The bridge to financial fluency

One Toronto organization is working to economically empower Black Canadians

By Geena Lee

“Our vision is to change the face of the financial services industry,” says Marlon Reid, Toronto chapter president of the Urban Financial Services Coalition (UFSC). First established in New York City in 1974, the UFSC was created in response to “the lack of diversity, particularly of Blacks, in Wall Street firms.”

Today, the non-profit trade organization boasts a membership of more than 3,000 banking and financial professionals, with 51 chapters extending across the United States to Canada.

Dedicated to inspiring youth and the African-Canadian community towards a deeper understanding of the financial services industry, the Toronto chapter of the UFSC aims to foster economic empowerment for people of colour. The key to this transition lays in the mantras “what you know” and “who you know.”

Reid elaborates: “The ‘what you know’ is education. So, we want to promote financial literacy in our community (through training workshops) with the awareness that the economy has an impact on everyone.” The “who you know” stems from the networking and mentoring opportunities offered by the UFSC, which Reid views as a powerful tool towards elevating one’s career. “I think that’s the recipe for success in this world,” says Reid.

“Our members lean on each other as a community and it’s easy to, because we already come in with an understanding of our history, our culture, our struggle. There’s a comfort level in our networking that allows people to connect in a way that can deliver real results.”

It’s this concept of community that first prompted the Jamaica-born Reid to join the UFSC in 2002. As a young investment banker on Bay Street, he was immediately impressed by the coalition. “I saw all these sharp young professionals knowing what they wanted out of their career. I knew I needed to be a part of this.” Reid became active by conducting financial literacy workshops in elementary and high schools as well as creating professional development programs for UFSC members, most notably the introduction of improv training.

“It forces you to listen and to think on your feet, which makes you more effective at networking.”
As vice president at TD Securities, Reid’s main motivation is to “raise the economic condition of our community by encouraging the youth to consider financial services as a career option,” therefore, creating higher ethno-racial diversity within the industry.

Reid also promotes the practice of being “bi-cultural,” which he says is the capability of speaking the language of business as well as the language of the community. “I think that our community struggles to connect with people who are different than we are, and the result is that we are shut out of opportunities because we don’t make that connection.

There’s a lifestyle that we want, but don’t know how to get from point A to point B.”  Through education, mentorship and networking, the UFSC continues to build a bridge between communities and corporations, while encouraging a financial fluency that will translate economic needs into economic empowerment.

To learn more about the UFSC, visit ufsc-toronto.org