Rena Alarakhia's Story

The best example of our values are the people who work here.

Fearless.

It’s a word that gets thrown around a lot these days, but it correctly belongs to people like Rena Alarakhia.

Born in Mombasa, Kenya, Rena moved to Canada due to the evacuation of Asians from Uganda during the time of the infamous Ugandan dictator, Idi Amin. With Kenya bordering Uganda, there was fear the unrest would spill over into neighboring countries. Being the eldest in the family, she was sent off to Vancouver, British Columbia where she lived with her aunt. There, at the tender age of 21 years old, she found an apartment and moved in, without owning one piece of furniture.

But Rena’s story was just beginning, and she had no intention of giving up. After some searching, she found her first job—a messenger at a Brokerage Firm, whose role it was to pick up and deliver securities and cheques. From there, she was promoted and worked in the Client Accounting, Trading Desk (Ops), and then to Cash and Credit department.

Eventually, she became part of our Vancouver Canaccord Genuity office where she now works as an Application Support Specialist. "Because my job touches virtually every aspect of our business,” says Rena, “I get to talk to everyone.” That’s good news for Rena because she thinks of the CG team as family; it’s good news for everyone else—well, because it’s Rena, who works hard, smiles easily and always answers all her emails. "I don’t leave for home until I’m truly done my work.”

Volunteering is her passion, and her heart is for seniors, one in particular. Rena travels regularly to Kenya to see her 94-year old mother, who is still going strong and still proud of her fearless daughter.

When you know Rena, you know the values of Canaccord Genuity.