Profile
Madchen Funk is a senior legal counsel with deep expertise supporting life and health insurance leaders in a complex, highly regulated environment. She provides strategic legal guidance across the enterprise, offering regulatory compliance advice, governance support, and practical operational insight. Her work is centred on minimizing legal and reputational risk while enabling sound, business-aligned decisions in a rapidly evolving insurance landscape.
Funk has extensive experience in life and health insurance law, including advising on policy contracts, product documentation, marketing materials, and operational issues related to policy issuance and administration. She regularly drafts and negotiates significant commercial and technology agreements, interprets emerging legislative and regulatory developments, and works closely with compliance and risk teams to align legal strategy with organizational goals.
Before moving in-house, Funk practised in civil and family law litigation. That background sharpened her advocacy, judgment, and dispute resolution skills, which continue to shape her practical, risk-balanced advisory approach.
Committed to leadership beyond her day-to-day role, Funk has also served on the board of directors for Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region. She is known for her collaborative style, pragmatic mindset, and ability to translate legal complexity into clear, actionable guidance for insurance leaders.
1 Westmount Rd N, Waterloo, ON N2J 4C7
416 733 2773
mfunk@equitable.ca
linkedin.com/in/madchen-funk
equitable.ca
Madchen Funk
Senior Legal Counsel – Advisory
The Equitable Life Insurance Company of Canada
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Bio
Milestones
Profile
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Bio
Milestones
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Special Report
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Bio
Milestones
2017–2019
2021–2025
Present
2015–2017
2021-Present
Associate Lawyer at GGFI Law
2017–2019
Legal Counsel at Equitable
2021–2025
Senior Legal Counsel at Equitable since 2025
Present
Vice President, Quality and System Performance at Nova Scotia Health Authority
2015–2017
2021-2025: Legal Counsel, Equitable
2025-present: Senior Legal Counsel, Equitable
Previously: Associate, GGFI Law
2021-Present
Milestones
Milestones
Sept 2021
Feb 2022
Apr 2022
Jul 2022
Aug
2022
Suncorp Bank introduces Solar Home Bonus offer for customers who are choosing renewable energy for their homes
Sept 2021
Month-on-month market share growth commences
Feb 2022
Suncorp Bank wins the Canstar award for most outstanding value in investment loans
Apr 2022
Suncorp Bank wins Money Magazine’s Bank of the Year and Business Bank of the Year awards for the fifth year in a row
Jul 2022
Suncorp Bank’s turnaround times are the lowest they have ever been. The lender becomes Australia’s first certified carbon neutral bank for both its operation and transaction services
Aug 2022
Milestones
As a founding member of WOW! (Women. Opportunity. Winning.), an employee resource group created for all women of Ryan Specialty, Phillips Topping has long championed for women in the industry.
“It’s very important to set an example and to not only inspire but mentor other females,” she adds.
In addition to her sharp marketing eye, the key to Phillips Topping’s success lies in her high-energy approach and positive attitude.
“As the leader of a team, it’s important to motivate and encourage your team members. People work very hard and do their best and it’s important to recognize these efforts. For my career overall, my attitude has been one of curiosity. The more you can learn, the better you’ll understand the business, and then the deeper your knowledge will become, making you a better team member.”
Chief underwriting officer of executive risk at Chubb
President of financial insurance solutions at Kemper
Chief underwriting officer at Axis Capital
CEO of global Insurance at Endurance
CEO of global Insurance at Sompo International
Empathy underpins that discipline. Prickett has struggled in the industry. She has felt what it is like when promised support does not materialize. Having worked across almost every function in the company, she understands operational detail and the pressure agents face. That shared experience shapes her leadership.
Structural barriers also shaped her path. As a woman and a mother, she encountered the assumption that serious business building required keeping priorities “out of order for a time.” She also experienced the double standard that frames firm women as difficult while praising similar behaviour in men.
“If you have a choice between being liked and doing the right thing, doing the right thing is always better, even if it’s the unpopular thing,” Prickett says.
She wants to dismantle the expectation that women must choose between career and family, or between strength and kindness. In her view, leadership demands both conviction and care.
Being named an Elite Woman carries weight. Prickett did not have female role models in the industry when she started. She hopes visibility changes that. “I hope I can be an example. Not of perfection, but of persistence. Of building from your values and staying true to who you are.”
The legacy Prickett is still defining centres on proof – proof that a large, profitable company can grow without sacrificing integrity; proof that agents can build real assets while keeping their priorities intact; and proof that leadership does not require abandoning who you are to succeed.
“If you have a choice between being liked and doing the right thing, doing the right thing is always better, even if it’s the unpopular thing”
Lee-Ann Prickett,
Experior Financial Group
“What I’ve learned is that when you build from your values, when you put people first, when you do the right thing even when it’s hard, that becomes your plan”
Lee-Ann Prickett,
Experior Financial Group
“I’ve always believed that if you love what you do, you’ll never settle, and that attitude has guided every decision I’ve made”
Danny Ibrahim,
KeyRate Mortgage
“My strongest professional quality is my ability to build trust and long-term relationships, whether with clients, colleagues, or stakeholders”
Danny Ibrahim,
KeyRate Mortgage
“My strongest professional quality is my ability to build trust and long-term relationships, whether with clients, colleagues, or stakeholders”
Danny Ibrahim,
KeyRate Mortgage
“I’ve always believed that if you love what you do, you’ll never settle, and that attitude has guided every decision I’ve made”
Danny Ibrahim,
KeyRate Mortgage