ABOUT
Founder and Chairman of Sequeira Partners
Aroon Sequiera, FCPA, FCA
CPA backs education to boost Indigenous contribution to GDP
Founder of Sequeira Partners, Aroon Sequeira, FCPA, FCA, is an agreeable, outgoing character who is by nature altruistic. Indeed, he feels that his innate desire to help others is part of what drew him to the profession.
"In some ways, you become a CPA to support people. It’s the nature of the beast. You’ll find a lot of CPAs love to help and encourage."
And help and encourage Aroon certainly does. He serves on a number of corporate and not-for-profit boards including the Alberta Indigenous Opportunities Corporation (AIOC), an organization set up to work with Indigenous communities across Alberta to invest in natural resources, agriculture, telecommunication, and transportation projects. AIOC has a mandate to provide a billion dollars of loan guarantees to enable Indigenous communities to participate in such endeavours.
"Earlier in my career, my jobs in the energy sector saw me work with Indigenous populations and businesses, which in turn led the then-premier of Alberta to put me on the AIOC board."
Indigenous GDP in Alberta grew from $8.4 billion in 2012 to $10.8 billion in 2019, but Aroon’s experiences working on the AIOC board made him realize that improved educational opportunities could help boost this already admirable statistic.
"Indigenous students who chose to pursue a post-secondary education didn’t always have the same support system and network that other students enjoy. That’s why I became involved with the New Buffalo Education Circle. It’s an organization that supports Indigenous students through their post-secondary studies."
Aroon still adores being a CPA and attributes this to the fact that the job is always intellectually stimulating and brings him into contact with a range of fascinating colleagues and clients. During his career, he has helped a wide range of entrepreneurs to sell their successful businesses and move on to the next chapter of their lives. It’s personally rewarding work that he feels contributes greatly to a large number of stakeholders from the sellers, buyers, employees, creditors and the broader economy.
"Taken as a whole, small and medium businesses are big employers, so ensuring that these businesses thrive beyond the tenure of the existing owners is very important, because it helps local communities to prosper and enjoy a sense of security and continuity. That’s important to me."
