Jennifer Garbowicz, CFA, CIPM

Presidents Council Chair

Jessie Bobinski, CFA

PCR, Canada

Where do you call home, and what is one thing you love about it?  
I live in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. We have a beautiful climate, mountains, and the ocean. True paradise!

What challenges do you see in your subregion?
Continuing to engage our members and ensuring we continue with our great relationship with the regulators, employers, and universities.

What opportunities do you see in your subregion?
Growth of the DEI Code adoption and the registration for the CFA Institute suite of learning products.

What do you wish was a part of the CFA Program when you were a candidate?
Financial modelling

What’s the one piece of advice you would give to incoming society leaders?
Stay involved! It is easy to participate in a strategic role only. You meet so many wonderful people when you participate in the actual events and programs delivered. 

John Carter, CFA

PCR, Western US

John Carter and his family at the Edward Jones 100-Year Celebration last December in Phoenix, Arizona.

Where do you call home, and what is one thing you love about it?  
Tempe, Arizona—Lots of sunshine and warm temps!

What challenges do you see in your subregion?
Like many regions, we always strive to increase member and volunteer engagement, but we try to identify "fun" ways to keep everyone engaged. We love our Western Regional Conference, held in Las Vegas in February.

What opportunities do you see in your subregion?
We continually seek ways to collaborate and share ideas. Sometimes that can be shared programming or bigger programs that span across the region. This came to life over the pandemic with some big events.

What do you wish was a part of the CFA Program when you were a candidate?
This is a tough one…maybe some leadership, persuasion, and negotiation skills.

What’s the one piece of advice you would give to incoming society leaders?
Make some friends, make an impact (no matter the size), learn something new, and have fun!

George Chen, CFA, CIPM

AMER Vice Chair and PCR, Southeastern US

Where do you call home, and what is one thing you love about it?  
Atlanta, Georgia, USA. I love the diversity of activities you can do and being close to both the ocean and mountains.

What challenges do you see in your subregion?
In the Southeastern US region, we have many local societies who will need to seek out new revenue streams to supplement reduced operational funding in order to continue to provide member value. 

What opportunities do you see in your subregion?
The opportunity is not limited to my subregion: collaboration and sharing programming events that have relevance for all members no matter their geography.

What do you wish was a part of the CFA Program when you were a candidate?
Specialized pathways

What’s the one piece of advice you would give to incoming society leaders?
Embrace the new connections you will make, attend society events and thank members for being part of the society, and seek out current and past society leaders to listen and learn.

Kevin Chiappetta, CFA

PCR, Midwestern US

Where do you call home, and what is one thing you love about it?  
I have lived with my family in New Berlin, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee, since 2001. However, home will always be Kenosha, Wisconsin where I was born and where my mother still lives. My place at the dinner table has been reserved for me since there was a dinner table.

What challenges do you see in your subregion?
This region has members in all four different society categories. Each society has strengths they can leverage, but staying relevant for our membership may mean something different for each. 

What opportunities do you see in your subregion?
Many of the regions have relationships with nearby universities that could be a funnel of candidates. These candidates may wish to see a career path in these locations. I hope we can strengthen these relationships and show a path for tomorrow's charterholders. 

What do you wish was a part of the CFA Program when you were a candidate?
Most of the new material covers areas of inquiry that didn’t exist when I was a candidate. Given the relevance to my job, risk management and the use of off-balance sheet instruments would have been helpful. 

What’s the one piece of advice you would give to incoming society leaders?
Find an area of impact and interest that you can lead for your society. Each society can engage in meaningful ways for members or potential members. Many of us will not be members in the near future and we need to prove our relevance to build a future.

Loukas Dedes, CFA

PCR, Central & Eastern Europe

Where do you call home, and what is one thing you love about it?  
Whenever I am with family and friends on a tour enjoying nature and delicious food

What challenges do you see in your subregion?
Geopolitical tension and less-sophisticated capital markets

What opportunities do you see in your subregion?
Potential for better financial services driven by well-educated finance professionals

What do you wish was a part of the CFA Program when you were a candidate?
Digital finance and implications for financial stability

What’s the one piece of advice you would give to incoming society leaders?
Be prepared to spend more time than you initially expected!

Chris Dreyer, CFA

PCR, Western Europe

Where do you call home, and what is one thing you love about it?  
Home is Switzerland, where I was born and raised. I like its still predominantly rural character, counterbalanced by its global outlook. Yet, there's a strong sense of civil ownership in the place. 

What challenges do you see in your subregion?
Due to the diverse landscape of societies in my region, there's no common challenges, except maybe for the challenges to the CFA designation-based business model that are felt across the board. 

What opportunities do you see in your subregion?
While there's a lot of bilateral society cooperation, there's still an opportunity to cooperate at the regional level, which happens to have a powerful regulatory dimension—speaking of the EU, of course. Some societies are also looking to engage a lot more in advocacy, so maybe there's an opportunity in the combination.

What do you wish was a part of the CFA Program when you were a candidate?
I'm struggling to think of anything, really. The program was pretty much perfect back in the day, or else I would have chosen something else. Perhaps an even faster, more determined move away from its US roots to a truly global perspective with a stronger society perspectives incorporated.

What’s the one piece of advice you would give to incoming society leaders?
Irrespective of whether you're a new society leader or a veteran, make sure to take full advantage of the SLCs which "thanks" to Covid are now a new thing again for everybody. Part of taking full advantage is also sharing your insights and motivation with your peers at home who were not so lucky!

Greg Filbeck, CFA, CIPM

PCR, Eastern US

Where do you call home, and what is one thing you love about it?  
I was born in Benton, Kentucky but have lived in Erie, Pennsylvania for the last 17 years. Erie is a friendly community with lots of opportunities for involvement, and the ease of living is terrific. 

What challenges do you see in your subregion?
Funding

What opportunities do you see in your subregion?
Sponsorship models; professional mentoring; fostering belonging through meaningful networking; greater interactions with universities

What do you wish was a part of the CFA Program when you were a candidate?
Well, that was the 1990s...I thought the curriculum was comprehensive.

What’s the one piece of advice you would give to incoming society leaders?
Seek opportunities to bring value, and utilize volunteer recruitment as an opportunity to actively engage other members. 

Jason Lee, CFA

APAC Vice Chair and PCR, APAC South

Where do you call home, and what is one thing you love about it?  
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I love the food, the people, and the heat.

What challenges do you see in your subregion?
Regional and geographical diversity; it’s not one-size-fits-all. 

What opportunities do you see in your subregion?
More structured collaboration across countries and societies.

What do you wish was a part of the CFA Program when you were a candidate?
Private wealth management

What’s the one piece of advice you would give to incoming society leaders?
Speak out and ask for help—you are not alone!

Barbara Mainzer, CFA

PCR, Atlantic Islands & Latin America

Where do you call home, and what is one thing you love about it?  
Uruguay is home. Being a daughter of immigrants (father from Switzerland and mother from Austria), my sister, brother-in-law and nephews being American, and having lived abroad myself, the convenience and friendliness of this small and stable country amazes me. It is so easy and enjoyable to live in Uruguay. 

What challenges do you see in your subregion?
The main challenge of the Atlantic Islands and Latin American countries sub region is connectivity amongst our 13 countries is limited and that we have very limited in-person contact. 

What opportunities do you see in your subregion?
It is such a diverse region, with such a rich heritage; there is so much we can learn from each other and profit from leveraging initiatives. In particular, we have the opportunity to contribute with our financial markets through advocacy initiatives and raising ethical and professional standards. 

What do you wish was a part of the CFA Program when you were a candidate?
More practical skills, such as those being introduced with the Evolution of the CFA Program. 

What’s the one piece of advice you would give to incoming society leaders?
Being a society leader you have the opportunity to contribute in your local market to pursue CFA Institute's mission to improve financial markets for ultimate benefit of society. Make the most out of this purposeful mission by leveraging the power of this global and admired institution, which is the reference of the highest ethical and professional standards. Have fun doing it and take advantage of all the great leaders CFA Institute has around the world. 

Mahmoud Nawar, CFA

EMEA Vice Chair and PCR, Middle East and Africa

Where do you call home, and what is one thing you love about it?  
Bahrain is where I call home although born in Egypt to Egyptian parents. I love that it is a calm place, everyone is friendly, and that's where all my great memories come from.

What challenges do you see in your subregion?
The challenge is mainly in both the society leaders and I finding the time to discuss the issues that face them. Also, given my societies are in the Middle East and Africa, they each have differing views about various topics.

What opportunities do you see in your subregion?
Collaboration, collaboration, and more collaboration. There is a great opportunity for these societies to hold the best events if we can have more collaboration. Already the Middle East is collaborating, and Africa is collaborating, but if we can get an event across those two groups then it would be a great win.

What do you wish was a part of the CFA Program when you were a candidate?
An instructor to help with some of the more difficult topics. I had to find colleagues and friends who would explain the material. I started doing the same after I received my charter.

What’s the one piece of advice you would give to incoming society leaders?
It is a volunteer role, but if you can't commit the effort and the time then find people who can!

Shirley Ogden, CFA

PCR, Central & Southwest US

Shirley Ogden exploring the streets of Portugal in her travels.

Where do you call home, and what is one thing you love about it?  
Dallas, Texas is home. There is still a lot of the “Wild West” heritage here with unbelievable opportunities, diversity, a feeling of being able to achieve anything. Some of this may be due to the wildcatters that make Texas a leading oil producer. And we have a world class airport where you can get to many other amazing destinations non-stop.  

What challenges do you see in your subregion?
The Central and Southwest Region includes a number of small societies, and they are concerned about having the resources to bring member value and engage industry leaders with high-profile events.

What opportunities do you see in your subregion?
We have tremendous institutional knowledge in our membership base. The opportunity is continuing to engage and encourage them to be a vocal voice and a continuous presence in support of the CFA Institute brand.

What do you wish was a part of the CFA Program when you were a candidate?
It would have been helpful to know more about the CFA Program while a student, having it discussed as part of a career path. A larger focus on all of the career paths open to CFA charterholders— private wealth management is only one of many. 

What’s the one piece of advice you would give to incoming society leaders?
Take the time to know your members and what is important to them. 

Inna Zorina, CFA

PCR, APAC North & Oceania

Where do you call home, and what is one thing you love about it?  
Asia-Pacific—I love its diversity! I love exploring the culture, history, and nature (especially scuba diving)!

What challenges do you see in your subregion?

There is a lack of connection (with the Board of Governors and with other societies) and a lack of in-person interaction between the society leaders across the region. Funding is a big challenge, especially for smaller societies. There is a lack of clarity on how future funding will affect long-term programs including engagement with universities, employers, and staff appointments.

What opportunities do you see in your subregion?

• APAC is the fastest-growing market, so collaboration across the region should help the candidates and students better navigate the CFA Institute landscape. Many societies are member-focused, so adding candidates and students to the engagement program is an opportunity to enhance the pipeline.
• Sharing the best practices and experience across the region via the Higher Logic platform or regular calls.
• Collaboration on the key topics of interest (e.g., ESG), better engaging the ARX team and the CFA Institute advocacy team
• Inviting high-profile international speakers to the in-person events
• Explore sponsorship opportunities

What do you wish was a part of the CFA Program when you were a candidate?
Practical skills modules!

What’s the one piece of advice you would give to incoming society leaders?
Leverage the global society leaders' network; it is a great source of knowledge and innovative ideas!