was the consistent culture of care at TD,” says Hossain. “I came back because I found the sense of accomplishment I get delivering things here is greater. This is my second inning but I’m here for the long term.”

Born in Bangladesh, Hossain came to Canada when he was 10 years old, opening his first bank account at a TD branch. He recalls staff were always very respectful to customers, and he’s found the same respect given to colleagues. Like Wright, he sees lots of opportunities for a diverse career experience.

“I never saw myself as a banker because I’m tech-minded, but somehow I ended up working in a bank,” says Hossain. “Now I’m doing my MBA on the side and TD has been helping me with that as well. I can see myself taking on business segment roles in the future. With TD being such a large company with so many lines of businesses, the career possibilities are almost endless.”

His current job in technology has helped him see the importance of D&I from a different angle.

“When you work in data, D&I is at the forefront,” says Hossain. “If you look at the decisions we make that really impact our customers and colleagues, diversity of thought matters. TD is very inclusive by design, involving different communities we have within the bank to inform decision-making, which is healthy because it provides greater diversity.”

At TD, diversity and inclusion are part of the fundamental values shaping how the bank strives to help support its customers, colleagues and communities – and move towards creating a barrier-free culture for everyone.

“We are always changing,” Wright says. “We’re always moving forward together.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Canada’s Best Diversity Employers winners, published March 5, 2024 in The Globe and Mail. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.

TD takes a unified approach to sustainability

The first thing Scott Kirby did when he started as a TD Insurance (TDI) advisor at TD Bank Group 17 years ago was join the Green Team, an employee-driven environmental committee, focused on raising awareness and empowering colleagues. Always passionate about sustainability, Kirby held several management positions in TDI before moving into his current role in 2022 as manager, environmental partnerships and initiatives.

“From my early days at TD, I’ve had the opportunity to bring my passion for the environment to work,” says Kirby, a recent TD Insurance Allstar annual award recipient. “My managers were consistently supportive, helping me find opportunities to be involved as a volunteer. Now it’s very exciting to officially have an environment-focused component to my mandate and be able to do what I love for my job.”

Kirby works closely with the TDI Advisory Board on Climate Change, including initiatives focused on climate resiliency and educating customers and the community on how they can reduce risks associated with extreme weather. For instance, TDI recently sponsored an event in Edmonton to raise awareness on the increasing issue of basement flooding risks. Another example is the Green Citizen Symposium, sponsored by TDI at Seneca College in Toronto, that hosted keynote speakers and held workshops on topics such as wildfire, biodiversity loss and the role of corporations in addressing the risks of climate change.

The bank supports environmental projects in the community with corporate giving and employee volunteering through the TD Ready Commitment – its corporate citizenship platform.

“I’m proud to work at an organization where I can participate in initiatives designed to make an impact, not only locally, but across the country and worldwide with some of the global programs we participate in,” says Kirby. “Every year, I look forward to TD Tree Days, which has a goal of planting one million trees and shrubs by 2030. It is great to see TD employees and members of the general public attend these events.”

Since the program began in 2010, more than 511,000 native trees and shrubs have been planted with the help of volunteers across Canada.

Hamida Sachedina, associate vice-president, social strategy & advice, says focus on sustainability is an integral part of the bank’s culture and corporate strategy. Sachedina leads the team that guides the social pillar of the TD sustainability strategy. Launched in 2023, TD Pathways to Economic Inclusion focuses on helping to improve employment, financial and housing access.

“Economic inclusion has long been core to the bank’s sustainability priorities,” says Sachedina. “The new TD Pathways to Economic Inclusion framework unifies our work across our business, philanthropy and employment practices, which inspires our future efforts toward improving economic inclusion.

“A great example of a recent initiative at TD to help improve economic inclusion is the Black Entrepreneur Credit Access Program, which is designed to provide more equitable access to credit for Black entrepreneurs, who disproportionately face hurdles to securing funding for their businesses.”

Sachedina attributes the achievement of TD Pathways to Economic Inclusion and her own success during her nine-year career journey at TD to the supportive culture she experiences, where people are willing to open doors and help others grow. Kirby would agree, saying, “We truly have a culture of care and a focus on engaging employees and empowering them to help make a difference for a better future.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Canada's Greenest Employers winners, published April 16, 2024 in The Globe and Mail. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.