James Stauch, Cathy Glover, and Kelli Stevens, Mount Royal University
James Stauch is the director of the Institute for Community Prosperity at Mount Royal University, where he has developed or co-created social-innovation, leadership, and systems-focused learning programs for both undergraduates and the broader community. He previously served as a foundation executive and philanthropy and social-change consultant, and currently serves on two entities that combine business and community investment: as a director on the board of Alberta Ecotrust and as part of the leadership faculty within the Conference Board of Canada’s Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Institute. His other recent contributions to community-partnered knowledge production include One Big Experiment: Chronicling a Nonprofit Merger in Action, with Trellis; The Problem Solver’s Companion: A Practitioners’ Guide to Starting a Social Enterprise, co-produced with Shaun Loney and Encompass Co-op; In Search of the Altruithm: AI and the Future of Social Good, co-authored with Alina Turner of HelpSeeker; and A Student Guide to Mapping a System, co-produced with Daniela Papi-Thornton and the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at the University of Oxford.
After 20 years in volunteer management, fundraising, and leadership roles in local and regional charities, Cathy Glover became the director of the Suncor Energy Foundation in 2001, managing one of Canada’s largest foundations by disbursement. Upon retiring from Suncor in 2017, Cathy was gifted the Blackfoot name Aahpii Pitahgii, or White Eagle Woman, recognizing her leadership and support of Indigenous youth. She also joined Mount Royal University in the role of Changemaker in Residence with the Institute for Community Prosperity. Cathy has a BSc in psychology and MBA from the University of Calgary and an MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King’s College in Halifax. She is currently working on a manuscript about the changing role of corporate philanthropy and her personal reconciliation journey.
Kelli Stevens first came to know her co-author Cathy Glover at Suncor Energy, where Kelli worked in corporate communications; she and Cathy worked together on files related to corporate social responsibility. Kelli eventually left Suncor to pursue a master of social work focused on community development and to manage a multi-stakeholder youth gang-prevention project. She reconnected with Cathy and co-author James Stauch while they all worked with the Institute for Community Prosperity and the Trico Changemakers Studio at Mount Royal University. Kelli has also seen the community sector from the vantage point of a volunteer, holding several positions in both “frontline” and governance-related roles.