Mark Brand

Speaker Bio

Mark Brand is one of Canada’s most recognized entrepreneurs in the field of social impact and community advocacy. He is a pioneering chef who uses food for good. He has become a prominent example of a new generation of leadership. He represents a growing breed of entrepreneurs and businesses that want to bake impact into everything they do.

A fighter for Vancouver’s Downtown East Side, this enigmatic social entrepreneur was determined to breathe new life into the struggling and disjointed community. He’s doing this by finding a balance between sound business practices and social justice. Since 2012, he has served over 5 million meals (often using food items carelessly deemed unusable) to those experiencing poverty in Vancouver, BC.

Today

Along with leading his 5 organizations, Brand leads the United Nations Catalyst team focusing on food waste, poverty, and the impacts of current systemic structures on the most marginalized, traveling globally to learn and share best real-world practices and solutions from kitchens and stages alike.

He is a co-founder of Persephone Brewing reigniting cooperative and employee ownership and making an 11-acre farm, farmers markets, a pizza oven making ingredients off the farm, and a barrier employment program– Persephone is a haven for what’s possible.

Brand received Canada’s Golden Jubilee Medal for service to his country and community. He is the co-founder of A Better Life Foundation, an organization dedicated to raising funds to put toward providing food security to those in need.

At the root of everything he works on, he believes that only true partnership and collaboration can create the successes we need and that there is no “Us and Them, only Us.”

In August 2023, he launched multiple programs in Halifax, Nova Scotia and is feeding the most vulnerable, marginalized in our communities with dignity. Through these efforts, Mark and his team have woven a tapestry of care, support, and nourishment across Halifax and Dartmouth, touching countless lives with their warmth and dedication.

Brand’s work in the encompasses food security, training, employment, and strategic partnerships with developers and social enterprises alike. He works to change policy municipally–and perception nationally–in an effort to help create and build better communities that are rich, inclusive, and wonderful places in which to live and work, and where residents look after one another.

Speaker Topics

Business with a Conscious

Mark Brand believes that good business doesn’t have to come at the cost of doing good. Discussing the tenants of blending corporate and community leadership, Mark draws on his own decades-long experience of successful social entrepreneurship to guide and encourage audiences in their own endeavours.

Fully customizable, Mark can discuss his own experience (and lessons learned); the best practices for employing people who traditionally have had barriers to employment; mentorship; the importance of leverage and partnerships; thinking outside the box; and sticking to your philosophies during tough economic times.

Building Purpose-Driven Leadership in Hospitality

Mark Brand, a celebrated entrepreneur, social innovator, and thought leader, brings a transformative perspective on leadership and purpose-driven business. In this engaging session Mark shares actionable insights on balancing profitability with impact, fostering team loyalty, and building brands that resonate deeply with customers and communities.

Mark’s journey as the founder of multiple successful ventures, including socially conscious restaurants, offers unparalleled lessons for leaders navigating the complexities of scaling operations while maintaining authenticity and connection. Attendees will explore how to:

Cultivate a mission-driven company culture that enhances employee satisfaction and retention.
Leverage community engagement to boost brand loyalty and customer trust.
Lead with empathy to inspire high-performing teams.

This keynote is designed to empower managers with tools and strategies to transform their leadership approach, aligning it with the values and expectations of today’s consumers and employees.

Growing Better Communities

Successful and vibrant communities are built with real inclusion. Mark Brand works in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, a community long recognized as being in flux. The space of one city block separates million dollar condos and 8×10-single-room occupancy’s dedicated as housing for the mentally ill and addicted.

Brand’s work in the DTES encompasses food security, training, employment, and strategic partnerships with developers and social enterprises alike. He works to change policy municipally–and perception nationally–in an effort to help create and build better communities that are rich, inclusive, and wonderful places in which to live and work, and where residents look after one another.

He speaks on this topic with the passion that translates to all levels of business and society, regardless of color, creed, or financial status.

Testimonials

“Mark Brand is easily among the most prolific if not captivating and inspirational speakers to ever have taken the TEDx stage. Within seconds of beginning his talk, Mark turned a room of 2,000 TED enthusiasts into Brand-Fans with his high energy story. He’s one of those rare speakers that could turn a standalone reading of the Phonebook into a mesmerizing soliloquy just by injecting his own experience and voice into it. If you haven’t had the chance to hear Mark speak yet, find a way.”

“Mark Brand is cool. During a well-attended public forum on improving our downtown, Mark spoke eloquently and honestly about what it means to be an entrepreneur who invests in his community and its residents, demonstrating that success and social enterprise can – and oftentimes should – go hand in hand. He lives it, he preaches it; he is it”