Ray Williams
Board of Directors
Ray Williams is the Chair & Co-Founder of the Black Opportunity Fund established in 2020. He is a former Vice-Chairman, Financial Markets at National Bank Financial. He is a seasoned Financial Services executive with more than 35 years of experience in Global Capital Markets. He was responsible for facilitating engagements with strategic accounts, working closely within financial markets to promote the banks’ One Mission synergistic and client-centric approach. He also represented the Bank in several Sustainable Finance forums and transition initiatives. In addition, he was a key contributor in the elaboration & articulation of the Bank’s Affordable Housing commitments.
Mr. Williams has extensive experience in Cash and Derivatives products in multiple asset classes, covering Infrastructure Financing, Provincial & Federal Liability Management, and Mortgage Finance Companies (MFC) Financing and Hedging of Securitized Product.
Mr. Williams is deeply committed to community engagement, particularly in the area of diversity and inclusion efforts. He serves on a variety of organization leadership boards including 100Strong Foundation. He also sits as an Executive-in-Residence at Rotman School of Management and on the Board of George Brown College Foundation, as well as the Institute for Research & Public Policy (IRPP) as one of his numerous philanthropic engagements. He is a Past & Founding President (2000) and continuing member of The Canadian Association of Urban Financial Professionals (CAUFP) the pre-eminent professional trade organization for minorities in the financial services industry.