Dan Pontefract is a Canadian businessman and writer.

Early life and education

Pontefract is from

Stoney Creek, Ontario Stoney Creek is a community in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton in the Canadian province of Ontario located 10 km east of Downtown Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton and 57 km south-west of Toronto. It was a municipality until 2001, ...

. He earned a

Bachelor of Education A Bachelor of Education (B.Ed. or BEd) is an undergraduate academic degree which prepares students for work as a teacher in schools. A Bachelor of Education program typically lasts three to four years and combines both coursework and practical exp ...

(BEd) in 1994 and a degree in Educational Technology in 1995 from

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

. He received an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

from

Royal Roads University Royal Roads University (also referred to as RRU or Royal Roads) is a public university with its main campus in Colwood, British Columbia, Canada. The university is located at Hatley Park National Historic Site on Vancouver Island and is the succ ...

in 2002.

Career

Pontefract held senior roles at the

British Columbia Institute of Technology The British Columbia Institute of Technology (also referred to as BCIT), is a public polytechnic institute in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. The technical institute has five campuses located in the Metro Vancouver region, with its main cam ...

(BCIT),

BusinessObjects Business Objects (BO, BOBJ, or BObjects) was an enterprise software company, specializing in business intelligence (BI). Business Objects was acquired in 2007 by German company SAP AG. The company claimed more than 46,000 customers in its final e ...

, and

SAP SE Sap is a fluid transported in the xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant. Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a s ...

. He then served as the Chief Envisioner and Chief Learning Officer at the Canadian national telecommunications company

Telus Telus may refer to: * Telus Corporation, a Canadian publicly traded holding company ** Telus Communications, a telecommunications company ** Telus Digital, a technology company ** Telus Health, a health technology provider ** Telus Mobility T ...

. There he launched the Telus Transformation Office to improve workplace culture and the Telus MBA, "a customized executive MBA tailored for promising employees" at

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay, British Columbia, Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. Established in 1903 as Victoria College, British Columbia, Victoria Col ...

's Peter B. Gustavson School of Business. Pontefract also serves as an adjunct professor at the business school. In 2018, Pontefract was named to the Thinkers50 Radar list of the "30 management thinkers most likely to shape the future of how organizations are managed and led."

Personal life

Pontefract is married to Denise Lamarche, a fellow alumnus of McGill. Pontefract has 3 children.

Publications

Pontefract is the author of five management books. His 2023 book, ''Work-Life Bloom,'' was named one of Thinkers5
Top New Management
books in 2024 as well as the Axiom Business Book Award
Gold Medal
for Leadership. His 2020 book, ''Lead. Care. Win.,'' won the 2022 silver medal at th
Nautilus Book Awards
His 2018 book, ''Open to Think'', won the 2019 Axiom Business Book Award silver medal in the leadership category and ''Open to Think'' also won the 2019 getAbstract International Book Award. * ''Work-Life Bloom: How to Nurture a Team That Flourishes'' Figure 1. September 2023. . * ''Lead. Care. Win.: How to Become a Leader Who Matters.'' Figure 1. September 2020. . * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pontefract, Dan Year of birth missing (living people) Businesspeople from Ontario Canadian business writers McGill University alumni Royal Roads University alumni Academic staff of the University of Victoria Writers from Hamilton, Ontario Living people