Thinking Outside the Box

As she celebrates her first year as the Executive Director of the Central Okanagan Foundation, Leanne Hammond Komori is thrilled to have three BMO SYC funds under her foundation’s belt and several more in the works. “We have some leads that are really promising,” says Komori, who is quick to credit her BMO counterpart Kirk O’Brien for his work in building an outstanding relationship between her foundation and his firm.

“We have great rapport,” Komori says of O’Brien, who is the Director of Wealth Services for BMO Harris Private Banking in her community. “Kirk is a very open, down to earth guy. He is extremely personable and thinks nothing of picking up the phone or sending me an email about something of interest to me. He’s always thinking outside of the box.”

Komori and O’Brien started building their relationship early on, setting up a meeting as soon as the foundation decided to join the Supporting Your Community program. “The paperwork hadn’t even arrived yet and we were already talking,” says Komori.

“In providing financial services we need to understand that 'giving back' is often a key component of our client’s life goals,” says O’Brien. “Being able to facilitate that by working with Leanne who has a true appreciation for the needs in the community is fantastic. Leanne is wonderful with clients and the professional community and we try to involve her early in the process whenever possible. It's very rewarding for everyone and supports our commitment to the importance of philanthropic planning for many of our clients”.

Now, after almost a year of working together, Komori sees the benefits of the BMO-SYC relationship growing exponentially – for donors/clients and the community as a whole. “.Just last week we got together with another advisor to discuss, with a client’s permission, some scenarios that would bring the best possible outcome for the client,” says Komori. “It was a situation that benefited absolutely everyone involved.”

O’Brien will often invite Komori to meetings or events of interest and is always looking for ways to benefit the community through the foundation. He has a large local network and makes skilled and solid introductions to various people for the foundation. In return, Komori considers BMO one of her top corporate partners. “I like the way they think, so I want to work with them on other things as well. I will always talk to them first,” she says.

Komori’s advice for other foundations interested in building stronger relationships with their BMO counterparts? “Go out for lunch together,” she encourages. “You need to get to know each other as a person first, to start building trust.”