Glenn Sigurdson
Glenn Sigurdson, C.M*., K.C.
Watch a recent talk by Glenn during Responsible Raw Materials 2024 here: RRM 2024
Appointed to the Order of Canada* in 2020, Glenn Sigurdson has a distinguished history of providing solution-driven leadership across diverse values, interests, and power dynamics in the realms of people and resources. He excels both within organizations—cultivating cultures of alignment and integration across business units—and among organizations, facilitating problem resolution, agreement formation, and the development of resilient relationships. As a mediator of complex, multi-party challenges involving resources, environmental concerns, and land use issues—frequently intersecting with Indigenous rights and interests—Glenn has engaged in various sectors, including mining, oil and gas, fisheries, forestry, energy, and water.
Internationally recognized, he was featured by the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School in Public Dispute Mediators: Profiles of 15 Distinguished Careers” (2000). Sustainable development has been a focal point of Glenn’s career, exemplified by his co-authorship of the widely referenced book, Building Consensus for a Sustainable Future: Putting the Principles into Practice,” published in 1996 by the National Round Table of Canada.In 2022 , after having served as its Chair of the Board of Trustees for 8 years, he was appointed Chair Emeritus of Resolve, Inc, headquartered in Washington D.C., one of the premier public dispute resolution and collaborative leadership organizations in the U.S. and internationally.
Among his extensive sustainability-related endeavors, Glenn served as an adviser and facilitator for the Mining, Minerals, and Sustainable Development Project (MMSD), led by the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). This global initiative, conducted from 1999 to 2002, focused on how the mining and minerals sector could contribute to the global transition to sustainable development.
He founded and led Global Energy Minerals and Markets (GEMM) (www.gemm.ca) an innovative dialogue platform that over the period 2011 to 2018 brought together over 500 leaders from communities, companies, and countries in the mineral sector to engage in challenging conversations addressing the sector’s most pressing sustainability issues. Building from the learnings from those dialogues, he delivers GEMM Strategy Intensives to assist companies in developing the leadership insights and tool to address the challenges faced by resource companies in interacting with other players impacted by their operations. The program is grounded in the recognition that internal thinking and acting must changes to effect meaningful eternal challenges critical to managing risks and opportunities.
Glenn’s journey began with a prominent legal career. He earned a B.A. (Hons.) in Economics from the University of Manitoba in 1968 and an LL.B. from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1972. He was called to the Bar of Manitoba in 1973 and appointed King’s Counsel in 1985. In 1979, he became a founding partner of the Winnipeg law firm Taylor McCaffrey. In 1989, Glenn relocated to Vancouver, where he transitioned into a consultancy practice, focusing on mediation and conflict resolution, and continues to reside there. Simon Fraser University Centre for Dialogue and a former Adjunct Professor in the School of Business. His career encompasses teaching, coaching, mentoring, writing, and speaking.
In his bestselling memoir, Vikings on a Prairie Ocean (www.vikingsonaprairieocean.com), Glenn shares captivating insights about his work as the “man in the middle,” reflecting on the stories, values, and influences from his upbringing in a renowned fishing family on Lake Winnipeg that have shaped his life and career.Currently, he also serves as the Honorary Consul General of Iceland in British Columbia. More information about Glenn can be found at www.glennsigurdson.com.
Produced by Critical Productions