Co-operators has announced the formation of a seven-member Indigenous Advisory Council to guide the financial services co-operative’s Truth and Reconciliation commitments.
The council brings together Indigenous leaders whose lived experiences, cultural knowledge, and community expertise will help shape how Co-operators advances reconciliation across its strategies, products, and operations.
Council members include Tasha Altman, CEO of Many Nations Financial Services Ltd.; Vince Brittain, director of urban services at Prince Albert Grand Council; Cadmus Delorme, founder of OneHoop Advisory Services; Aubrey-Anne Laliberte-Pewapisconias, ImaGENation programme manager at Indigenous Clean Energy; Margaret Pfoh, CEO of Aboriginal Housing Management Association; and Travis Seymour, CEO of First Nations Market Housing Fund.
The council will work closely with Co-operators’ Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility team, with executive oversight from Michelle Laidlaw, AVP, National Home Product Portfolio, who will serve as co-chair alongside Angela Desnomie, vice-president of finance and administration at MLCN Investment Management Corp.
Laura Mably, executive vice-president and chief human resources officer at Co-operators, said the council’s formation signals a shift in how the organization intends to lead.
“Our Truth and Reconciliation journey calls us to lead differently: by listening with humility, learning with intention, and grounding our decisions in relationships built on trust and respect,” Mably said. “The Indigenous Advisory Council represents far more than guidance; it reflects our promise to transform how we operate, how we design solutions, and how we show up for Indigenous Peoples and communities across Canada.”
Desnomie said the partnership was chosen deliberately.
“This Council represents an opportunity to shape Truth and Reconciliation not as a statement, but as a practice grounded in respect, accountability, and shared responsibility,” Desnomie said. “We chose to partner with Co-operators because they have demonstrated a willingness to listen, to learn, and to implement the systemic changes required to make an enduring impact.”
She added that the council’s work will focus on creating pathways for Indigenous prosperity and advancing the intent of Call to Action No. 92 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which calls on corporate Canada to adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a reconciliation framework.
Co-operators, founded in 1945, manages more than $79 billion in assets under administration.
