Session 1: Social Innovation, 9:00 am

Social Innovation: Perspective from a For-Profit Organization

Robert Waite has worked in senior positions at some of North America's best known corporations, including IBM, Ford Motor Company, CIBC and CAE Inc. He joined Canada Post in 2005 and became the Crown Corporation's first SVP, Corporate Social Responsibility in 2008. He has directed donation and sponsorship strategies and programs at IBM, CIBC (with its Run for the Cure partnership with the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation) as well as Canada Post's involvement with literacy and mental health. Prior to working in business he worked as a journalist in Europe and the United States; served as press secretary to two United States Senators, Edward Brooke and Bob Dole; and was Vice President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States during the Reagan Administration. He received his undergraduate education majoring in history at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and recently was awarded a certificate in Corporate Social Responsibility from St. Michael's College, University of Toronto. He is a Canadian citizen and lives in Ottawa.