Speakers

Mark Podlasly, a member of the Nlaka’pamux Nation in British Columbia, is the Chief Sustainability Officer at the First Nations Major Project Coalition, a national First Nations organization dedicated to ensuring Indigenous environmental and economic values are incorporated into projects in traditional territories. He counsels Indigenous governments across Canada on the establishment of trusts to invest revenues from resource development.  

Mark’s international experience includes the planning, permitting and construction of large capital projects related to energy, resource development and community infrastructure around the world. He has designed and delivered corporate strategy, leadership and globalization programs for a client list that includes GE, Unilever, General Mills, Clorox, Goldman Sachs, and Praxair. He is also a frequent contributor on the subject of industry-Indigenous economic reconciliation, with writings covering a range of issues including ESG, climate change, economic wellbeing and governance. 

Mark is a board director of Hydro One, serving on the audit and human resources committees, and a managing trustee of his First Nation’s mining revenue trust fund. In addition, he is an Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business, and a frequent participant in international forums. 

Mark holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Harvard University, and was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal by the Governor-General of Canada for the founding of Teach for Canada, a non-profit organization that works with northern First Nations to recruit and support committed teachers.