Owen Dickie
Owen was born and educated in Dalhousie, N. B. He moved to Fredericton in 1993 and it was at that time that he began his career in the financial world. He first became involved with Many Nations in the year 2000. Owen is grateful for the many friends he has made through his work with the First Nation communities in the Atlantic Provinces and has developed a great understanding of their needs. He takes great pride in developing solutions for their financial future. His goal is to help them achieve financial security in all areas such as retirement planning, estate preservation and employee benefits. Owen has three sons, Shane, Matthew and Trevor and a daughter, Tiffany
Ryan Ginnish
Ryan was drawn to insurance while working on his business diploma from NSCC after obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cape Breton University with a concentration in Mi’kmaq Studies. His goal is to assist aboriginal communities protect their property and members through implementing risk management programs and having the proper insurance in place. Through his work ethic and passion for coaching youth hockey within his home community of Membertou, Ryan strives to be a positive role model for all Aboriginal youth.
Malcolm Smith
Malcolm is a partner in Thunderbird Commercial Insurance, an insurance service provider, which offers First Nation communities the full range of risk management and risk transfer opportunities available to protect their communities’ assets and to build aboriginal professional capacity in this important services sector. Malcolm began his career in the insurance industry in 1996 as a producer for a regional broker in the Okanagan area of British Columbia. In 1998 Malcolm left the brokerage side of the industry to work for CNA/Specialty Underwriters, the leaders in "maintenance insurance", first as the Manager, Western Canada then as Director of Sales, Canada. In 2002 he joined a global insurance broker working from their Kamloops office then transferred to Vancouver in March of 2007. In 2009 he set up the first Aboriginally owned insurance brokerage east of Ontario.
In February 2012 he together with his partner, Ryan Ginnish, a status Mi’kmaq community member, created a new commercial insurance brokerage. Malcolm has been involved with land claim legal expense for over a decade working with insurance industry experts, government and legal professionals to assist in creating a land claim legal expense program that will allow Indigenous communities to meet their land claim settlement aspirations.
In 2003 Malcolm achieved a CAIB, Canadian Accredited Insurance Broker, with honours. During 2007 Malcolm obtained his life license and in 2008 attained the CHS designation, (Certified Health Specialist) followed by his Canadian Risk Management, CRM, designation in October 2009. Malcolm is a graduate Acadia University where he completed a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a dual core in marketing and management.
Malcolm has been involved in all aspects of Aboriginal community and business insurance and risk management since 2002. His experience includes working with large First Nation communities with multiple business operations and reserve housing locations. Malcolm understands the functions of Aboriginal governance and is knowledgeable and respectful of the history and the culture of First Nations people in North America.
Senior Advisor