July 10, 2024
Vancity’s board of directors, and the Vancity family, are deeply saddened by the passing of Bob Williams last Sunday. Bob was one of the most transformational figures in Vancity’s history, and his legacy is felt to this day in Vancity’s position as one of BC’s most impactful, people-focused, and successful businesses.
Bob served over 20 years on our board (from 1983 to 1995 and 2007 to 2016), and was the Chair of the board from 1988 to 1990. At the board table, he was known as a formidable force and a fierce defender of his values, who didn’t hesitate to use his voice to push those values ahead.
Many of the things Vancity prides itself on today owe their genesis to Bob’s time on our board and his relentless and passionate advocacy for members and communities. In particular, Bob has been instrumental in setting the course for our impact-focused business model, with its emphasis on driving both business performance and social impact and using the tools of banking to enhance the wellbeing of our members and communities.
For example, it was with Bob on our board that, seeing a critical role for financial institutions in driving community development by building a thriving local economy, Vancity began to issue business loans, with a focus on small local businesses and with seed money set aside to support promising local businesses that didn't qualify for conventional financing. Since then, Vancity has helped numerous local businesses get off the ground, thrive, and give back to the community, bringing Bob’s economic development vision to life.
Similarly, working with other directors and Vancity’s leadership, Bob was also a catalyst in Vancity’s work to support affordable housing development, the creation of the EnviroFund to divert a percentage of our credit card revenues to supporting environmentally focused community initiatives, the creation of the Vancity Community Foundation, and many other initiatives. As a major champion of the co-operative model, Bob played a leading role in the creation of the Bologna Summer Program for Co-operative Studies, a premier venue for training and growing leadership and innovation in the co-operative sector.
Of course, Bob’s work at Vancity was only one episode in a values-driven public life that has made a difference for British Columbians time and time again, and we are all thankful to him for that. In politics and government, at Vancity, and at all his other professional stops, Bob always put people and communities first, and we are all the better for it.