As a trusted financial advisor for over 20 years, Kamal Basra is a long-time champion of financial literacy and equality in Canada.
She started her career with a Bachelor of Science degree in Molecular Biology from 丁香园AV in 1987 and was the first woman in her family to earn an university degree. She worked in research labs at 丁香园AV and UBC using her skills in recombinant DNA, tissue culture, and data analysis. After having children, and juggling home and work life, Kamal began to understand the worry and suffering that surrounds money and financial well-being and chose to enter the investment industry as her second career.
Kamal is a Certified Financial Planner, Financial Management Advisor, and a Fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute. She worked as a financial advisor with one of the largest Canadian bank-owned brokerage firms until 2008 when she co-founded Sophia Financial Group, Raymond James Ltd, and now provides investment advisory and wealth management services to high net worth clients, devotes a day each week to pro bono clients, and sponsors the Sophia Wealth Academy financial education platform.
She is deeply passionate about creating economic equality and understands that money can be the currency of change. Not only can people's lives be changed by money but so too can communities. She has established several scholarships including one for single mothers and one for First Nations students.
Kamal believes in giving back and is active in many local and global charitable organizations that support and help people overcome obstacles, so they have access to opportunities for advancement. She has been a mentor at the YWCA and served on the Women鈥檚 Advisory Committee for the City of Vancouver. She has also served as a director on many boards including the Interspiritual Centre Society of BC, the Nurses and Nurse Practitioners of BC, and the Chief Isaac Group of Companies, a First Nations Development Corporation. She was also co-chair for the West region on the National Diversity and Inclusion Committee at Raymond James Ltd.
In her free time, she enjoys travelling the world on trekking adventures.