For FEI Canada's new chair: a time of challenge, opportunity: when he attended his first FEI Canada meeting more than a decade ago, Ray Hawrelak's objectives were pretty straightforward - meet fellow financial executives, share a few managerial anecdotes and professional insights, maybe collect a business card or two.

• Author: Ladd, Scott
• Position: FEIC Chair - Financial Executives International - Conference notes

Ray Hawrelak describes his first involvement as a member of the then relatively small Edmonton Chapter of Financial Executives International: "The interest was purely networking. I'd been invited to a few meetings to meet some of the people in our business community, and thought it was a fine idea."

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Over time, though, he says, "being involved in the chapter, and in leadership roles as well, gave me a lot more exposure to our business community. It's a great group of people to be involved with." Hawrelak says the Edmonton chapter has grown since 2000, from about 50 members to its current 150 or so, a period in which he's witnessed "how much more sizable and dynamic it has become."

From those local beginnings, Hawrelak--chief financial officer of The Becker Group, a private equity firm--has now ascended to the top of FEI leadership in Canada with his selection as FEIC's national chair for the 2011 -12 term.

Still, when approached about taking the helm of the national organization, he expressed some reluctance. Quite frankly, he says, "When they asked me to be the chair--as a result of working with a private company--I told them 'maybe you should get somebody else.' "That initial reaction is one he says he's glad he soon put behind him.

Since joining FEI, and as his career roles have evolved, Hawrelak says "the knowledge exchange and educational aspect of membership also became an important component of my involvement, in addition to the leadership opportunities that were available." FEI, he adds, "has greatly broadened my knowledge of capital markets and global business trends."

Hawrelak brings an extensive background and leadership history with FEI Canada to his chairmanship role, having served as vice chairman during the past year and, prior to that, from 2008-10, as chair of the Audit & Finance Committee. In the two preceding years, he was a director at large and a member of the Operations Committee.

The Leadership Path

Hawrelak's career has been devoted to developing and applying high-level leadership skills. Fresh from the University of Alberta in 1981 with a Bachelor of Commerce degree, he took a job with Clarkson Gordon, which is now part of Ernst & Young.

In 1986, Hawrelak became a chartered accountant and went to work for Princeton Developments Ltd., a Western Canada real estate-development company. He started as comptroller and was eventually promoted to vice president of finance before leaving the company in...