BC's Top Employers (2025) Magazine - Flipbook - Page 36
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BC’S TOP EMPLOYERS (2025)
Coast Capital makes real purpose its business
F
or Alisha Parker,
personal purpose has
led to amazing career
growth in the most
unexpected way. Since
joining Coast Capital Savings
Federal Credit Union in 2008 as
a filing clerk, she’d risen up the
ranks to supervisor in the retail
lending department. Then in
2022, after sharing a post on social
media to mark Black History
Month, she was invited to write an
article about her lived experience
as a biracial Black woman for the
organization’s intranet site as part
of a content series to elevate the
company’s commitment to fostering an equitable and inclusive
workplace.
Although nervous, she realized
that her testimony could have a
positive impact, paving the way for
other employees from underrepresented groups to share their
experiences.
“Being invited to share my story,
that really stuck out for me. It
is a testament to Coast Capital
and their work in creating that
inclusive culture,” Parker says.
Soon after, she joined the
credit union’s equity, diversity and
inclusion (EDI) council and, later,
became the co-chair of the Racial
Equity and Multiculturalism employee resource group (ERG), one
of six ERGs advancing the status
of traditionally marginalized
employee groups at Coast Capital.
When the EDI and communication coordinator role opened
up last fall, Parker applied and
got the job. “I’m fully able to lean
into my passion for this work. This
new role gives me a real sense of
purpose.”
“It’s important for any organization to be taking a look at practices
that allow individuals who are
underrepresented to unlock
doors, and that’s really what we’re
trying to drive,” says Jackson
White, vice-president of human
resources.
Fostering a culture of real connection that enables all employees
to bring their full selves to work is
just one of five pillars that make
up Coast Capital’s employee
promise, White notes. Other
pillars include things common to
progressive workplaces, such as
real flexibility to achieve work-life
balance, real well-being in the
form of a comprehensive benefit
package, and real growth, as in
opportunities for career advancement. But the employee promise
also includes something rare
among employers: real purpose.
Coast doesn’t have to do
all these things, but they
choose to, and that makes me
really proud to work here.
— Alisha Parker
EDI and Communication
Coordinator
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Coast Capital offers employees perks including discounted mortgage rates, preferred foreign exchange rates
and a consultation with a financial planner.
In 2020, Coast Capital adopted
a social purpose business model
focused on delivering real impact
for its members, employees and
communities, integrating its
purpose into its core business and
creating measurable benefits for
society. A Certified B Corporation,
Coast Capital annually reinvests
10 per cent of its budgeted bottom
line back into the communities it
serves – more than $100 million
since 2000. It is also a member of
the Net-Zero Banking Alliance,
committed to carbon neutrality
by 2050. Under its employee volunteer program, workers can use
paid time to volunteer for causes
of their choice.
At the same time, the credit
union takes care to create opportunities for advancement for every
employee, White says. “Career
growth is about both excelling in
