Russ Christianson

Biography

Working together with the founders, Russ has helped launch over two hundred mission-driven co-operative businesses in a wide variety of sectors, including: food retail, processing and distribution; renewable energy; education; culture; construction; forestry; and travel. He has worked with consumer, producer, employee-owned, First Nations, student and multi-stakeholder co-operatives to help them improve their business operations and organizational governance.

Russ is the creator of the Sustainability Scorecard, a practical tool that is used to map and evaluate organizations’ financial, social and ecological processes and metrics. In 2003, he received the Co-operative Spirit Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Ontario
Co-operative Association.

In addition to co-operative enterprises, Russ has worked with governments, businesses, community-based organizations, labour unions, and associations to develop strategic approaches to economic, social and ecological challenges. Using participatory facilitation, Russ has created citizen and customer-based market research, feasibility studies, business and strategic plans, economic analysis, and communications strategies.

As a volunteer in his own community, Russ was the founding President of the Campbellford / Seymour Community Foundation and the Aron Theatre Co-operative.

Russ has a Masters of Industrial Relations (M.I.R.) from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Commerce (honours) from Queen’s University at Kingston.