Conference Co-hosts

John Buck is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Community Economic Development and Employability Corporation (CEDEC).  CEDEC has designed a new and innovative approach to economic development that helps communities achieve lasting success by identifying and leveraging their strongest opportunities for growth.  Specifically, CEDEC helps create public-private-civil society partnerships to foster economic innovation and creativity, combine resources and expertise, and drive local economic development initiatives.

 

Mr. Buck has served in his capacity as President and CEO at CEDEC since 2006 and he has been involved with CEDEC since the organization was created in 1999.  As a founding member, Mr. Buck served on the Board of Directors and then went on to serve as Treasurer and Secretary, and as Chair of the Board of Directors in 2002-2004.  Prior to working at CEDEC, Mr. Buck worked in the field of finance with one of Canada’s leading consulting firms.

 

Mr. Buck is a Board Director on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Local Employment and Economic Development (LEED) Forum.  He is also the Vice-Chair of the Canadian Society of Association Executives (CSAE), and a Director on the Board of Directors of CSAE.

 

Mr. Buck studied at Bishop’s University, McGill University and Laurier University and holds degrees both in sciences and in business administration. He also holds a Certified Association Executive (CAE) professional designation and certificates in governance from The Institute for Corporate Directors (ICD).  Mr. Buck is also a member of the Government Relations Institute of Canada and the Public Affairs Association of Canada (PAAC).

​

Patrick Brouder holds the British Columbia Regional Innovation Chair in Tourism and Sustainable Rural Development at Vancouver Island University on Coast Salish Territory. He is the current President of the Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation (CRRF).

Patrick collaborates with rural tourism communities of practice across British Columbia on three interrelated areas of tourism innovation - Indigenous tourism (supporting community-led tourism projects and developing research for Indigenous Tourism BC), creative tourism (linking creative economies and tourism in BC and Yukon), and tourism evolution (post-COVID-19 resilience of the tourism economy).

​