Ernie Daniels, CPA, CGA, CAFM, President and CEO, First Nations Finance Authority (FNFA).
As President and Chief Executive Officer, Ernie Daniels manages the business affairs of First Nations Finance Authority (FNFA). He is a Chartered Professional Accountant and a Certified Aboriginal Financial Manager.
From Salt River First Nation, Ernie moved from Ottawa to Kelowna in 2011 to work with FNFA as Director of Finance and was subsequently appointed as President and CEO in June 2012. Prior to FNFA, he was the President and Chief Operating Officer of the Aboriginal Financial Officers Association (AFOA) of Canada for 7 years and the Director of Assessment and Finance Operations at the Aboriginal Healing Foundation (AHF) for 5 years.
Ernie has worked for Indigenous non-profit organizations in various leadership and management positions. He has served on numerous boards and committees and was recently appointed as the inaugural First Nations director to the Bank of Canada Board of Directors. He was also a member of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) Research Study Group looking at financial reporting by First Nations; Chair of the NWT Legislative Assembly Society; Vice-Chair of the NWT Development Corporation; Board member of the First Nations Financial Management Board (FMB) and Chair of the Audit Committee and was a member of the Standards, Approvals, and Certification Committee. Ernie was a Board member of the Canadian Executive Service Organization (CESO); he won Xerox Canada-AFOA Excellence in Aboriginal Leadership Award in 2014, as well as BIV’s Top BC CEO Award in 2024.
“What gets me up every day to do my job is that I’m seeking a better quality of life for our communities.” ~ Ernie Daniels