Roland Gehrke
CFO
BC Transit
Roland Gehrke is the CFO at BC Transit. He has extensive experience across both the public and private sector space, primarily in the utilities and transportation sectors. He also spent a number of years as a consultant in the strategy and performance improvement stream working with Fortune 500 and Global 100 companies.
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Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.
I was with the City of Edmonton overseeing city operations (including transit) when I was recruited to join BC Transit as their new CFO.
What is one of your guiding leadership principles?
Integrity.
What is the greatest challenge facing your role today, and how are you addressing it?
After years of operating as a smaller, midsize corporation, the company is embarking on a major expansion across the province of BC that will see capex growing from < $100M annually to $1B+ annually, and fleet growing from 1200 to 3600 over the next 10 years. Successfully executing on the plan and revisiting the corporation's funding model to support its growth requires significant transformation and maturation of processes across the organization.
What is the key to success for someone just starting out as a CFO?
Understand the core business, the long term strategy, and the gaps/hurdles to get from point "A" to point "B." Then, develop a transformation plan to execute the changes required for success.
How do you measure success as a leader?
Outcomes achieved (e.g. transformation changes implemented) and employee engagement.
What is the value of being a member of the Evanta community?
I enjoy the opportunities to learn from the experiences of fellow members and to share my experiences, successes, and challenges.
Evanta Governing Body members share their insights and leadership perspectives to shape the agendas and topics that address the top priorities impacting business leaders today.
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