Donor Profile: Catherine Dangerfield

One might assume that Catherine Dangerfield had an easy path along her educational journey to career and personal success.

As assistant region head, Pacific Region TD Private Wealth Management, she co-leads TD’s wealth management business in B.C. and the Yukon. The mother of two grown daughters is also a philanthropist and arts supporter who gives generously of her time and expertise to The Polygon Gallery, Audain Art Museum and TD Collection, among others.

But as the first member of her family to graduate from university, Catherine faced several obstacles.

She paid for her education working with TD, primarily as a bank teller, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts at York University in Toronto. Later, she earned an MBA from Simon Fraser University. Looking back on those early years, she acknowledges a challenge faced by many students today – when struggling to balance work and school, “you can’t connect fully with what you study.”

And so five years ago, Catherine and her husband Paul Dangerfield, president of Capilano University, set up the Paul & Catherine Dangerfield Women’s Bursary to ensure that self-identifying women have the opportunity to grow and succeed through education.

“Paul and I created the Women’s Bursary because we believe in the importance of education and gender equality,” Catherine says, adding that their shared experience of living and working overseas has imparted a unique perspective. “In Ghana and Uganda, where I worked as a volunteer mentor to women who run financial cooperatives, and in Rwanda and Bosnia, where Paul served in the military, we have seen first-hand how educating women and girls can change communities,” Catherine says.

In support of the Women’s Bursary, Catherine hosts the annual We Believe Breakfast, bringing together business professionals and community leaders to hear inspirational stories of women who have triumphed despite facing adversity through their education journey – women like Olympic medalist Beckie Scott, who spoke at this year’s event, the sixth annual, at Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel Vancouver on Nov. 26.

Generous donors have contributed more than $360,000 to the Women’s Bursary since its creation in 2019. And the bursary has provided financial support to 57 self-identifying women at CapU since disbursement began in 2020.

Catherine has personally continued to support the Women’s Bursary by making the choice to gift through securities to the Capilano University Foundation. She points out that giving through securities donations – shares, bonds or mutual funds – is a much more tax-efficient way to give to a charity than selling the securities and donating the cash.

In a gift of securities directly to a charity, the foundation benefits by receiving the full value of the securities. At the same time, the donor pays no tax on the capital gains and receives a charitable donation receipt for the fair market value of the shares at the time of the donation.

Donor support has had a direct impact on the lives of Women’s Bursary recipients like Jessie Anthony, who spoke at last year’s We Believe Breakfast. A 2020 graduate of CapU’s Indigenous Digital Filmmaking program with a Bachelor of Motion Picture Arts, she shared how bursaries help CapU students break down barriers to post-secondary education.

“The bursaries I received were not just financial assistance; they were beacons of encouragement, urging me to persist in my educational pursuits. They were the silent force behind my triumphs, propelling me forward when challenges seemed insurmountable,” Jessie says.

The Women’s Bursary provides a lifeline to CapU students who are struggling to complete their educational journey.

“There are some for whom that isn’t possible,” Catherine says. “Those are the ones we’re trying to touch.”