Chapter Profile - Greater Toronto Area Chapter #23
/The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) Chapter was our first chapter formed in Canada, and they are celebrating their 30th anniversary this month. Over the past 30 years, they have had no shortage of active board members who have helped shape the chapter over time to provide new and innovative events to local members.
GTA Chapter leaders: Membership Director, Elodie Goncalves, CFE; Director of Engagement and Mentorship, Jordan McManus, CFE, and Chief Financial Officer, Julian Wong, CFE.
Their Unique and Diverse Board
The GTA Chapter’s board consists of 11 voting members and one non-voting, pro bono legal counsel. The board serves just under 200 chapter members and approximately 2,800 additional ACFE members in the Greater Toronto area. The GTA Chapter actively pursues the younger generation of CFEs to join the board by following one of Jim Ratley’s (ACFE’s President Emeritus) mantras, “Our new young CFEs are the future of the organization.” Nearly half of their board consists of members under 40 years old.
The remaining board members bring significant experience to the anti-fraud world and to the GTA Chapter. It is very much a whole-team approach as they continue to “future-proof” the chapter and bring in as many leading-edge processes as possible to better serve all CFEs and associate members in the area.
On Virtual Events and E-Learning
The GTA Chapter offers between six to eight events throughout the year, which all vary in duration. Their annual one-day event called the Fraud Investigation Techniques (FIT) Forum provides 7 CPE credits. Their September workshop is a four-day event providing 16 CPE credits. Their other events offer anywhere between 1–3 CPE credits.
In addition to their normally scheduled events, they also offer various courses through their e-learning catalog. These courses are available at any time and provide an option for CFEs to earn CPE credits at their convenience and at an affordable price.
Their Greatest Achievement
Among their many achievements, the most unique was the implementation of their e-Learning Program. They had to create their own makeshift platform, as they could not afford any of the learning management systems. Providing affordable, Canadian-themed, on-demand learning for all CFEs who need to obtain their CPE credits was very rewarding. Through the e-Learning Program, they were recently able to offer a FREE course for 1 CPE to any local CFE. Thanks go to Penny Hill, their Director, Chapter Liaison, for spearheading this innovative and important initiative.
GTA Area Core Purpose and Vision Statement
Their Worst Experience
The chapter’s worst experience was during their first major online event during the pandemic lockdown when they tried to use the breakout room feature of the online learning platform that was recommended to them. Like many other chapter leaders, they did not have much experience in delivering larger-scale virtual learning events. Part of the presentation involved using breakout rooms for participants to discuss certain topics. When the time came for all 80 people to go to their breakout sessions, the platform crashed. In conjunction with their service provider, they called a break and worked quickly to get things back up and running. Needless to say, there was a lot of behind-the-scenes scrambling with the provider’s IT support team. The event ended up getting wonderful feedback, and participants were very understanding. Going forward, they became more prepared and have not had any technical issues with their subsequent CPE events.
What Other Chapters Can Learn from This
Take more time to discuss in-detail technical capabilities of the learning platform with the service provider, especially when there are videos that need to be shown or you have a large group of participants. Don’t be afraid to probe and look at various scenarios.
Videos usually work best on some platforms by uploading the documents to the platform. Prepare your speakers by making sure they agree to have their videos and slides uploaded. Be prepared to help if necessary.
Take sufficient time to provide the participants with instructions on how to optimally use the platform. This may include an email with how to test their computer for audio, video, camera, etc. Also, take the time, when the session begins, to review technical information. Let participants know who they can call, text, or email if they are having technical issues.
Make sure you put an emphasis on customer service during any webinar or virtual event. Give participants a phone number to call or an email where they can share their phone numbers. A quick call to the participant by a board member with IT experience can go a long way to ensuring that the participant gets value for their session. This approach also increases the reputation of the chapter.
Work with your speaker(s) to ensure that they have the fastest internet connection possible in their area. This may mean they have to upgrade their service. They should also be using a fairly up-to-date device and perhaps have dual displays to facilitate the session. It may sound simple to some folks; however, the speaker’s technical infrastructure can be an important part of the success.
No platform is perfect, and today, most offer similar capabilities. Find a simple, popular learning/communication platform that most people are comfortable using. Every platform has issues, and since the pandemic began, most platforms continue to make improvements in terms of ease of use, security, features, and quality. Find something that does most of what you want but test it to learn what issues attendees will likely have and learn how to troubleshoot those issues in advance.
To generate a sense of community, encourage the use of the chat function and allow participants to chat with individuals privately, as well as with all attendees. This is a great way to keep the conversation going, and most speakers appreciate the comments and reference them throughout the presentation.
Outsourcing Tasks to Improve Productivity
The chapter formerly outsourced its administrative tasks to a part-time chapter administrator. When their administrator of 25 years retired in 2019, they found a successor but not a replacement. However, with the increased use of technology and improved processes, things have improved and workloads have reduced.
In conjunction with this decision, they also canceled their phone number. They had only been receiving spam calls over the past year, and this action will save the chapter more than $1,000 a year. All chapter email addresses are clearly listed on their website, so it is easy to continue to contact them.
Moving to a new communications infrastructure, Wild Apricot web-hosting and membership platform, has been a critical component of their continuing success. The GTA Chapter also took advantage of the 25% discount through Wild Apricot for being part of the ACFE group! They have been able to migrate all communications through the Wild Apricot software, as well as better manage their contact and membership records. Recently, they learned how to automate the creation and emailing of CPE certificates through Wild Apricot as well!
Their recordkeeping is maintained by a secure cloud-based services, Sync, which happens to be a Canadian firm. Thus, they have been able to ensure that all officers are informed and have access to key documents (including invoices) in a secure manner and without the usual email stream.
The chapter also partnered with Host Papa, a Canadian-based web-/email-hosting service. Now, all board members have their own chapter-based email address. This eliminates the need for board members to use their own personal or business email for chapter business (which their recently adopted policy now prohibits).
Future Goals
In 2019, the board approved a path for the future of the chapter by adopting a Chapter Core Purpose and Chapter Vision Statements. The chapter’s goal was to provide value to members and all CFEs in the GTA and to help educate the public. They want to expand outreach to students and continue to be seen as the authoritative voice for fraud prevention, detection, deterrence, education and investigation in and around the GTA. They are dedicated to building on the global affiliation with the ACFE, with the other chapters in Canada, as well as with like-minded professional associations.
Chapter Recognition
Their board is very much a diverse, collaborative and inclusive working team, where everyone voluntarily puts in a lot of effort. However, one board member who has gone above and beyond this new high standard of effort is Mark McManus. Mark has taken on the role of Chapter Executive Vice President and Chief Compliance & Technology Officer. He has led many initiatives since he joined the board in July 2018. He works tirelessly to update processes, mentor new board members, model top-tier member service, and keep them modernized ― all so that the chapter can continue to move forward. The chapter thanks him for his drive, innovative thinking, collegiality and hard work.
Advice for Other Chapters
“Continue to support and work with our great team in Austin. We have an excellent working relationship with many of the folks there, who are more than willing to take our calls, as well as share their experience, expertise and suggestions.”
Have an engaged and committed board that is diverse and represents the CFE population in the area. Develop job descriptions for all executive roles as well as special roles (e.g., membership, liaison, mentorship, and engagement, etc.). There are clear lines of accountability that intersect with the “whole-team” approach. In summary, a chapter is only as good as its board members’ effort and contribution.
Go the extra mile in serving your members and all CFEs. Make phone calls. Respond promptly to emails. It takes time and energy, but it will pay off in the long term.
Establish an annual CPE training calendar that offers affordable, nation-based, and high-quality training. The GTA Chapter has learned during this pandemic that many CFEs are self-employed, and generating sufficient revenues was an issue for some. Also, CFEs who are more junior and working for larger corporations are finding that their company may be less willing to pay for membership and external training activities. Keeping these items affordable has been a key factor in their continued success.
Keep your website up-to-date and be as transparent as possible. Post your policies. Post your training calendar. Post your role descriptions. Post your Core Purpose Statement. Post your Vision Statement. The more CFEs in the area who know the high standards you set and the value you bring to them, the more they will want to participate in the chapter.
