Liz Bailey-Connor

Liz Bailey-Connor is a dynamic human resources strategist and accomplished people leader with a reputation for maximizing the potential of talent, inspiring positive transformational culture change and championing equity, inclusion and diversity. She achieves results by empowering people to build their competencies, enhance their self-awareness and grow into higher-performing, more confident professionals and leaders.

At First West, Liz oversees all facets of human resources from strategic planning through to execution. Her portfolio includes talent attraction, talent management, HR operations, employee and labour relations, compensation, benefits, rewards, learning, organizational culture and leadership development. Through the rigorous application of insight from data and analytics, Liz has transformed the credit union’s human resources strategies to align with First West’s vision and solve business problems while ensuring employees are optimally engaged. Under her leadership, First West has received multiple people and culture awards including B.C.’s Top Employers Award from Mediacorp Canada, Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures Award from Waterstone Human Capital, the 5-Star Psychological Safety Award from Canadian Occupational Safety, and the Canadian Workplace Well-Being Award from the Canadian Positive Psychology Association and Workplace Strategies for Mental Health.

Prior to joining First West in 2008, Liz led talent management at Canada’s largest cooperative financial institution. She also has previous leadership experience in various roles at the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC). An analytical thinker with a passion for enabling people to flourish, Liz was also a chartered psychologist in the United Kingdom and even has experience as a secondary school science teacher. Her diverse background gives Liz a uniquely creative perspective for identifying opportunities, using data and solving challenges in business across many industries. Liz is a graduate of the Institute of Corporate Directors and holds her ICD.D designation.

Liz holds a Bachelor of Science in human psychology and a Master of Science in educational psychology, as well as her Chartered Professionals in Human Resources (CPHR) designation. She is also part of the B.C. and Yukon Human Resources Management Association and has been honoured with a Distinguished Communication in Business award from the International Association of Business Communicators British Columbia (IABC BC). In 2024 Liz was named one of Canada’s Top 10 Chief Human Resources Officers and Chief People Officers by DiversityCan Magazine, recognizing her outstanding contributions and dedication to fostering diversity and driving positive change within her organization and the broader community.

Away from the office, Liz is an active member in her community, having volunteered for several non-profit organizations. Currently, she is a director on the board of the Langley Memorial Hospital Foundation. She currently resides in White Rock, B.C.