As part of Jumpstart’s commitment to support matching skilled refugees with employers, we are excited to announce the next in a series of Career Pathing workshops delivered by Jumpstart and partners.

This session features two speakers and 3 panelists, all employees from Western Financial Group. The session is co-facilitated by Darrell Pinto, Director of Employment, Jumpstart Refugee Talent, and Sophie Jama Malindi, Country Director for Canada, Tent Partnership for Refugees.

This session will provide refugees with information and subsequent pre-screened pathways to employment in the insurance industry.

This workshop is free to attend.

FACILITATORS

Darrell Pinto, Employment Director | Jumpstart Refugee Talent

Darrell Pinto is Director of Employment at Jumpstart Refugee Talent where he leverages his extensive corporate relationships to create a pathway to meaningful employment for refugees. Darrell is a senior executive who has honed his strategic consulting and people-focused leadership in Toronto, New York, London, and Shanghai at companies spanning private and public financial markets, pharmaceuticals, media and non-profits.

Darrell currently serves on the boards of several non-profits and was a previous co-chair with Senator Ratna Omidvar of the National Refugee Jobs Agenda Roundtable, a working coalition of 150 Canadian organizations collaborating to find meaningful jobs for refugees. He is host of a national talk show on the New Canadians TV platform on issues related to inclusion, immigration, and multiculturalism.

Sophie Jama Malindi, Country Director for Canada | Tent Partnership for Refugees

Sophie Jama Malindi is Country Director at Tent, responsible for its operations in Canada.

Prior to joining the organization, Sophie served as a long-time Program Manager as well as Acting Chief of Programme Services at UNICEF, and was a Program Officer at UNAIDS. She is also the founder of TruVoice Solutions, a tech platform which aims to empower and amplify voices of marginalized groups by fostering meaningful and inclusive engagement between employees and employers.

Sophie is a two-time TEDx speaker, and is the Chair of a global Research Advisory Council on Violence Against Children and is a board member of a tech start up on financial inclusion of marginalized women and girls. As an Ethiopian refugee granted asylum as a child, Sophie is passionate about improving the lives of refugees in Canada and all over the world.

SPEAKERS

Dan Lal, Talent Acquisition Consultant | Western Financial

Dan was born and raised in Vancouver, BC. He has been in the recruitment industry now for over eight years and has worked in both agency and in-house recruitment. The majority of his experience has been focused on the insurance sector. Most notably, he worked with BCAA and Westland Insurance as a Talent Acquisition Specialist and recently joined Western Financial Group in 2023 as Talent Acquisition Consultant. In his free time, he enjoys reading, playing ball hockey, hiking, and going to the gym.

Phil Law, Talent Specialist | Western Financial

Phil is the Talent Specialist on the Talent Acquisition team at Western Financial Group. In this role, Phil proactively identifies and approaches passive candidates for hard-to-fill roles at Western. A passive candidate is someone not necessarily looking/applying for a role but is approached based on role requirements and the experience and skills they could bring to this role. Sourcing uses various outreach techniques such as social media, competitive research, pipelining, relationship building, etc. Phil has worked in recruitment for the last five years and is currently in his third year at Western.

PANELISTS

Banks Falade, Communications Specialist | Western Financial

Banks is a Communications Specialist within our People & Culture team. Banks worked closely with HR stakeholders in her previous roles to create and execute employee engagement programs. She brings her extensive experience in public relations, integrated marketing communication programs, video production, change management, crisis communication, graphic design, and public speaking to Western. She published her memoir and is a proud International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) member.

Hira Jahangir, Assistant Branch Manager | Western Financial

Hira is an Assistant Manager at our Western Coast Insurance Langley branch. She has dedicated the past six years to supporting and driving the success of her team. Originally immigrating in 2011, she has embraced the opportunities and challenges of her new home with determination and enthusiasm. Outside of work, she is a proud mother of two wonderful girls. Balancing her professional and personal life, she finds joy in spending quality time with her family. She also volunteers for charities and organizations that bring communities together. In her leisure time, she enjoys watching movies, which provide a much-needed escape and a chance to relax.

Daria Verigina, Team Lead | Western Financial

Daria started her Canadian journey at 16 years old by coming to Winnipeg as a student and attending Oak Park High School while learning English as a second language. She shifted to Toronto to complete her Grade 11 at Great Lakes College of Toronto (GLCT) to apply to the University of Winnipeg. While studying at university, Daria worked part-time and was exposed to various careers from banquet service and event set-up to being a social media intern to working in a call center for an American company to retail sales and advertising. Daria has been with Western Financial Group for four years now, starting her journey as an Insurance Advisor, later promoted to Team Lead for the last year. She is excited to see what her future holds.