When Mike Mears underscores the importance of a prudent, business-like approach to running a philanthropic organization, people ought to sit up and take notice.

Mears brings a wealth of experience and valuable business connections to The Calgary Foundation, which he joined a year and a half ago.

The English-born Mears has spent most of his working life in senior management in Calgary with the Loram Group of Companies, one of Canada’s largest and most revered private companies. Prior to that, he was in the banking business.

Mears was president of the Mannix Family Foundation as well as vice-president of the Loram Shareholders Company at the time of his retirement three years ago.

But his retirement was short-lived as he leaped at an opportunity to head up the foundation and give something back to his community.

Dave Olecko photo, Business Edge
Mike Mears, president of The Calgary Foundation, applies the credentials and business skills gained in his earlier careers to the $180-million charity.

1. What brought you to Calgary in 1968 from Toronto?

“While I was with the Bank of Nova Scotia, I came to Calgary as an auditor in 1964 but then I was transferred back to Toronto. After that, I decided I liked Alberta so much that I returned to Calgary. Being in the banking world, I saw all kinds of companies that were doing extremely well and I felt there was a real opportunity here for a young person to get into almost any kind of business they wanted to. I made some calls, and in a couple of weeks I had a job with the Loram Group. Frankly, in my view, I couldn’t have picked a better organization because it’s extremely diversified. It was privately owned and it was in oil and gas, coal mining, manufacturing and real estate.”

2. Why did you move into the philanthropic side of Loram as president of the Mannix Family Foundation?

“Over the years, I’d had experience of many facets of the company’s operations. It was sort of a natural transition to move into the foundation side. It was a wonderful foundation and continues today to be a wonderful foundation.”

3. What was it like working for the Mannix family that owned Loram?

“They were absolutely exceptional. They were in my view extremely fair, progressive and dynamic. What made it so exciting was the fact that they were involved in so many industries and they provided the opportunities for employees to expand their horizons by working in their various industries. So it wasn’t one-stop shopping, if you wish. They really encouraged people and gave them an opportunity to excel.”

4. Why did you come out of retirement to head The Calgary Foundation?

“After retiring, I kept busy on some boards with some for-profit organizations and not-for-profit organizations. Then, in the early summer of 2002, a friend who was a headhunter called me and asked me if I’d be interested in throwing my hat in the ring for the job as president of The Calgary Foundation. I thought it would be a great way to give something back to the community and I thought I had the credentials, having run a private foundation. I thought that with my business skills, it would be similar to running a public or private company.”

5. How important is it for charitable organizations to be run like corporations?

“I’d certainly recommend it. The Calgary Foundation is a wonderful, wonderful foundation, having been in the philanthropic business for 48 years, and in my view it’s a multi-million-dollar business. We have assets of $180 million, so to run an organization with that kind of asset base, in my view, you need to apply business ethics, governance and credentials.”

6. How have you tried to put your stamp on the organization in terms of your style of management?

“Things like corporate governance, ethics, trust and stewardship were in place when I took over and that made my job so much easier. I think what I bring to the table is the business side and, having been associated in various forms of business with Loram, I know a lot of people in those businesses. We’ve applied a model to The Calgary Foundation whereby we go out and partner with the business community in terms of telling them what a great thing philanthropy is and asking if they perhaps might want to consider it as part of their business plan by giving back to the community in which their company is making its living. Therefore, by doing that, one creates a better quality of life for all that live in this community. Calgarians are terrific at doing that.”

7. Can you give a recent example of the way Calgary has rallied to help those in need?

“This past summer, we set up a fund for those communities that were affected by the fires in the Crowsnest Pass and in the Okanagan. Calgarians came through in a great way to support those communities. We also saw great support from across Canada. But I think Calgarians really do come together in these situations and maybe it goes back to our early culture of building on an agricultural base where one farmer helps another. Maybe it is a result of the frontier approach where one neighbour helps another.”

8. The foundation received a record $35.7 million in gifts in its past fiscal year. How do you top that in the next fiscal year that ends March 31?

“Work a little harder. We’re having a very good year this year but I don’t want to count my chickens before they’re hatched. We’re about half way to last year’s $36 million and we’ve got a bit of time yet. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get close to the record, but if we can surpass that, it would be wonderful. It’s not necessarily just all about raising money. It’s doing creative, successful grants to all kinds of sectors within the community.”

9. How do you think the city is doing in terms of keeping up with the demand for charitable donations due to the city’s growth?

“We have seen the homeless and continue to see the homeless. We’ve seen fantastic new facilities for the homeless, we’ve seen great work done by the Mustard Seed and the churches have come together to provide a program for the homeless. People ask why if all these homeless facilities are being built, we’re still seeing homeless people on the street. I can only say that possibly not all the homeless people want to go into these homes. We live in a free society and you can’t force people to go into these homes if they don’t want to. I would also suggest that because of the attraction Alberta has for opportunity, people do come from other parts of the country to Alberta and may find that with the credentials they have, they may not be able to find the job that they hope they can find. That sometimes happens too.”

10. What do you think is the most daunting challenge Calgary faces from a social perspective?

“I think probably we’d have to throw into that health issues. We’ve talked about homelessness. Another issue that affects the quality of life of Calgarians that could be considered social is the traffic issue. The city appears to be trying to address that issue. “People can be frustrated. When that becomes road rage, it does affect the quality of life in terms of a growing city.”

11. What’s the foundation’s strategy for improving Calgary’s quality of life?

“The big picture is being able to see blue sky, breathe fresh air, drink clean water and be able to safely walk the streets at night. In how many cities of a million people can you say that you can see the bottom of two rivers, not just one? You can see fish swimming in the bottom of the Bow and Elbow rivers. That to me is quality of life. To be able to go to the downtown core and see friends and business associates with smiles on their faces, that’s quality of life.”

12. What’s your vision for The Calgary Foundation?

“I’ll give you one vision. I think that we would like to be perceived by Calgarians as their foundation of choice, not just in terms of having a fund but in terms of them being able to pick up the phone to ask a philanthropic or charitable question knowing they will get a reliable, sensible answer. If we don’t know the answer, we’ll find out the answer and get back to them.”

13. What does it mean to you when philanthropists donate multi-million-dollar gifts such as the $15-million donation from the late oilman Bob Kolstad early this year?

“Of course it means a tremendous amount to us because that helps us do our job that much better. Our real job is getting grants into the communities where we and our donors feel there is a need. With a donation like Bob Kolstad’s, that can do just remarkable work.”

14. What’s the key to establishing a good rapport with the corporate community?

“Getting out, talking to them, telling our story, which is a great story. In a word, communication. That’s the key.”

15. What’s the foundation’s investing philosophy?

“It’s long-term and conservative investing. We’re not ones to be fly-by-nighters. In other words, we don’t change our philosophy year by year. We review it approximately every five years, assuming things are going okay. We have a very well-qualified committee that monitors that investment policy continually, as does our board. If we can build our asset base and by the same token meet our dispersement quotas under legislation and by the end of the day provide additional capital to the funds that will create more grants, then we’re meeting our investment philosophy.”

16. In the last fiscal year, the investment return of the organization was a loss of 11.9 per cent. Do you view that as just a reflection of the difficult financial markets?

“We need to be transparent of these things and tell the public that we’re not invincible. If we knew what the market was going to do all of the time, we’d have all kinds of people flocking to us. Over the years, we’ve had a pretty good performance. We haven’t changed anything. We’ve stuck to our knitting and now it’s starting to pay off. We’re having a good year with our investments.”

17. What in your mind constitutes good corporate governance?

“I think it’s important to put in place sound corporate governance – not just talking about it but actually having it written down. You abide by the rules and regulations of producing financial statements. You don’t necessarily have to have them audited, but certainly in an organization like ours it’s a requirement. We have solid investment managers, in our view, who practise what they preach in terms of ethics and governance. I believe we’ve demonstrated the proper ethics.”

18. What’s the most gratifying aspect of your job?

“I love to close the deal and the deal is opening a new fund. I know that by opening a new fund, a portion of that fund will make its way back into the community in the form of a grant. That’s extremely gratifying. That’s what I call return on shareholders’ investment or return on equity. That is our business.”

19. How long do you wish to remain as CEO?

“I’ve had a wonderful time here. I love the job. I love the foundation. I love Calgary. And I guess it’s up to the board of directors to determine how long they wish to have me here, but I certainly hope to be here for a few years. I know I’m getting up in years and retired, but I think I can still make a contribution. When I do decide to retire from here, I would like to think that I could still make a contribution in some way. I’m a great believer in keeping the mind active. That means associating with young people. I have an extremely high regard for the younger generation. I think they’re extremely enterprising and creative. We’ve seen so many young entrepreneurs in Calgary and that’s so refreshing. I like to play a role in an advisory capacity helping them, but also helping myself because I believe that, even though I’m 64, I can still learn a great deal from the younger generation.”

20. What’s your Christmas wish for Calgary?

“Good health and happiness. I know that it’s somewhat motherhood, but if you don’t feel well, you’re not going to be happy.”

IN PROFILE: Mike Mears
* Born/raised/age: Farnborough, England; Rothesay, N.B.; 64.
* Title: President/CEO, The Calgary Foundation.
* Education: University of Toronto, business administration degree.
* Family: Wife Jean.
* Career: Mears began his career with the Bank of Nova Scotia in 1958, primarily on the audit side, and then spent 33 years in management with the Loram Group of Companies. He was vice-president of the Loram Shareholders Company and
president of the company’s Family Foundation when he retired in December 2000. He joined The Calgary Foundation in June of 2002.
* Business Ties: Mears is chairman of Canadian Wealth Management Ltd. and Verdant Energy.
* Passions: Tennis, gardening, home renovating.


THE COMPANY: Calgary Foundation
* Brass: Mike Mears, president/CEO; Roy Boettger, chairman.
* Profile: Founded in 1955, the foundation serves as a bridge between donors and charitable organizations. The foundation enables families and organization of all means to enrich the Calgary and area community through a broad range of endowment funds. Donations are typically invested and income is used to fund diverse organizations and projects that address critical issues and improve the quality of life.
* Numbers Game: The foundation received gifts totalling $35.7 million during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2003, and provided grants totalling $13 million to 482 registered charitable organizations. The foundation’s current endowment is valued at approximately $180 million.
* Record Donation: $15 million, Bob Kolstad, 2003.
* Website: www.calgaryfoundation.org
* Contact Info: info@thecalgaryfoundation.org, phone/fax 403-802-7700, info@403-802-7701; Suite 700, 900 8 St. S.W., Calgary, T2R 1J5.