About

Benoît Charlebois

Senior Coordinator, Communications & Member Engagement

As a professional communicator trained in North and South America, Benoît has built an exceptionally diversified and international career spanning 35 years in private, public, governmental and non-governmental organizations—in over seven countries—in the fields of education and public engagement, telecommunications, humanitarian and international development.

Between 2012-2022, he held several positions at the Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific of which he is an alumnus and a former Board Director. Before that, he held senior management and strategic corporate communications positions with TELUS Québec and Bell Canada, as well as the Canadian International Development Agency, the Canadian Red Cross, and the Canadian Commission for UNESCO.

Previously, he was in charge of program management, customer operations and marketing in several telecom start-ups with Telesystem International Wireless, helping to launch successful cellular phone companies in Romania, Brazil, and France.

Earlier in his career, he worked in communications with United World Colleges International in the UK and Italy, as well as in Development Support Communications with Club 2/3-Oxfam Quebec in Montreal and as a volunteer cooperant with Canadian University Services Overseas in Colombia.

He has served on the Board of the Space for Life Foundation and Initiatives of Change Canada. He is married with a Colombian woman with whom he has two children. Benoît is fluent in French, Spanish and English.

Benoît acknowledges that his place of residence and daily work are located on aboriginal territory, which has never been ceded by the Nitaskinan nation (Atikamekw / Nehirowisi Aski) as guardian of the lands and waters on which he depends.

The Atikamekw, a nation with an oral tradition, are descended from the great Anishnabe or Algonquin Anicnape family. This large family occupies territories stretching from the Canadian northeast to the American southwest. In Quebec, the Atikamekw nation occupies the central part of the province. Its immediate neighbors are the Wapanaki to the east, the Algonquin to the west, the Mowak to the south and the Cree, Naskapi and Innu to the north.

Michele Fugiel Gartner, PhD, CAP®

Lead Researcher

Michele is a philanthropic researcher, educator, and advisor. She holds a PhD from the University of St Andrews, School of Management, where she studied the experiences of CEOs in UK family foundations and conceptualised the foundation professional role. She instructs nonprofit management and social innovation at Mount Royal University (Calgary, AB). Michele’s philanthropic experience includes the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Social Venture Partners Calgary, Trico Charitable Foundation, and the Centre for the Study of Philanthropy & Public Good. She obtained her Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy® designation in 2016 and is a member of the Global Philanthropy Advisory Group with the Society of Estate and Trust Practitioners (STEP). Michele has an MA from the University of London, SOAS, in international studies and diplomacy and a BA from Arizona State University in intercultural and organizational communication.

Michele acknowledges that her life has been shaped by the lands and histories of many peoples and places. She was born and raised in Illinois and Wisconsin, on the traditional homelands of the Ho-Chunk, Menominee, and Potawatomi peoples. Her journey has taken her through Phoenix, Arizona (Akimel O’odham and Hohokam lands); Honolulu, Hawai'i (Kanaka Maoli lands); Japan (home to the Ainu and Ryukyuan peoples); Seattle, Washington (Coast Salish territories, including the Duwamish and Suquamish Tribe); and London, UK, historically stewarded by the Britons. London’s history as a hub of migration and colonization serves as a reminder of the lasting impacts of the British Empire on Indigenous peoples globally.

Now, she lives and works in Calgary, Alberta, in the traditional territories of the peoples of Treaty 7, which includes the Blackfoot Confederacy (comprised of the Siksika, the Piikani, and the Kainai First Nations), the Tsuut’ina First Nation, and the Stoney Nakoda (including Chiniki, Bearspaw, and Goodstoney First Nations), and home to the Métis Nation of Alberta (Districts 5 and 6). She honors the histories, cultures, and enduring relationships Indigenous peoples have with these lands, reflecting on colonization’s legacies and her responsibility to advocate for equity and decolonization. As someone shaped by global movement, she commits to ongoing learning and solidarity with Indigenous communities worldwide.