Bruce Lawson

Bruce Lawson previously served as the president and CEO of The Counselling Foundation of Canada from 2008 to 2023, as well as the executive officer of CERIC and an ex-officio member of the CERIC Board of Directors.

Bruce is a co-founder of Foundation House, a collaborative workspace housing three foundations and several charitable and non-profit network organizations in Toronto. He was a part of the steering committee that co-authored the Philanthropic Community’s Declaration of Action presented at the closing event of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In 2019, he was appointed for a two-year term to the federal government’s Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector. In spring 2020, he helped create the Indigenous Peoples Resilience Fund, which was designed to support Indigenous communities and Indigenous-led organizations with immediate needs in the face of the pandemic.

An active volunteer, Bruce is currently a director of The Counselling Foundation of Canada and the Agora Foundation, which publishes The Philanthropist Journal. He has also served as a director and committee member for several organizations, including as board chair of Philanthropic Foundations Canada and Casey House, and as a trustee of the Arctic Inspiration Prize.

Bruce has a BA (economics) from McGill University and an MBA from the University of Toronto.