Mike Rowlands

Mike Rowlands has spent over two decades building Junxion into an international strategy and social-impact consultancy with offices in Vancouver, Toronto, and London, supporting over 600 clients on five continents, who tackle everything from AIDS to Net Zero.

Mike works across international projects, primarily in strategy and planning, governance and organizational design, and values-based leadership and culture. His experience spans the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, and organizations ranging from early stage social enterprises, to international corporations and NGOs. His work is driven by Junxion’s purpose: accelerating the shift to the purpose economy, and helping leaders build the success stories of that economy.

Foundational Moments

Mike has worked to build a business and a new field at the same time—through patience, generosity, mindful engagement, and a belief that collaboration is essential to meaningful change.

When he opened an office in London in 2009, it reinforced for Mike the influence that a clear social purpose and strong strategy can have in the wider business world. A year later, his firm was named a “Company to Watch” by London’s foreign direct investment agency, alongside LinkedIn.

In 2011, he merged that firm with Junxion, leading a newly formed team through the opening and growth of Junxion’s New Delhi office. During its four-year run, the New Delhi presence delivered inspiring work for Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières, supporting a communications campaign to build its presence in India;the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, developing an southeast Asia engagement strategy; and some of India’s largest, most recognizable businesses.

Mike’s personal sense of purpose revolves around his love for “juicy, generative conversations, in service to life.” Of the many ‘juicy’ conversations that fascinate him, one in particular drives much of Junxion’s work today:

How can more businesses take up a social purpose as the reason they exist?

Mike believes that leaders in most organizations increasingly want to set ambitious goals for climate, equity, and community impact, but often lack the capacity, performance, skills, or collaborative culture required to achieve them. His work therefore focuses on helping boards clarify purpose, supporting CEOs to navigate complexity, and working with leadership teams to develop the relational and collaborative capabilities that make ambitious goals achievable.

In 2022, Mike co‑founded the Canadian Purpose Economy Project, a national platform that convenes, connects, and collaborates with leaders seeking to bring social purpose into the mainstream of Canadian business. The Project is working toward a bold target: by 2030, at least 25% of Canadian businesses will be adopting, disclosing, and authentically embedding a social purpose across their operations and relationships.

Through public speaking, webinars, workshops, and ongoing partnerships, Mike helps build the shared language, relationships, and momentum required to make that transition possible.

Unique Positioning

Mike started his journey as a student of Philosophy and Political Science, interested from the beginning in community building. During his undergraduate studies at The University of British Columbia, a course on critical thinking—exploring media literacy, bias, big picture storytelling, systems, and the way we critique what we see in the world and what we learn—was a catalyst in shaping how he sees the world, a view that continues to inform his approach today.

Mike was a member of the first cohort of 80 global leaders advocating for the B Corp movement and has served as a B Corp Ambassador for more than a decade. He is also an Ambassador for the Inner Development Goals, focused on the inner capabilities leaders need to drive systems change. Beyond Junxion, he has served on multiple nonprofit and for-profit boards; he’s a Chair Emeritus of Hollyhock, Canada’s lifelong leadership learning centre; and a board member of ORS Impact, a leading American impact evaluation firm. He’s also an Executive Producer of the renowned, annual, Social Venture Institute, now Canada’s longest-running social impact convening.

Together, these roles reflect Mike’s commitment to helping leaders learn from one another, challenge conventional business thinking, and raise the bar for impact.