Manitoba's Top Employers (2026) Magazine - Magazine - Page 58
MANITOBA’S TOP EMPLOYERS (2026)
58
Community has always been Wawanesa’s cornerstone
K
ira Conrad, senior
community impact
specialist at The
Wawanesa Mutual
Insurance Company,
worked for over a decade in
the field of corporate social
responsibility before she proudly
joined Wawanesa in 2022.
This is a place where
everyone is working
towards our shared
purpose — helping
communities thrive in a
changing world.
— Kira Conrad
Senior Community
Impact Specialist
Employees at Wawanesa plant trees in Winnipeg.
“I feel very lucky to be in my
role here, because Wawanesa is a
company that truly walks its talk
— and that talk is about our commitment to helping build thriving
communities,” Conrad says.
Founded 130 years ago by 20
local farmers in the village of
Wawanesa in western Manitoba,
the mutual insurance company
has always kept community
investment as its cornerstone, says
Conrad.
“We’re a purpose-driven organization, and because every decision
that every employee makes really
connects to us being there for our
communities and members, we
empower our employees to get
meaningfully involved,” she says.
To reinforce that goal,
Wawanesa’s My Community Day
program provides each employee
a paid day every year to volunteer
with a charity, non-profit organization or community program. Every
employee who takes advantage
of the initiative also receives $100
to donate to a cause close to their
heart.
“This is a place where everyone
is working towards our shared
purpose — helping communities
thrive in a changing world,” says
Conrad.
Wawanesa is emphasizing its
founding value more than ever
right now, as it’s undertaking a
significant internal restructuring
to become more efficient so that
more can be invested back in
Canadian communities, says
Randy Dhillon, senior vice-president and chief people officer.
“We’ve always been a
regional-based business and are
currently moving to a national
business structure so we can
strategize and think nationally
while acting and delivering
locally,” Dhillon says. “Our
purpose — to help communities
thrive — is our reason for
existing, and with a more efficient
organization, we can do more
for the places where we live and
work.”
It’s crucial that Wawanesa
anchors itself in its values during
a time of transformation, Dhillon
says, because community focus
and the role employees play in it
helps bring the company its highquality workforce.
“We have a competitive total
rewards package in terms of
compensation and benefits,
but the community focus is a
significant factor in making
Wawanesa such an excellent place
to work,” says Dhillon. “It has
certainly been one of the main
drivers of why I’m here.”
The organization lives its values
and strengthens communities
in other ways too. Wawanesa’s
Climate Champions program
invests $2 million each year to
help people on the front lines of
climate change. It also holds an
annual workplace United Way
campaign, which, thanks to the
generosity of its employees, raised
$1.6 million last year.
In 2025, Wawanesa provided a
special donation of $500,000, and
invited employees to nominate
local organizations as possible
recipients. Wawanesa also
empowered its employees to
make a difference by providing its
