Nicola emphasized his firm’s track record of community and charitable involvement. He noted that the organization’s charity Nicola Gives Back has donated over $10 million in its history. Nicola employees have given thousands of hours of their time to causes they support. The firm, he says, is on the constant lookout for causes and organizations that align with their values. In the National Ballet, he says, they found a true partner.
The National Ballet of Canada, Nicola explained, is a source of national pride through its world-class performances. Perhaps more importantly, though, it serves to educate young people across the country. Nicola explained that this commitment to education is one of the core shared values between the National Ballet and his firm. They value bringing new talent up from the university level, giving them training, mentorship, and a path forward, in a similar mould to the education offered by arts institutions.
While Nicola himself is an engineer by training, with a background in mathematics and software development, he highlights the value of a liberal arts educations for the financial services industry. His own childhood exposures to music through guitar and piano were formative in his own life and career.
“There’s a huge value to creative expression at all levels, whether you make a career of it or not,” Nicola says. “These things are important in terms of what they contribute to culture and in creating the inspiration for future expression. I think people across any industry can benefit from support for and investment in arts and creativity.”
Nicola pushes back somewhat on the supposition we sometimes have that a background in the arts means you can’t be analytical, or a background in STEM means you can’t be creative. He sees how the creative thought processes honed in the arts can help engineers solve tough problems. In the context of the financial services industry, he sees value in bringing advisors up with artistic backgrounds.
