New teams, new responsibilities and new places to call home – rare is the case when a mid-career transition into an entirely new challenge happens with ease.
When you’re a chartered professional accountant (CPA), however, it allows for precisely that seamless transition. That’s because a CPA brings institutional knowledge, a breadth of expertise and the type of skill set to rise to virtually any challenge.
Take Carlos Yam as a prime example. The newly minted chief financial officer for the Vancouver Art Gallery took over the post earlier this year after more than two decades in the private, for-profit sector.
“Despite the big differences, interestingly, there are also remarkable resemblances between the two sectors,” Yam says. “Successful organizations, whether for-profit or not, are led by effective boards who in turn demand high-performing management teams to ensure the success and sustainability of the organization.”
Job one on Yam’s to-do list is the Vancouver Art Gallery’s campaign to build a new, purpose-built home that can serve as a model for other modern museums. It’s a process that advances art and culture beyond selling admission tickets and requires a more purposeful balance between social goals and financial sustainability.
“The best part of my job is the daily excitement of working alongside individuals with diverse backgrounds -- artistic or not -- who are passionate about advancing the Vancouver Art Gallery as one of North America’s most recognized institutions of innovative visual arts and public programs,” Yam says.
Yam’s background in financial stewardship dates back to his time at PricewaterhouseCoopers in the early 2000s, where he worked towards his designations in Canada and the U.S.
He left public practice to join Intrawest Corp. in 2003 and become the director of financial planning for the company’s real estate division, overseeing the financial planning and analysis for the division’s $2.8 billion USD assets worldwide.
Yam took his first C-suite role in 2007 as CFO of construction services company WesternOne, a role that allowed him to expand his focus from financial planning and analysis to corporate growth strategies.
“When I started, I was the only corporate finance person within WesternOne,” he says. “So, it was critical to develop a keen sense of strategic priority as my role included everything from public company disclosures to business planning, legal, risk management, investor relations and business development.”
These efforts proved successful, as Yam was recognized with a Top Forty Under 40 nod from Business in Vancouver and a Best Investor Relations by a CFO (Small Cap) award from IR Magazine in 2013.
When WesternOne was acquired by a major competitor based in the U.S. in 2018, Yam pivoted yet again to hold CFO and management consulting roles with a number of early-stage companies in the technology and medical sectors.
Now back in Vancouver, Yam has more than just numbers to contend with.
“I can only draw stick people, and I have poor colour coordination,” he says jokingly. “I am waiting for the Art Gallery to invoke the uncovered artistic side of me.”
For more information, visit www.bccpa.ca
