About Seán Riley 瑞利山

Professional background. Private banker turned housing affordability solutions and homeless advocate.

Community involvement. Volunteered in DTES homeless shelter several years and as independent advocate for homeless individuals since 2014.

Vision for Vancity. If you agree there is far more we can do — together — to make ours a much better, fiscally responsible, environmentally sustainable, and inclusive credit union and community that works well

FOR THE MANY, NOT JUST THE FEW,

then PLEASE REMEMBER the name Seán Riley when you go online to vote.

As a Vancity member, you can lend Seán Riley your crucial support and vote online anytime from 9 AM on April 7, 2025 until April 25 at 4:30 PM when voting closes.

Please urge your family and friends who are Vancity members to vote too. Every voice matters.

Housing Affordability Solutions & Homeless Advocate at Homes4AllCanadians.Org

Vancity member since 2014

Interview with Seán Riley 瑞利山

Q: Why are you running for the Board of Directors?

A: I’m interested to join Vancity’s Board of Directors because I believe that with my decades of private banking experience, including the successful turnkey design and marketing of various financial products and services to diverse global markets, I can add value to the board not only in governance but also in improving and growing the revenue base of Vancity.

Now in 2025 with Vancity’s new corporate leadership having recently announced its plans to launch a nationwide digital bank, I am certain that my previous experience as the file lead in preparing to launch a similar schedule I bank last decade will allow me to provide valuable insights into how ‘Vancity 2.0’ can assertively and as quickly as possible achieve significant competitive market penetration as desired, if not better than projected. As a predominantly BC focused credit union to date, and with membership and account holders having seemingly plateaued to the 560,000+ member range, I strongly believe the launch of a nationwide digital bank is just the ticket for the Vancity Financial Group to significantly increase its deposit and account holders nationwide and vastly increase its asset and revenue base going forward. As someone who has been known as an ‘ideas guy’ I’m chock full of innovative ideas to help the board and executive leadership make that happen.

The bottom line is the more revenue Vancity and its new digital bank generates, the more it expands its assets and depositor base, the larger the profits are and size of the 30% shared with members and doing good in our communities. And that’s very exciting to me.

Q: Tell us about your educational background.

A: I have an undergraduate degree plus one year of graduate school majoring in Political Science, International Relations, one year of Business, a semester of indigenous studies, and a year at a French-language university in Quebec.

My early real-world education was obtained via 4 years working as a political aide on Parliament Hill for both Liberal and Progressive Conservative governments, then diving into the private sector for 30 years both as a self-employed entrepreneur in the international education business, and as a senior executive for several private companies and groups, including 2 market-leading and financially successful private investment banks based out of both Canada and the Unites States.

Over the decades since 1993 I’ve also spent a culminative 8 years of my life living and working primarily in China and – oh my – what an educational experience it has been to experience China’s complete economic and competitive transformation, including what positive aspects can be learned and applied abroad for present day and future.

I would say my most valuable educational experience to date came due to my discretely becoming temporarily homeless 3 times - cumulatively one year - over the decades while operating as a self-employed entrepreneur without a safety net and too proud to ask for help.

There is no greater education than being homeless and living with real hunger and poverty. While it’s somewhat beneficial for weight loss, I would never recommend it or wish such experiences on my worst enemies or detractors.

The School of Hard Knocks and Poverty is ‘a real eye opener’ unlike anything taught in academic classrooms. If you’ve ever been privileged to read and grasp the full meaning of Plato’s Analogy of the Cave, you’ll know exactly what I mean. Once you break free from chains and emerge from the shadows of the cave to glimpse the light of reality and truth of our world, you never look at anything again the same. Pursuing excessive material gain does not matter at the end of one’s life. Real wealth and happiness can be found in helping make it a better world for all, for the many, not just the few. To paraphrase Dolly Parton, “If you know, you care. If you care, you act.”

Q: What has been your professional experience to date?

A: As per my LinkedIn profile, my first full-time job was in 1981-83 as a gofer for a construction and developer group building a massive waterfront reclamation project that included innovative senior and public housing. In 1984 I was employed as an Ottawa-based political aide to the Federal Minister Responsible for CMHC. Later in early 1990's, although not a Progressive Conservative party member or supporter, I was nonetheless recruited to become the Executive Assistant/ senior aide to a prominent Progressive Conservative government MP with considerable expertise and focus on housing policy, immigration, the environment. I have ever since maintained a strong interest in sustainable and social/co-op housing models. The ‘Vienna Housing Model’ is a favourite. ‘Housing First’ represents my core values.

Concurrently, while working on Parliament Hill from 1990-92 I was also Founding Executive Secretary of the all-party Canada-China Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group, responsible for inter-personal political relations between Canada’s Federal parliamentarians and members of the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress. I had a similar role handling political relations with Japan’s Diet (parliament) during this period.

After leaving government to enter the private sector, I spent decades honing my financing acumen by turnkey designing and launching numerous government-regulated successful globally marketed financial products and services.

I also was project lead for 5 years on successfully obtaining Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) approval of the business plan to become a Schedule I Canadian-owned bank much like the soon-to-be launched Schedule I digital bank owned and soon to be launched by ‘Vancity 2.0’ under the guidance of our credit union’s new leadership. And I’m excited to see that coming down the pipeline.

Currently have applied decades of successful private investment banking experience to turnkey design innovative (no-cost-to-taxpayers) housing finance/funding models intended for Ireland & Canada. Believing that everyone who needs a home should have a home, I’m currently focusing my government and private sector financial acumen to mobilize private capital for public good. And that’s a good thing.

As for governance, I have decades of experience in dealing with academic, government, private sector corporate, community and volunteer or political party boards, in Canada and abroad. I am a stickler for strictly following the rule of law, transparency, good corporate ethics, and generally accepted accounting practices.

Coming from a government and private finance and business background, I know how effective governance works. Beyond competency in governance, I also believe it’s an equally important function of a credit union’s board to be able to bring financial and business experience to the table to help guide revenue growth, all for the benefit of members and community.

Q: Tell us about your community involvement?

A: Core values are solidly progressive yet I’m also a small ‘c’ fiscal conservative in that I’m opposed to wasting limited resources on extravagances that could be better applied to helping our communities.

Within the last decade after returning to Vancouver I volunteered several years for First United Homeless Shelter in DTES Vancouver. In addition to volunteering at the homeless shelter, I spent considerable time traversing the streets and alleys of DTES, touring shelters, SRO’s and support services and meeting people from many walks of life to increase my understanding of complex homeless, mental health and poverty issues.

On Federal Election Day in 2015, I was fortunate to spend the whole day accompanying an anti-poverty advocate to visit about 15 downtown Vancouver SRO’s and Supportive Housing buildings to register to vote and get to polls. I was horrified to see the conditions of some private SRO’s and it reinforced my desire to seriously refocus my longtime efforts toward designing and helping facilitate a viable financing solution to better build affordable and secure permanent housing for all.

Most recently I have assisted and advocated for several chronic homeless persons befriended in my own neighbourhood who crossed my path from time to time. Highlights include in 2021-22 when I was able to assist a disabled person living in a park over a year to finally secure/transition into first a used motorhome then permanent supportive housing after a hard life of 20 years on the streets. Helped a few others too.

I’ve recently reinvented myself to devote most of my focus toward launching my transformative turnkey social finance model intended to finance and fund Canada’s housing affordability and chronic homelessness crisis. I’ve applied decades of successful private investment banking experience to turnkey design an innovative (no-cost-to-taxpayers) housing finance model. I’m now focusing my financial acumen to mobilize private capital for public good.

Government must step up and do all it can to alleviate the affordability crisis affecting all Canadians. We must not forget the needs of all Canadians, not just aspiring homeowners. Ergo, I’ve spent hundreds of hours developing a viable social finance product to augment our various level of governments’ combined efforts to tackle our housing issues by adding up to $100 billion in globally sourced private capital to be utilized solely for public good, namely the building of the affordable, public, co-operative and non-profit housing infrastructure Canada has long neglected but sorely needs.

Q: How do you plan to contribute to the success of Vancity and our members if elected?

A: With my experience, solid financial acumen, general skills and unbridled enthusiasm, I’m a good person to have in the boardroom of a progressive financial institution whose mandate includes doing good in its community. When I first joined Vancity a decade ago after returning to Canada from life abroad, I did so primarily because I knew it to be a member of Global Alliance on Banking for Values. Vancity also contributed to community causes we all care about to a degree far beyond the norm of mainstream and strictly for-profit FI’s.

I am proud of what Vancity accomplished to date but going forward, I foresee it can grow and do far more for the betterment of our members and community. When wanting to help transform our society, given limited resources it often comes down to financial terms, more specifically, ‘Where is the money going to come from to do this or that,’ correct?

As a new board member who plans to serve only one three-year term, I hope to contribute however possible to help Vancity and its new digital bank become far more financially successful so it can all the better contribute to our society not only as ‘a force for change’ but as A Force For Public Good. I would be very happy to work with the talented teams of the board, executive, management, staff and volunteer members to ensure Vancity 2.0’ can manifest to become all it can be.

Vote for me if you share this vision.

Q: Describe your leadership style and how it aligns with Vancity’s mission.

A: Suffice to say my core values are aligned with Vancity’s mission. My leadership style is to get things done, effectively and beyond expectations to achieve desired outcomes. I learned early on in government and business life that if you plan very carefully and creatively in preparing a solid business plan, by learning from others and anticipating how best to meet or exceed market demands, it vastly increases the likelihood of success. It’s not rocket science.

If you think and act with the best interests of all concerned to produce win/win/win outcomes, if you are prudent, transparent and truthful in your operations and marketing, you can do a lot with a little. You can minimize risk and waste. I wholeheartedly enjoy the challenge and process of taking any good idea from concept to reality. Where some may see chaos and confusion or hurdles and roadblocks, I see opportunities for positive change and thoroughly enjoy the collaborative process effecting transformative change together.

Q: How do you plan to represent the diverse needs of our membership?

A: In business, I’ve successfully designed and marketed very competitive financial products and services to diverse, multicultural global markets. I’ve lived and worked out of China and set up offices in India, China, UK, and attracted clients from approximately 75 countries. In my former life as a political aide with the rare experience of being recruited to work for both Liberal and PC Federal governments, I had the pleasure of helping every sort of person imaginable sort out their various issues, from refugees to pensioners to the homeless, there can be much joy in public service if you do it to help others.

I love Canada’s diversity and celebrate the right of all to be who they are. As the son of a fairly non-partisan politician who loved and was respected by all kinds of people, I learned early on never to judge others, to try to understand others’ perspectives, and not just to tolerate but to appreciate the many political and social differences we all have. There’s far more we have in common than differences some exploit to divide us.

As for meeting the diverse needs of Vancity’s membership, when we boil it down to basics, we all want the same in this life: good health, education, opportunity and a secure roof overhead. We all want peace and prosperity and to make it a better world for family and neighbours, to leave it a better world for all yet to come.

Vote for me if you share these ideals and vision of what our society can and should be.

This message authorized by Charles B. Cato, Official Agent and Chairman of The Committee of Cats to Elect Seán Riley 瑞利山