John Nelson

I believe that I would be an excellent candidate to be considered as an Administrative Staff Governor because:

As a higher education administrator and coach with more than 17 years of professional experience in student affairs, international education, and international partnership development, I think that I would be an excellent candidate for the Administrative Staff Governor role. I’ve had the pleasure of working as a staff member in two of the five line faculties and in three of the four VP portfolios on campus at Carleton for thirteen of the last fourteen years. Apart from a brief career development stint off campus after my first ten years at Carleton, the majority of my career has been working with or serving Ravens in some capacity. I love working at Carleton and am always interested in finding new ways to get involved in things that happen on campus. I sit on the CUBO, ACUR and Cross Faculty Initiatives Committee so I am just as involved in reporting on and preserving the things we do on campus as I am in searching for opportunities to disrupt traditional ways of thinking and find innovative solutions to our challenges Most of the professional roles I have filled at Carleton have given me a chance to work with interdisciplinary teams of colleagues from across campus and that always creates a fun opportunity to tackle challenges and capitalize on opportunities after looking at or studying them through multiple lenses. I am a problem solver and am usually known on campus for my smile, positive attitude, tendency to ask lots of questions and willingness to back anything that supports faculty staff and students in a positive way. I am looking forward to leveraging the experience and connections I have on campus if elected as an Administrative Staff Governor.

I have the following skills and experiences which would be beneficial in my role as Administrative Staff Governor:

The main skills and experience I have to contribute to the Board of Governors build on my genuine interests in helping people be successful and finding new ways to change conventional ways of doing things. I am a strong facilitator, often ask questions that encourage reflection and critical thought, and have a tendency to look for positions where relationship building and collaboration are key to making things happen. As an executive coach and Acting Director of Carleton’s Innovation Hub, I’ve had an opportunity to listen to, coach, and learn from a wide range of student founders, entrepreneurs and corporate executives who are navigating unique challenges and changing the world. Facilitating introductions, asking questions, and matching needs and interests with people who have resources, now fills the most exciting part of my day. There is always a lot to do because so many people are excited about the innovation and entrepreneurship space. I am excited about my work because I get to help people identify and solve problems that others care about, in passion spaces that are important to them. Working at Carleton is like working in a start-up in many ways. We are often asked to do more with less, while meeting and exceeding the needs and expectations of the people we serve. We need to be creative and innovative with the way we do that, as other universities also have to do the same thing while drawing from the same pools of students (recruitment) and funding sources (for research and operations). Our storytelling needs to attract the attention of the right people, facilitate connection to the right partners, and accurately reflect what we are willing and able to do. I am particularly fortunate now that my acting role in the Innovation Hub has facilitated more access to student founders looking to change the world and challenge conventional approaches to operate, and to faculty members whose research interests can support founders in the external community hoping to do the same thing.

I have completed my Masters in the Technology Innovation Management Program at Carleton and am currently completing the first of three levels of the Innovation Governance Program (iGP) being presented by the Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI). This new executive leadership program was designed to train current and future board members in key areas of importance in the intangible economy, and aims to respond to Canada’s need for qualified directors and increased diversity on corporate boards. Thanks to this experience, I am developing my capacity to identify, describe and analyze modern governance issues facing innovation companies today on a regular basis. Many of these issues include the same challenges that Carleton’s Board of Governors are seeing right now, and will be addressing in the future. I hope to have a chance to listen and learn more about what our Board needs to achieve, and be counted on to ask questions that help the members of the Board get to the solutions that are needed.

I have worked closely with students faculty members, senior leadership, and both unionized and non unionized staff at Carleton for most of my career, and Iook forward to serving them in a new capacity if elected to the Board of Governors.

 If elected to the Board, what would you like to gain from the experience and/or what skills would you like to further develop?