Duncan Phillips

Background

About Duncan Phillips

I am an innovator, mentor, collaborator and partnership builder. My work is driven by two mottos, “Don’t just think outside the box, look under the table the box is sitting on” and “If you don’t ask, you don’t get”. I work with foundations, not for profits, educational institutions and domestic and international companies to create partnerships for innovation, with a focus on youth empowerment and transition to post-secondary education, and Canada’s north. In the Summer of 2022, after leaving Mitacs, I incorporated Cooperor Consulting Corporation*, which sits at the junction of philanthropy, research, innovation and economic development, and offers consulting services including strategic planning, fundraising, and partnership and business development.(* Pronounced as if hyphenated - i.e. co-operor) I joined Mitacs in 2007, transitioning to the public sector from technology innovation in the UK and Canada, pioneering technologies as diverse as handwriting recognition, video conferencing and international trade automation. Prior to Mitacs I served as VP Operations of an international trade automation company where I was responsible for international partnerships, IP and license agreements, patent and SR & ED applications, and corporate restructuring. Just before that, in I co-wrote and edited, for a major client, a study on the future of technology - and over 90% of the predictions have come to pass! In 2010 Mitacs created its Strategic Markets unit which develops and pilots new initiatives that have the potential to evolve into Mitacs programs. In that role I built the Mitacs Conference Services unit from the existing internal events team, then created strategies for increasing research and innovation spend in Canada by international companies that have obligations under Canada’s Industrial and Technological Benefits program. Then in 2016, understanding that current programs did not serve Indigenous communities well, we determined that Mitacs had the opportunity to use its expertise in building bridges between academia and industry, government and not-for-profits to benefit Indigenous communities in Canada. The lessons we learned and evidence we gathered from a series of pilot projects led to a comprehensive internal inclusion strategy, and significant changes to the company's programs to better serve Indigenous companies, not-for-profits and communities. I rounded out my time at Mitacs focused on Canada's North and the Arctic, and with the successful negotiation of a new $33m R&D commitment from a European aerospace company.