by Jason Boudreau
CREATING IMPACT Candid Conversations with Leaders in Life, Business and Philanthropy
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Welcome back to another edition of Creating Impact, Candid Conversations with Leaders in Life, Business and Philanthropy. Before we dive in, I first want to take a moment to extend my very best wishes and hope this finds you and yours safe and healthy. As a race, we are certainly experiencing times unlike any other. In this issue, I am both humbled and excited to bring you another story of a big-hearted entrepreneur with a passion to create transformation on the planet and leave it a better place for future generations- something I believe is important now more than ever. In early March, 2020, just before the world went into lockdown, I was in Palm Springs and had the fortunate opportunity to spend some time with Ian Telfer, former Chairman and CEO of Goldcorp Inc. Ian is a well-known Canadian mining entrepreneur and executive with a successful career spanning over three decades. During his time at Goldcorp, Ian led the company to become Canada’s top gold producer, prior to its acquisition in April, 2019, by Newmont Mining for USD $10B. Over his career, Ian developed a passion for philanthropy. Sharing his success through giving back to those people and organisations that had made a difference in his life became a core focus for Ian, personally, and Goldcorp, as a company. Throughout this candid conversation with Ian, his focus, drive and unique ability to lead were abundantly clear. What came through even stronger though were his humility, kindness and generosity of spirit- qualities of a leader that people truly want to follow. Ian’s life journey began in 1946 in Oxford, England. His father was a Scottish pilot in the Royal Air Force and had spent time living in Canada (Moosejaw, SK) training other Air Force pilots before being transferred back to the UK and meeting Ian’s mother on a blind date. The family lived in England until 1948 when Ian’s parents decided to move to Canada and after a five-year stint back in Moosejaw, they finally ended up putting down roots in Toronto. Ian grew up in the upper-middle class area of Downsview,
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ICONIC CONCIERGE
IAN TELFER
former Chairman and CEO, Goldcorp Inc.
where he remained until the end of high school. He shares, “I failed grade 13 and barely got into the University of Toronto”. Once he settled into U of T, he decided to join a fraternity and explains “I was voted Most Likely to Fail by my fraternity brothers”. Eventually Ian passed his final university exams, however, did not have a job lined up to take once he graduated.
