Alliance Benefits Plan Representative Change

After more than fifteen years as the Alliance's insurance representative, our beloved Donna Peerless will be retiring in 2017. Donna is a tireless advocate for artists (as well as an artist herself!) and was instrumental in establishing our group health benefits plan. She also created the Alliance’s group RRSP program, which is stewarded by Rob Hack of Investia Financial Services. Together, these plans comprise a cornerstone of our membership offerings. Donna is, as her name suggests, peerless.

“The arts and culture industry was and is my home — my people, my natural working environment,” says Donna. “So many talented, caring people, working their hearts out to bring beauty and depth to the lives of the people throughout our province. I have set up the plan for so many talented people who are doing important work and still have the forethought to look after their employees by installing our benefits plan. This means our cultural workers actually can enjoy the kind of benefits other Canadians have and may even take for granted — but not us. We will never take them for granted.”

However, it’s not all sad news: taking the reins from Donna is our brand new insurance advisor, Saskia Vermeulen. Says Donna: “Saskia has a real interest in and knowledge of the cultural sector. She is smart and well-qualified. I couldn't feel luckier to have Saskia as the guardian to look after this special and unique program.”

Raised in Vancouver, Saskia is a UBC grad with a background in marketing. A family background in both the arts and financial services led Saskia to make a career move to the financial sector years ago and she prides herself on providing effective, efficient and transparent service. Saskia is extremely passionate about ensuring that people are fully informed about their financial options and have a viable path to a stable financial future. By partnering with the BC Alliance for Arts + Culture, Saskia is thrilled to be able to match her passion for finance with her love of the arts. While the arts is traditionally not a sector that regularly finds access to huge financial support from all levels, Saskia believes strongly that all artists should have access to affordable and worthwhile group benefits and is looking forward to helping facilitate the Alliance’s group benefits program.

Donna will begin to enjoy her retirement effective January 1, 2017, however will continue to mentor and consult with Saskia. 

Learn More About Our Group Benefits Plans

If you have questions about any of our group benefits programs (health, RRSP, general insurance, or human resources services), please contact our member relations manager Beverly Edgecombe at 604 681 3535 ext. 207 or bev@allianceforarts.com.