Lori Wanamaker joins Royal Roads University Board of Governors

Lori Wanamaker, former deputy minister to the premier, cabinet secretary and head of the BC Public Service for the late Honourable John Horgan, former premier of British Columbia, has been appointed to the Royal Roads Board of Governors.  

Wanamaker is an accountant who has over thirty years of government experience, including numerous deputy minister and assistant deputy minister roles in many different portfolios. 

Wanamaker says she found her way into the finance world after finishing her bachelor's degree. “I had run out of money, I wanted to do my Masters, but I needed to find a job to replenish my cash reserves.”  

“[Accounting] was [the] job I found, and I realized quite quickly that it was something that I liked…I decided that I would pursue it and delay my master's degree.”  

She eventually pursued her Master’s, graduating with a Master of Business Administration in Executive Management from Royal Roads in 2002.  

“Because I live in Victoria, I’ve had an opportunity to keep a close eye on what's going on at Royal Roads,” Wanamaker says. “I was on the Business School advisory board for a number of years, and I also worked briefly with the tourism advisory board.”  

Wanamaker says that Royal Roads has a great model for distance Masters programs, and she’s looking forward to helping support the university on the program committee.  

“That’s an area that really interests me. I’m not an expert in programs, but I'm an expert in asking questions,” Wanamaker says. “I was the Deputy Minister for a number of ministries in which I was not an expert. 

“Of all those jobs, the only one that I had professional expertise in was finance…in order to be successful...I had to be curious. I had to understand what the responsibilities and priorities of the ministry were, and I had to be able to help people to advance their work and to help shape an agenda. 

“I think over those many years, I became really good at asking good questions, honing in on the critical issues and being sure that we have done the analysis and the work to be able to answer those questions…[and] I do it in quite a collegial and cooperative way.” 

Wanamaker will be bringing her expertise in questions, as well as her expertise in accounting, leadership, and management to the Royal Roads board.  

“[Royal Roads] is a great university…I'd like to see us continue to grow.”