Governance for organisations in growth and transition.

Praxis Global is the practice of Rick Colbourne, a corporate director whose board work spans strategy, investment oversight, audit and finance, and CEO compensation in growing industrial, natural resource and environmental services companies.

Chair, Compensation Committee, Halfway River Group of Companies
Director, Strategy and Compensation Committees, Brinkman Reforestation Ltd.

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Rick Colbourne, head and shoulders portrait

Since 2017Founding director of a diversified industrial services group of 16 operating businesses and joint ventures

ChairCompensation Committee, Halfway River Group, with oversight of CEO compensation

ICD.DInstitute of Corporate Directors designation, 2024

PhDManagement, Judge Business School, University of Cambridge

Board service

Two current directorships, each with committee responsibilities.

Board service in detail

Halfway River Group of Companies

Founding director, 2017 to present

Chair, Compensation Committee. Member, Audit and Finance, Strategy, and Board Renewal and Recruitment Committees.

Diversified industrial services group of 16 operating businesses and joint ventures and three equity investments, owned by Halfway River First Nation. Group revenue has grown more than tenfold since 2017, the period of this board tenure. The board has approved equity investments and joint ventures in the energy services sector.

Brinkman Reforestation Ltd. and Brinkman Living Infrastructure

Director, 2025 to present

Member, Strategy and Compensation Committees.

Canada’s oldest and largest reforestation company, with more than 1.5 billion trees planted since 1970, and a living infrastructure subsidiary, operating in Canada and Central America.

Board competencies

Strategy and risk: Strategy Committee member at two groups; leads Carleton University's institutional strategy through Senate and Board of Governors approval
Compensation and people: Chair, Compensation Committee, Halfway River Group; member, Compensation Committee, Brinkman; executive succession and organisational redesign
Restructuring and transformation: Board oversight of major restructurings at both groups, including a new holding structure, a consolidation of subsidiaries and a new operating model at Halfway River Group, and Brinkman’s current restructuring and strategy renewal
Audit and finance: Member, Audit and Finance Committee, Halfway River Group, through more than tenfold revenue growth; full profit and loss accountability for a $2 million executive education business
Investment oversight: Equity investments and joint ventures in the energy services sector
Governance and renewal: Board Renewal and Recruitment Committee; designed board governance programmes, including for BC Hydro
Shareholder relations: Reports, with a fellow independent director, to the shareholder, Chief and Council
Media, communications and entertainment: Global Lead, Music Industry, in Accenture’s communications, media and entertainment practice; founder of a live production company; music technology consulting in London, Paris, Sydney and Vancouver
Technology and AI: Digital transformation at Accenture; research on generative AI adoption and accountability

Board interests

Independent director and committee roles on larger boards, particularly audit and finance, compensation and strategy committees.

Natural resources, forestry and energy services
Infrastructure and environmental services
Media, communications and entertainment
Crown corporations and public agencies
Post-secondary education
Technology and innovation

The experience behind the board work

Twenty-five years across executive leadership, commercial practice and research in Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, Australasia and Africa.

Executive leadership

Strategy Lead, Towards Carleton@100, leading Carleton University's five-year strategy to Board of Governors approval. Earlier, Associate Dean at Carleton's Sprott School of Business, Assistant Dean and Director of Ch'nook at UBC, and Executive Director of Simon Fraser University's Learning Strategies Group, with full profit and loss accountability.

Media, communications and venture

Global Lead for the music industry in Accenture's communications, media and entertainment practice, working with clients including Cisco, AT&T, Warner Music Group and SAP on digital rights and settlement platforms. Founder of a live production company that toured international artists for a decade, and consultant to digital music and live entertainment ventures in London, Paris, Sydney and Vancouver.

Research

Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship, Carleton University; Honorary Research Fellow, Cambridge Judge Business School. Current research examines how boards acquire authority as the enterprises they govern grow.

Advisory practice

Praxis Global also takes defined engagements and interim mandates where governance, strategy and enterprise meet.

Governance and organisational change

Board and ownership arrangements, executive compensation and succession
Governance that keeps pace with growth through joint ventures, equity investments and new lines of business

Institutional strategy

Direction-setting, consultation design and the passage of a strategy through the governance that approves it
Institution-wide adoption of generative AI, with clear decision rights and accountability

Venture and intellectual property

Taking a methodology or expert practice to market: proposition, operating model, ownership and route to market

Partnerships and convening

Partnership agreements, executive education, roundtables and field schools across institutions and communities

See services How the work is done