Haskayne welcomes Adam Legge as first director of Global Business Futures Initiative

The Haskayne School of Business has received a $1-million gift to launch the Global Business Futures Initiative. This first-of-its-kind initiative will explore the role business will play in addressing social and economic issues arising from disruptive shifts in technology, globalization, urbanization and demographics.

To lead this initiative, the school has recruited Adam Legge, who has served as president and CEO of the Calgary Chamber since 2010. Legge, MEDes’99, was the youngest president in the organization’s history.

The $1-million gift from an anonymous donor will go to Haskayne’s Canadian Centre for Advanced Leadership in Business. Launched in 2012 at Haskayne, CCAL empowers students to chart their own leadership development path, provides transformational development opportunities, advances world class leadership research and has built an impactful Community for Advanced Leadership.

"I am incredibly excited to be joining the Haskayne School of Business and the Canadian Centre for Advanced Leadership in Business. The work done at CCAL is world class, and I am looking forward to contributing to a team that makes such a positive impact to the field of leadership,” said Legge.

“The Global Business Futures Initiative presents an opportunity to position CCAL as the world's premier agent for positive change in defining a role for business in a society that has become incredibly complex, dynamic, yet fraught with distrust of business. My aim is to work and ensure that business can adapt better to the changing world, and be viewed as a positive catalyst for making the world a better place,” added Legge.

Legge brings over two decades of experience working with businesses to help them become more successful. That background, combined with experience dealing with governments, has enabled Legge to chart new paths for business success in an increasingly complex and changing global environment.

The Haskayne School of Business celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2017 and Dean Jim Dewald said this initiative shows Haskayne’s bold path for the future. Dewald said there are other think tanks or institutes that study similar topics, but they examine the issue from a policy or government perspective. Haskayne’s initiative will differ by asking, “What can a CEO do?” instead of, “What should the government be doing?”

Dewald is thrilled the school could recruit a business community leader like Legge for this project.

“To pull off this successful initiative on the future of business and its role in society, I felt we needed a really dynamic leader,” said Dewald. “We needed a leader who is well versed in the ongoing conversations that business leaders are already having, a leader with strong connections in the business community and someone who has the passion and energy to achieve the initiative’s goals. I recruited Adam because I am confident he is just the leader we need and I look forward to seeing what he will accomplish here at Haskayne.” 

Legge believes that the global environment is changing so rapidly that it can be hard for business leaders to know what to do, where to focus and how to adapt to the increasing complexities. His focus will be on addressing these challenges when he begins with Haskayne in January 2018.  

“Through the work at the Global Business Futures Initiative at CCAL I hope that we can provide insights and pathways for the world's businesses to thrive and reclaim a place of trust and engagement in civil society,” said Legge. 

Jennifer Krahn, CCAL’s director, said Legge is an ideal leader for the Global Business Futures Initiative.

“It is a significant initiative that will support CCAL’s global mandate and have synergy with our transformational leadership initiatives. I am delighted to welcome him to our team and look forward to the broad expertise he will bring to the centre and to the school,” she said.