Sara Gelgor, LLB, LLM, MBA, ICD.D, G. Dipl. SRS
Senior Director, Reconciliation & Human Rights, RBC Royal Bank

Sara is a recognized governance, ethics, human rights, risk and sustainability professional, and is an experienced board director.

Sara is responsible for RBC’s Global Human Rights Program and leads the development of RBC’s public disclosure on human rights and modern slavery.  She has oversight over RBC’s Truth and Reconciliation Office and played an integral role in the development and recent launch of the Bank’s Reconciliation Action Plan.  She has held a broad range of leadership roles in the financial services sector, including leading regulatory and financial crimes compliance, as well as privacy, ethics, conduct, and anti-corruption risk and oversight functions. She is a lawyer and earned her undergraduate and MBA degrees at the University of Toronto, her LLB at Queen’s University, and her LLM at Cambridge University. Sara also holds the Graduate Diploma in Social Responsibility & Sustainability from the University of Toronto, and the Osgoode Certificate in Legal & Regulatory Risk Management for Financial Institutions, as well as the Certificate in ESG and Climate Law, also from Osgoode.
  
Sara is a graduate of the GPC designation program and contributed to the design and development of the program, delivering the corporate ethics module since its launch. Sara also holds the ICD.D designation. Her board experience includes serving as Public Director and Governance Committee Chair of the board of The Financial Advisors Association of Canada, Chair of the Advisory Board  at St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto for the Graduate Diploma in Social Responsibility & Sustainability, Chair of an Administrative Tribunal (City of Toronto Compliance Audit Committee), member of the Ontario Internal Audit Committee (Community Services Sector), board director at the Toronto Hydro Corporation, the Canadian National Exhibition, North York General Hospital Foundation, the University of Toronto Governing Council Business Board, Scotia Insurance Agency, and Humewood House. She received the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada Award in 2024 and was previously named to the Diversity 50 by the Canadian Board Diversity Council.

Sara is a frequent conference speaker and is a past lecturer at Queen’s Law School and the Rotman School of Management.