Ms. Nancy McKenzie was elected as Chair of the UBC Board of Governors in July 2020, and has served on the Board since 2017. During her term, she has chaired the Finance Committee, and been a member of the Executive Committee, Property Committee, Employee Relations Committee, Financial Strategy Working Group, UBC Neighborhoods Liaison Committee, Academic Renewal Working Group, Housing Action Plan Working Group, Strategic Plan Implementation Advisory Council, and Presidential Reappointment Committee. She served as a Director of the UBC Investment Management Trust Inc. from 2018-2020, is a Corporate Director for Coast Capital Savings, where she is Vice-Chair and Chair of the Risk Committee, and is an advisor to businesses and boards.
Nancy McKenzie is a former senior executive with management and board experience, having provided strong leadership in an array of diverse and complex operating environments. Her specific experience includes leading strategic planning and execution, team leadership, creating culture, risk management, operational excellence, governance, restructuring and acquisitions/divestitures.
Nancy spent 18 years of her career with Seaspan ULC, where for the last 12 years she was CFO and was responsible for Corporate Services. During her tenure at Seaspan, she participated in numerous business acquisitions, financing and capital investment programs. She was recognized as “CFO of the Year” in 2012 by Business in Vancouver owing to her strategic work with the Seaspan executive team on the National Shipbuilding Strategy, which resulted in them winning the multi-billion non-combat construction program for Canada, generating billions in economic impact for BC and creating thousands of long-term sustainable jobs. Following contract award, she implemented the financing requirements and was involved in contracting and oversight of the shipbuilding program, as well as implementation of maturity improvement plans for multiple functional areas to support overall operational efficiency.
Over the past 25 years, Nancy has served on five community, association and pension boards, including chairing Audit, Finance and Governance committees. She served the CPA profession for many years, supporting students to achieve their designations. Her contributions included exam support, tutoring, course instruction and exam authorship, as well as exam marking for both provincial and national associations. She gives back to her community through volunteerism, and has been team manager and other support roles for community youth sports. Most recently she was on the 2019 BC Women’s Health Foundation GLOW Gala committee.
Nancy holds an Honours Bachelor of Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University (Waterloo) and is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CA). She was awarded Fellowship by the Chartered Professional Accountants of BC in 2018 in recognition of her contributions to the profession and community. In 2019, BC Business named Nancy one of BC’s Most Influential Women in Finance. She has recently completed the Institute of Corporate Directors DEP program, obtaining her Corporate Director Designation (ICD.D).
