Haskayne School of Business hosts summit for business leaders on North American prosperity

Business leaders in North America are navigating rapid change.  

Sustainability, reconciliation, geopolitics, migration, resources resiliency and a growing digital divide all present both opportunities and challenges for North American organizations. That’s why business leaders gathered at the end of October in Canmore, Alta., for the first-ever Global Business Futures Summit — to discuss and share ideas around adapting to change.

The summit is just the beginning. A detailed summit report will be issued later this year recapping the conversation and outlining next steps. The report will be followed by webinars, panel discussions and continued peer-to-peer conversations.

• Photo above: A fireside chat at the first Global Business Futures Summit including, from left: Adam Legge, president of the Business Council of Alberta; Sergio Garcia Lora, CEO Mexico’s Business Co-ordinating Council, U.S. Representative Office; Goldy Hyder, president and CEO, Business Council of Canada; and Elizabeth Cannon, president emerita, University of Calgary.

The 65 summit attendees represented a diverse mix of senior business leaders, business groups, academics, policy-makers, trade organizations and industry associations from Canada, the United States and Mexico. 

Unlike many business gatherings, this summit was focused on facilitating strategic conversations in a peer-to-peer environment led by expert facilitators and aided by MBA students — tomorrow’s business leaders. The students facilitated table conversations and will be integral in the creation of the upcoming report.

“We are building something important. Something that will help determine the future of North American business,” says Oleksiy Osiyevskyy, director of the Global Business Futures Initiative (GBFI) and associate dean, graduate programs at Haskayne.

“Our summit emphasizes corporate leadership, as opposed to public policy. We ask, what can and should business do to solve big challenges and address opportunities? The conversations we held were lively and passionate debates about where we can make an impact individually, within our organizations and broadly as a region in North America.”

The Global Business Futures Initiative was formed at Haskayne to provide resources and tactical expertise for business leaders to help them future-proof their businesses.

“The summit was different,” notes Jim Dewald, dean of the Haskayne School of Business.

”Top leaders rolled up their sleeves and worked together, sharing insights on how to enhance both North American competitiveness and global societal impact,” he says.

Learn more about the Global Business Futures Initiative.