Kathy Bardswick is a Canadian business executive. From 2002 to 2016, she was the President and CEO of The Co-operators Group Ltd, a Canadian insurance cooperative based in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. She is one of a handful of women at the helm of the top 100 companies in Canada.
Kathy Bardswick | |
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Nationality | Canadian |
Education | B.S., mathematics, University of Manitoba MBA, McMasters University, 1978 |
Occupation(s) | President and CEO |
Years active | 1978–present |
Employer | The Co-operators |
Spouse | Bernie Mutter |
Children | 4 |
Parent(s) | Bill Bardswick Annastasia MacNeil Bardswick |
Bardswick is one of six children born to Bill Bardswick and his wife Annastasia (née MacNeil).[1] She earned her B.S. degree in mathematics from the University of Manitoba, and her Master of Business Administration from McMaster University.[2]
Bardswick began her career with The Co-operators right out of business school in 1978. Her mother applied for the job for her and pretended she was Kathy when the company called back.[3] Bardswick appeared at her own interview and landed a position in the property and casualty division in Sault Ste. Marie as an underwriter.[3] Since then, she has also worked in sales, complex claims, and information systems management.[3] From 1998 to 2002 she served as CEO for two Co-operators Group subsidiaries in Calgary, The Sovereign General and L'Union Canadienne.[3]
In March 2002 she was named President and CEO of The Co-operators Group and its institutional investment management subsidiary, Addenda Capital Inc.[3] She is one of a handful of women at the helm of the top 100 companies in Canada;[4][5] a 2011 report named her as one of four women who are CEOs of Canada's top 100 public companies.[6] Among her achievements, she has led the company in embedding a sustainability policy for all its operations, including office construction and automotive fleets.[7]
Bardswick is a past chair of the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF), and is a member of the ICMIF executive.[2] She is a board member of the International Co-operative Alliance and Addenda Capital.[2][8] She is the chairperson of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction[2] and a former vice-chair of the Board of Governors of the University of Guelph.[2] She served on the executive committee of the Conference Board of Canada from 2004 to 2011.[8]
She is also a member of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives[2] and the Council for Clean Capitalism.[9]
She is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and events.[10][11][12][13] Her quotes and observations were included in the 2009 book Made in Canada Leadership: Wisdom from the Nation's Best and Brightest on the Art and Practice of Leadership.[14]
In 2014 she was named one of the Top 50 Women of Influence in Canada's Life Insurance Industry by The Insurance and Investment Journal[15] and one of the Top 25 Women of Influence by the Women of Influence organization.[2]
She and her husband, Bernie Mutter, have four sons.[16][17] Bardswick credits her husband's willingness to work from home for her ability to pursue her career.[5] They reside in Burlington, Ontario.[16]