Vancouver, BC —Mitacs is welcoming three new members to its board of directors this fall. With diverse experience in business from across Canada and a long-standing tradition of community service, Kelly Lendsay, Bruce MacDougall, and Doug Mitchell bring valuable insight and experience to the Mitacs board.
Mitacs’s board of directors oversees the organization’s mandate in fostering innovation and growth through partnerships with Canadian companies and post-secondary institutions.
Kelly Lendsay is President and CEO of Indigenous Works, leading the charge since 1998 to build stronger corporate–Indigenous engagements and growing the organization into an ISO-certified enterprise. He is a social entrepreneur who is internationally recognized as one of Canada’s foremost innovators of corporate-Indigenous partnership building and workplace inclusion strategies.
Kelly earned his MBA in 1993 and was honoured by the University of Saskatchewan as one of their “100 Alumni of Influence” in the last century whose accomplishments have been recognized for influencing the growth and development of the university, the province, and the world.
Bruce MacDougall is Regional Vice President, Enterprise Business Unit, Atlantic Canada at Rogers Communications and has over 25 years of management experience in the ICT industry. Before joining Rogers, he was the founder and president of Internetworking Atlantic Inc. (IAI), an Atlantic Canada-based telecommunications service provider that was acquired by Rogers in 2015.
Originally from Quebec, Bruce has an engineering degree from McGill University in Montreal and an MBA from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. He is a registered professional engineer in three provinces and a long-standing member of the IEEE.
Doug Mitchell is National Co-chair at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, and a respected business and community leader who has brought great energy and commitment to a range of organizations. Doug studied law at UBC, and throughout his legal career, he has made invaluable contributions to the strength and viability of amateur and professional sports in Canada. He has also served as a leading advocate of Alberta’s economic development as Chair of the Alberta Economic Development Authority and founder of the Global Business Forum.
Doug received the Lester Pearson Award as outstanding alumni of the Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union, is a member of the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame, and in 2004 was named one of the most influential Albertans in the province’s first 100 years. That same year, he became a member of the Order of Canada.
The three leaders join current board members:
- Diane Gray (Chair), Founding President and CEO, CentrePort Canada
- Alejandro Adem, CEO and Scientific Director, Mitacs
- Jacques Beauvais, Dean, Faculty of Engineering, University of Ottawa
- Sarah Bevan, Managing Director, President and CEO, UBS Bank (Canada)
- Karen Chad, Vice-President Research, University of Saskatchewan
- Amiee Chan, President and CEO, Norsat International
- Patrick Deane, President, McMaster University
- Philippe Gervais, Principal, Navigator
- Iain Klugman, CEO, Communitech
- John Milloy, Former Minister of Research and Innovation and former Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities; Government of Ontario
- Gilbert Nolasco, Consultant, Cohérence RH and Partner, Camiré & Associés
- Santa Ono, President and Vice-Chancellor, University of British Columbia
- Marie Rajic, Senior Vice-President and General Manager, Prairie Region, Hill+Knowlton Strategies
Quotes:
Diane Gray; Chair, Board of Directors, Mitacs; and Founding President and CEO, CentrePort Canada
“I’m very happy to welcome Kelly, Bruce, and Doug to the Mitacs board of directors. They bring a wealth of experience from across the country and are experts at building partnerships and leading innovation, which are central to the Mitacs mandate.”
Alejandro Adem, CEO and Scientific Director, Mitacs
“We are honoured to have three new board members with such tremendous energy, ideas, and experience. As we look to a period of growth at Mitacs, their expertise in collaboration, economic development, and community-building will be invaluable to driving innovation in Canada through our programs.”
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