One might assume that Catherine Dangerfield had an easy path along her educational journey to career and personal success.
As assistant region head, Pacific Region TD Private Wealth Management, Dangerfield co-leads TD’s wealth management business in B.C. and the Yukon. The mother of two grown daughters is also a philanthropist and arts supporter who generously gives her time and expertise to The Polygon Gallery, Audain Art Museum and TD Collection, among other organizations.
But as the first in her family to graduate from university, Dangerfield faced obstacles.
“It wasn’t expected of me, and so there were no savings put aside,” she says. “Also, my parents weren’t in a position to help me choose courses or navigate the university system, because they didn’t have that experience as university students.”
Dangerfield paid for her education while working with TD, primarily as a bank teller, and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) from York University. Later, she earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Simon Fraser University. Looking back on those early years, she acknowledges a challenge faced by many students today – when struggling to balance work and school, “you can’t connect fully with what you study.”
In 2019, Catherine and her husband Paul Dangerfield, president of Capilano University, set up the Paul & Catherine Dangerfield Women’s Bursary to ensure that self-identifying women have the opportunity to grow and succeed throughout their educational experience.
“Paul and I created the Women’s Bursary because we believe in the importance of education and gender equality,” Dangerfield says, adding that their shared experience of living and working overseas has imparted a unique perspective. “In Ghana and Uganda, where I worked as a volunteer mentor to women who run financial cooperatives, and in Rwanda and Bosnia, where Paul served in the military, we have seen first-hand how educating women and girls can change communities,” she says.
In support of the Women’s Bursary, Dangerfield hosts the annual We Believe Breakfast, bringing together business professionals and community leaders to hear inspirational stories of women who have triumphed despite facing adversity through their education journey. The sixth annual We Believe Breakfast took place at the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel Vancouver on Nov. 26.
Donors have generously contributed more than $360,000 to the Women’s Bursary since its creation in 2019. The bursary has provided financial support to 57 self-identifying women at CapU since disbursement began in 2020.
Dangerfield has continued to support the Women’s Bursary by making the choice to gift through securities to the Capilano University Foundation. She points out that giving through securities donations – including shares, bonds or mutual funds – is a more tax-efficient way to give to a charity than selling the securities and donating the cash.
In a gift of securities directly to a charity, the foundation benefits by receiving the full value of the securities. At the same time, the donor pays no tax on the capital gains and receives a charitable donation receipt for the fair market value of the shares at the time of the donation.
Donor support has had a direct impact on the lives of Women’s Bursary recipients like Jessie Anthony, who spoke at last year’s We Believe Breakfast. A 2020 graduate of CapU’s Indigenous Digital Filmmaking program with a Bachelor of Motion Picture Arts, she shares how bursaries help CapU students break down barriers to post-secondary education: “The bursaries I received were not just financial assistance; they were beacons of encouragement, urging me to persist in my educational pursuits. They were the silent force behind my triumphs, propelling me forward when challenges seemed insurmountable.”
The Women’s Bursary provides a source of support for CapU students who are finding it challenging to complete their education.
“There are some for whom that isn’t possible,” Dangerfield says. “Those are the ones we’re trying to touch.”
Giving through publicly traded securities is a straightforward, cost-effective and tax-efficient way to make a charitable gift to CapU. For more information, visit www.capilanou.ca/security-giving.
