Meet Rita Parikh.

Rita is Chair of the Board of Vancity Credit Union. She brings more than three decades of governance, financial management and regulatory experience to the board table. Rita has been a member of a credit union since opening her first account as a child in Nelson, BC.

First elected to Vancity's board in 2016, Rita is also a director on the Vancity Community Investment Bank board.

Rita has served as the Board Chair at some of Canada’s largest co-operatives. She has also served on the boards of several non-profit organizations including Oxfam Canada, the Vancity Community Foundation, the Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Centre, and Canadian Parents for French. She has chaired or sat as a member of several administrative justice tribunals including the British Columbia Employment and Assistance Appeal Tribunal, and the Property Assessment Review Panel. Through these roles, Rita has overseen the growth of, and provided oversight to, organizations with billions in assets, moving them through significant strategic transformation.

Rita is a recognized leader in the Canadian healthcare regulatory sector, and is the Executive Director of the Nursing Community Assessment Service within BC’s largest health regulator. She has worked as a human rights investigator, and has served alongside racialized and marginalized populations, as well as small business owners, farmers and youth, to build and sustain movements for climate, economic and social change. She is the co-founder of the Pacific Refugee Welcome Group, a community organization that has sponsored the settlement of several refugee families to Victoria.

Rita is a graduate of the Institute of Corporate Directors – Rotman School of Business Director Education Program, and holds her ICD.D designation. She earned a Master of Arts in International Affairs from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs in Ottawa, and a Bachelor of Journalism from Carleton University. Her writing has appeared in the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, the London Free Press, among other media.

Rita is grateful to the Lək̓ʷəŋən peoples for their careful stewardship of the traditional territories upon which she lives with her family.

Tenure.

• Elected in 2016
• Currently serving a third term (2022-2025)

Committees.

• Member, Equity and People Committee
• Member, Governance Committee
• Member, Risk Committee

Other board appointments.

• Director, Vancity Community Foundation
• Director, Vancity Community Investment Bank
• Director, Citizens Trust