Rowena is equally passionate about the development of talent and determined to improve the dynamics of workplace diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) for women and underrepresented minorities. She has made significant contributions in this space as a former Board Member of Career Edge, and VP of Ascend Canada. In 2021, Insurance Business Canada named her among Canada’s Leaders of Change for her trailblazing efforts to promote DE&I while driving transformational change in the insurance industry. In 2020, Rowena was awarded Canada’s Most Powerful Women Award among Executive Leaders by the Women Exchange Network (WXN) for her role in advancing the societal and professional landscape for future generations. She is also an alumnus of the Judy Project, one of Canada's leading executive forums, designed to support and prepare women ascending into executive leadership. For her work in this forum, she was featured in the book The Collective Wisdom of High-Performing Women.
Prior to joining Sun Life, Rowena held a series of senior executive roles at TD Bank Group across retail distribution, wealth management, product development, data & analytics and control functions. Rowena holds a BA in Sociology and Economics from the University of Toronto where she has been recognized as a Top 50 alumnus.