Dan Pontefract: Leadership Keynote Speaker & Strategist

About Dan Pontefract

Dan Pontefract is a leadership and corporate culture strategist who wears four hats: keynote speaker, consultant, workshop facilitator, and author. He helps leaders become better leaders, and helps teams and organizations work together without the friction. For 20+ years he held senior roles at TELUS, SAP, Business Objects, and BCIT, leading corporate culture change, leadership development, collaboration, and employee experience. Since going independent he has worked with organizations worldwide, including Salesforce, Amgen, Virgin Media O2, the State of Tennessee, Nestle, Canada Post, Autodesk, Manulife, Nutrien, the City of Toronto, BMO, BDO, and D2L. He is the author of six award-winning books: The Future of Work Is Grey, Work-Life Bloom, Lead. Care. Win., Open to Think, The Purpose Effect, and Flat Army, with a seventh in progress. His work has earned more than 25 awards, including the Axiom Gold Medal, the Nautilus Silver Medal, and getAbstract International Book of the Year. Dan sits on the Thinkers50 Radar, has delivered five TEDx Talks, was named one of HR Weekly's 100 Most Influential People in HR, and was listed by Inc. among the top 100 leadership speakers in the world. He writes for Forbes and Harvard Business Review, and lives by his own declaration of purpose: we are not here to see through each other, we are here to see each other through. Dan is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, and works worldwide, face-to-face and virtually.

Testimonials

Dan was incredibly collaborative, ensuring our session was tailored to meet our needs. He was both engaging and knowledgeable, using illustrative examples that showcased his expertise and providing tools for leaders to leverage immediately. Additionally, he injected a sense of fun that made the topic not only interesting but also entertaining.

Frank Monteleone, CHRO & CPO, Rexall Pharmacy Group Ltd.
Dan Pontefract delivered a powerful, thought‑provoking keynote session that resonated deeply with every attendee. His ability to blend compelling storytelling with actionable insights was nothing short of extraordinary.

Sidh NC, Director, QnA International, UAE
We are so proud to have had you at our event. Your talk was a big hit. It moved us. We can’t thank you enough.

Malin Björnell, Salesforce
Dan was engaging, authentic, and full of energy. His keynote connected with our audience and left them inspired. A true professional and a pleasure to work with.

Erin Whetstone, Ontario Retirement Communities Association (ORCA)
Dan Pontefract’s keynote on the importance of workplace culture in employee engagement was excellent. Dan used his vast leadership experience to provide our conference attendees with practical strategies to build teams that are engaged and committed. His relatable, real-life examples were thought provoking, memorable and very personal, creating a connection to the audience. I would highly recommend Dan as an entertaining keynote speaker who delivers content that is relevant and actionable.

Michelle Hillyard, Director SCU
Dan challenged us to have clarity of purpose, both as individuals and as an organization. He related inspiring stories drawing on his experience in business, technology and academia. As he said, ‘There is no ownership without belonging.’

Christian Pantel, D2L
Fantastic engaging talk for our global partner summit. Thank you so much, Dan!

Barb Kinnard, CEO Response Biomedical Corp
Dan not only brought his presentation to life with his charisma, but also content, style and presentation finesse. Our members were especially interested in his thought provoking and top of mind topic on the future of work and how we’re going to be leading the next generation of leaders.

Cheryl Goodwin, CPA
Dan is a conference organizer’s ideal speaker. Not only did he inspire and energize our group, but he also masterfully adapted his content so it resonated with the audience and our conference theme. As a bonus, Dan is able to nimbly navigate to adjust to a reduced time slot when other speakers went over time without sacrificing the impact of his session.

Director and General Counsel
Dan accomplished what we set out to do, which was not only to be inspirational, but also to leave everyone with tools and food for thought / self-reflection to improve their personal and professional lives.

Hermann Handa, FCT

Meet Dan

About Dan Pontefract

Testimonials

Media Appearances