Murray Fulton is a Professor Emeritus in the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy and a Fellow in Co-operatives and Public Policy with the Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives, University of Saskatchewan.

Murray’s work is currently focused on agricultural co-operatives, agricultural and rural policy, Indigenous economic development, and the political economy of public policy. He is the co-author of a number of books and reports, including Canadian Agricultural Policy and Prairie Agriculture and Co-operatives and Canadian Society. He recently spent two months at Lincoln University in New Zealand as the inaugural Ross Fellow, where he gave a series of seminars on agricultural supply chains, systems theory, the political economy of public policy, and agricultural co-ops.

Marc-André Pigeon is the director of the Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives and an assistant professor in the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy (JSGS). His research centers around the study of co-operatives, governance, and money and banking. Before joining JSGS, Dr. Pigeon worked as vice president, advocacy and vice president of financial sector policy at the Canadian Credit Union Association, as an advisor at the Department of Finance, a lead analyst for two Parliamentary committees (Senate Banking, Trade and Commerce; House of Commons Finance), an economist at the Levy Economics Institute, and a business reporter for Bloomberg Business News.

Dr. Dionne Pohler is department head and associate professor at the University of Saskatchewan Edwards School of Business Department of Human Resources and Organizational Behaviour and holds the Co-operative Retailing System Chair in Co-operative Governance with the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy and the Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operatives. Her research is on topics including employment and labour relations, labour and social policy, and co-operative governance and development. Major current projects include explorations of co-operative successes and failures, rural issues, the gender earnings gap, and COVID-19 policy impacts. She edited Reimagining the Governance of Work and Employment (2020) and co-edited Building Inclusive Communities in Rural Canada (2023). Dionne was a founding director of Co-operatives First, a nonprofit created following an action research project dedicated to understanding how rural and Indigenous communities could meet their social and economic needs through co-operative development.

Dr. Clark Banack is the Director of the Alberta Centre for Sustainable Rural Communities and an Assistant Professor of Political Studies at the Augustana Campus of the University of Alberta. Clark is the author and co-editor of three academic books and has published several academic articles and chapters on rural issues, Alberta politics, religion and politics, education policy, and populism in Canada. He is currently leading several rural-based research projects related to sustainable economic development opportunities, co-ops and rural economic development, farm succession planning policy, the transition to renewable energy in rural areas, and better understanding rural public opinion.

Kyle is the Director of Education with Co-operatives First. He develops and delivers our educational products and supports clients to incorporate and govern their co-ops. Originally from Newfoundland and Labrador, Kyle came to the prairies to pursue a Master of Public Policy degree from the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Saskatchewan. Kyle’s career has focused on corporate and co-operative governance and community economic development. Aside from his work with Co-operatives First, Kyle is a runner, history-buff, and fitness enthusiast.