RBC's Helena Gottschling and Sara Son Hing named among WXN's Top 100 Most Powerful Women

TORONTO, Oct. 25, 2021 /CNW/ - RBC is proud to announce that two exceptional women, Helena Gottschling, Chief Human Resources Officer, and Sara Son Hing, Vice-President, Retail Delivery Model & Advisor Role Strategy, have been honoured among Canada's Most Powerful Women by the Women's Executive Network.

The Women's Executive Network (WXN) annually recognizes the top 100 Canadian women for their accomplishments as agents of change and leadership in reshaping Canadian organizations. RBC is represented at the WXN Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Awards with Sara Son Hing being recognized in the emerging leaders' category and Helena Gottschling as a leader in the C-Suite Executives award category.

Helena has a career spanning over 35 years at RBC, holding progressively senior roles across Retail Banking, Human Resources and National Office. She re-joined HR in 2006 and held a number of executive roles before being appointed RBC's Chief Human Resources Officer in 2017. Throughout the pandemic, Helena has been instrumental in adapting RBC's inclusive culture to ensure all 88,000+ employees feel supported, trusted and enabled during these extraordinary times. She is a board member of JDRF Canada, Plan International Canada and a member of the Human Capital Policy Council, C.D. Howe Institute.

"It is my great privilege to congratulate Helena for her recognition as one of Canada's Most Powerful Women." said Dave McKay, President and CEO, RBC. "Throughout her career, Helena has distinguished herself as a visionary leader, trusted advisor, change champion and a devoted employee advocate. More recently, she has played a critical role in leading our workforce through the COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented and challenging time where understanding the needs of our employees, and keeping them engaged and informed, has never been more important. Her sponsorship and advocacy for advancing diversity and inclusion at RBC has resulted in meaningful progress and global recognition for our organization. Helena's leadership helps unlock the potential of RBC employees, drives better business results, and ensures we continue to lead with our Purpose."

As a leader in Personal & Commercial Banking, Sara Son Hing leads RBC's Retail Delivery Model and Advisor Role Strategy team. The team is accountable for designing the future strategy of the roles in our Branch, Advice Centre and Career Sales Force and developing practice management programs, incentive designs and the Client Advice Experience. The team also plays a key role in the advancement of our conduct and culture operating models and capabilities across RBC. Sara was a recipient of RBC's Global Citizen Award in 2019 and has been volunteering with Camp Oochigeas, a camp for children affected by childhood cancer, since 2006. She was previously the Executive Champion for Future Launch in Toronto and served as the Co-Chair of Canadian Banking Operations' Diversity Leadership Council.

"Sara's recognition as one of Canada's Most Powerful Women speaks to the deep impact she has on people and results," said Neil McLaughlin, Group Head, Personal and Commercial Banking. "Since joining RBC, Sara has led several transformative teams and projects, including the strategic direction of the Workforce Effectiveness and Readiness team for our Operations business. She's a dedicated team and community builder, a passion that extends into her volunteer activities. This is why we're fortunate to have her on the RBC team."

To learn more about the Diversity & Inclusion at RBC, visit www.rbc.com/diversity-inclusion.
More information on WXN's 2021 Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award winners can be found at https://wxnetwork.com/page/top100awards.

About RBC
Royal Bank of Canada is a global financial institution with a purpose-driven, principles-led approach to delivering leading performance. Our success comes from the 88,000+ employees who leverage their imaginations and insights to bring our vision, values and strategy to life so we can help our clients thrive and communities prosper. As Canada's biggest bank, and one of the largest in the world based on market capitalization, we have a diversified business model with a focus on innovation and providing exceptional experiences to our 17 million clients in Canada, the U.S. and 27 other countries. Learn more at rbc.com.?

We are proud to support a broad range of community initiatives through donations, community investments and employee volunteer activities. See how at rbc.com/community-social-impact.

SOURCE RBC Royal Bank