Get to know me - Randy Poon

It’s been great being back in Calgary since having returned 10 years ago. While, born and raised in Calgary, our family spent 19 years in Ottawa. It was a great place for my wife and I to raise our three kids and interact with a great set of friends. Our return to Calgary meant a return to a wonderful extended family and a brand-new career as a university professor. When God called me to develop my leadership gift years back, I didn’t know that it would lead to a PhD in Organizational Leadership, nor a 10-year career in the academic world—eventually as Department Chair for the Ambrose University Business Program. It has been an amazing time coming alongside of students, as well as examining the many intersections of business, faith, and society. We helped students come to realize that business serves God’s purpose in the generation of: a wide variety goods and services, work that utilizes individuals’ gifts and skills, and profit in which to build and expand businesses.

We also created a conference called the Soul of the Next Economy Forum (which has run for seven years, including an online version in 2020). Each year, several hundred individuals, businesses, nonprofits, as well as academic and government organizations joined together to explore how business could, in addition to the previously mentioned roles, help foster environmental sustainability, and create healthier and more vibrant and just workforces and communities.

I’ve come to realize that heaven is much more than some future destination for Jesus followers. Heaven is also what God allows us to create here on Earth. Yes, it’s a far cry from His ideal. And yet, what if God also gave us the responsibility to help shape this future destination and ideal through the work we carry out on this side of heaven? As we explore the intersection of our faith, with the work and businesses we operate in, we realize that our influence on society is also one that involves not only the environment, our workforces, and our communities, but also the supply chain, the equity and diversity of our businesses and government representatives, among many more issues.

This is what I’m passionate about. And as such, this is why I’m on the board of organizations such as Intersect. We invite you to join us for an event, or to explore our website and the resources we offer. Come discover how your faith, your vocation, and your community can intersect in beautiful ways. Reach out to us. We want to hear from you!