Estelle Lo

Vice President, Finance and Administration
Office of the Vice President, Finance and Administration

Estelle Lo joined Athabasca University in August 2011 as Vice-President Finance and Administration.  Estelle leads a large and varied portfolio that includes finance, human resources, facilities development, physical security, real estate, asset management, internal audit, risk management, archives and records management, materials management, procurement and contract management, course materials production and coordination of legal services.

Estelle has a noticeably phenomenal background in finance and management after graduating from the University of Toronto with Bachelor of Commerce and MBA degrees and a Diploma in Public Administration from the University of Western Ontario.  She is also a Certified Management Accountant in Canada and has a Canadian Securities Course Certificate.

Estelle has worked in both the private and the public sectors with the last 17 years as senior executive in both finance and operations.  She was the Chief Financial and Administrative Officer with S.U.C.C.E.S.S., one of British Columbia’s largest social services providers.  Previously she held the portfolio of General Manager and Chief Financial Officer at the City of Vancouver and had been responsible for $1 billion annual budgets and up to 550 staff.  Her specialties range from overseeing all financial affairs; strategic planning; human resources; public affairs; publications; information technology; enterprise risk management including internal audit, physical security, IT security; facilities design and management; real estate negotiations and leasing to environmental sustainability as well as providing advice to the CEO and the Board of Directors.  Her accomplishments include Corporate Policies and Procedures Development, Business Process Reengineering, Information Technology Leveraging, Risk Management and Staff Development.  Estelle had sat on the Vancouver Pacific National Exhibition Board, Finance Committee of EasyPark, as a Trustee of the Vancouver Employees Saving Plan, YWCA Women of Distinction Award Program Committee and the Financial Executives International BC Chapter Board. She was also a mentor for the City of Vancouver and S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Mentoring Program.                                         

Estelle’s motto is: ‘not just to work hard, but also to work smart and have fun at work’.