Last month, InBC welcomed our new Chief Investment Officer Thomas Park to the team. Tom brings with him a broad and diverse set of experiences, including close to a decade at Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) where he supported innovation at the national level. Tom will be leading InBC’s investment team and strategy during this next stage of our growth as we expand our impact across the province, scaling B.C. businesses and driving economic growth.
Get to know Tom as he shares his vision for British Columbia and what excites him most about serving as InBC’s CIO.
What is your vision for British Columbia and how do you see InBC playing a role?
My vision is to build on British Columbia’s strengths as one of the most innovative economic regions in the world. Despite the economic headwinds and immediate challenges facing the province, I want to see British Columbia coming out economically stronger but still grounded in its values. The role I see InBC playing is to mobilize additional capital and investments in the province.
“My vision is to build on British Columbia’s strengths as one of the most innovative economic regions in the world. Despite the economic headwinds and immediate challenges facing the province, I want to see British Columbia coming out economically stronger but still grounded in its values.”
— Thomas Park, Chief Investment Officer, InBC Investment Corp.
What excites you the most about leading InBC’s next stage of growth?
I’m excited because I feel we have a once in a generation opportunity to really double down on the province’s strengths, whether it’s in technology, developing some of the most innovative companies or reaching new markets. What makes me excited is the opportunity to take the organization, evolve it to the next stage and better support the province.
What has been your proudest career moment?
My proudest career moment was when I was working in West Africa. I worked with local stakeholders, donors and investors to reduce stockouts for contraceptives for women. When I walked in, the stockouts were 85% of the time, out of most modern contraceptives. By the time I left, we designed a system that went down to 0% stockout, so there was 100% access. I’m quite proud of that and that showed the power of mobilizing people to create an impactful but sustainable model.
Your resume includes notable roles at the United Nations, Gates Foundation and other mission-driven organizations. What does impact mean to you?
Impact means systemic change, mobilizing resources and stakeholders to solve a problem in a way that is self-sustaining.
There are two types of ways of looking at impact. One perspective is to seed a lot of different initiatives. Another is to take a few big problems and ask, how do I solve those? When I think about climate or life sciences for example, which are a large part of investments in B.C., I think about where we can have the biggest impacts.
So I think of systemic change. How do we take a small amount of investment comparably and make systemic change sustainably?
You relocated your family to B.C. What are you most excited about being back on the West Coast?
British Columbia has a kind of quiet confidence. It charts its own path, and I find that so fascinating. I think that gives it a lot of strength. It’s made British Columbia more self-reliant. I’m excited about the fact that people think differently here. They live in an amazing part of the world and they’re very proud of it. We used to live in the Pacific Northwest, and we really like the lifestyle, how people think. We love the fact there’s less snow here. We love the diversity. It’s just amazing.
Tell us something we might not know about you.
I was a big X-Files fan when I was a kid. Then I found out it was filmed in Vancouver.
Reading’s my hobby. I’m a voracious reader. I can read for at least 12 hours over two days.
We welcome Tom to the InBC team and are excited to have him leading the next phase of our investment strategy. He is already active in the local entrepreneurial and investment communities. Keep your eyes out for him as he engages with founders, investors and innovation supporters across the province.
Subscribe to the InBC newsletter for the latest news and updates: Subscribe Now