Wayne Dunn

Wayne Dunn is a Canadian business entrepreneur who has played an important role in Canada’s work to develop robust social license and business links with Africa (through the Canadian Council on Africa.) Dunn is a well-known and award-winning figure in the promotion of corporate social responsibility (CSR) across six continents. Dunn also teaches, lectures and organizes international workshops with universities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), international financial institutions, and international development agencies.
Dunn is a frequent speaker about CSR and social license, for example addressing the ‘UN Convention Against Corruption’ conference at Chatham House, London (2006). As a regular contributor to international journals, Dunn’s projects have been adopted as important case studies by the University of British Columbia and the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Dunn’s theoretical model ‘‘Interactive Continuum’’ was used by the Minerals Council of Australia to illustrate developments in stakeholder involvement.
Activities
Since the 1980s, Dunn has pursued multi-stakeholder projects which see the interests of business, community, environment, Indigenous Peoples and government come together. Many of these projects are based in Africa and Latin America. One of Dunn's most well known projects, the Placer Dome Care Project, took place in South Africa with the Canadian multinational mining company.This project was featured in a Stanford Business School case study and was credited with changing the social face of the South African mining industry. In 2005, Dunn founded Clark Sustainable Resource Developments, an innovative underwater timber harvesting project in Lake Volta, Ghana Dunn led and managed a team to market and salvage old growth tropical forest submerged in water behind hydro dams, while using inclusive strategies to include community, environment, and business interests. The venture was acquired by a competitor in 2009. Other projects include a program for South African mining companies to help miners living with HIV/AIDS, and a socially responsible skin care product company creating valuable income for Ghanaian women.
Dunn was actively involved in facilitating an increased focus on economic development in international indigenous programming and was the former Executive Director of Apikan Indigenous Network Canada.
Dunn organized conferences and workshops with The Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers (CANDO) and the World Council of Indigenous Peoples. These activities included giving a key presentation at the Nordic Council’s ground breaking 1996 conference on Indigenous Production and Trade.
Awards
Dunn has worked on over 50 social license/CSR projects around the world, working with major global firms, governments and international agencies through his consultancy, Wayne Dunn & Associates. Dunn's work with Placed Dome was awarded the People's Choice award at the World Bank's Development Marketplace (2002), and a World Bank Development Innovation Award (2002), and was the 2004 winner of the Nexen Award for Corporate Social and Ethical Responsibility and winner of the Star of Africa Award from the United States Embassy in South Africa.
Volunteer
Dunn volunteers his expertise and support to numerous local, national and international organizations and actively speaks out as a CSR advocate. His work includes the role of Vice-Chair of the Canadian Council on Africa and Board member of University of Winnipeg’s Advisory Circle for the Master’s in Development Practice (Indigenous Development) He was a founding member of the Canadian Council on Aboriginal Business’ Progressive Aboriginal Relations Jury, a founding member of the Institute for the Study of International Development (ISID) Leadership Council and was appointed as an ISID Professor of Practice in CSR at McGill University. Wayne Dunn also sits on the International Advisory Council for the Canada-Africa Emerging Leaders Dialogue (ACELD), in affiliation with the Duke of Edinburgh's Commonwealth Study Conference.
Personal life
Dunn holds an M.SC. in Management from the Stanford Graduate School of Business where he was a Sloan Fellow.<ref name="Sloan Fellow"/> He is the only person ever to graduate from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business without having first completed either high school or an undergraduate degree. Supported by his wife, Gifty Serbeh-Dunn, Dunn also works quietly as a philanthropist, giving simple but vital help to improve the quality of life and the futures of local Ghanaian communities.

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