the ideator group.
from idea to impact.
Turn ambition into direction, and direction into lasting impact.
Strategy, leadership, governance advice, and practical support for education leaders, research and innovation leaders, boards, and executive teams — in universities, colleges, and mission-driven organisations.
We help universities, colleges and mission-driven organisations clarify their positioning, develop and implement strategy, strengthen teams, cultivate partnerships and navigate complex decisions.
what we do.
Strategic positioning & planning — understand the landscape, clarify your distinctive contribution, and establish a direction people can act on.
Strategy implementation & institutional renewal — translate priorities into practical decisions, coordinated action, and measurable progress.
Partnership development — bring institutions, sectors, and communities together around a shared purpose.
Governance, leadership, & team effectiveness — clarify roles, strengthen alignment, build trust and support sound decisions across boards and executive teams.
how we work.
Good strategy begins with a clear understanding of the situation: the evidence, the opportunities, the constraints, and the people who will make change happen.
We combine careful analysis with candid consultation and judgement developed through senior academic, executive, and board leadership. We help leaders establish priorities, make choices, and build the shared commitment needed to act.
Our involvement can extend from an initial assessment or facilitated conversation to strategy development, implementation planning, and ongoing support. Each engagement has a clear purpose, practical deliverables and an agreed way to assess progress.
Read the landscape. Absorb any field or sector and distil its essence — and its trajectory. Not just where things stand, but where they're heading.
Set the course. A principles-based strategy, built with rigour, and resilient when conditions shift.
Build and free the team. De-silo, create the safety to speak plainly, and turn hard decisions into genuine buy-in.
Navigate to the destination. Execution that holds under pressure and delivers measurable results.
who we are.
The Ideator Group is a senior-led advisory practice founded by Malcolm Campbell.
Malcolm leads every engagement personally. Where additional expertise is needed, he brings together trusted collaborators suited to the assignment.
A bilingual senior post-secondary executive and board leader, Malcolm brings more than three decades of academic, executive and governance experience across Canada and internationally. He has served as Provost and Vice-President Academic at Laurentian University, Vice-President Research at the University of Guelph, and Vice-Principal Research at the University of Toronto Scarborough.
His experience spans institutional strategy, academic leadership, financial stewardship, complex operations, organisational change, research and innovation, and partnerships with government, industry and communities. His volunteer board service includes the Ontario Centre of Innovation, with service as Interim Board Chair in 2026.
A scientist by training, Malcolm brings analytical rigour, curiosity, and an evidence-grounded approach to leadership. His work centres on helping people establish a shared direction and create the conditions to deliver it.
Based in Guelph, Ontario, he works with institutions across Canada and internationally.
what we deliver.
Practical support for leaders facing consequential choices.
We work with education leaders, research and innovation leaders, boards and executive teams in universities, colleges and other mission-driven organisations. Engagements range from focused advice and facilitated discussions to strategy development and sustained implementation support.
While our work centres on the post-secondary / higher education sector, the same method serves mission-driven institutions more broadly — from cultural and scientific organisations to not-for-profits. Research and innovation remain a particular strength of the practice, informed by Malcolm Campbell’s experience leading major research enterprises, funding initiatives, and cross-sector partnerships.
Strategic positioning & planning
Clarify where your organization stands, what makes its contribution distinctive and which opportunities deserve priority. We combine evidence, consultation, and experienced judgement to establish a direction that people understand and can act on.
Support includes institutional and academic planning, research and innovation strategy, opportunity assessment, and major funding-bid assessment and positioning.
Deliverables may include a positioning assessment, consultation findings, a strategic framework, or an actionable plan.
Strategy implementation & institutional renewal
Turn strategic priorities into coordinated action. We help leaders clarify responsibilities, sequence change, address barriers and establish practical ways to monitor progress. During renewal or restructuring, we support difficult choices while keeping institutional purpose, educational quality, and the people affected in view.
Deliverables may include an implementation roadmap, project leadership and coordination, facilitated decision sessions, and ongoing implementation support.
Partnership development
Cultivate productive relationships across institutions, sectors, and communities around a shared purpose. We help identify partners, develop a compelling shared proposition, convene discussions and establish workable arrangements for delivery and accountability.
Support spans government, industry, education, research, community and international partnerships.
Deliverables may include a partnership strategy, a shared mission, a collaboration framework or a coordinated initiative.
Governance, leadership & team effectiveness
Clarify roles, strengthen alignment, build trust and support sound decisions across boards and executive teams. We provide governance advice and board education, confidential leadership mentoring, and facilitation that helps teams address competing priorities and difficult decisions.
Deliverables may include board education sessions, executive and team workshops, agreed working practices, and ongoing advisory support.
experience behind the guidance.
Our guidance draws on Malcolm Campbell’s experience leading academic portfolios, research enterprises, complex operations and institutional change, alongside his volunteer board service. Leveraging more than fifteen years of senior leadership and three decades of experience across the higher education ecosystems in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe, we help others strengthen the kinds of complex enterprises Malcolm has helped build and lead.
The examples below come from his previous executive roles. They illustrate the scale, judgement and practical leadership experience he brings to each engagement.
An 8% rise in domestic enrolment during insolvency recovery — by de-siloing teams and creating strategy that could deliver.
Zero workplace transmission documented through COVID. Assembled and led a 22-person team that kept a 500-person, multi-site research operation — including two provincial diagnostic laboratories and fifteen field stations — running safely throughout the pandemic.
A partnership generating an estimated $1.4 billion in annual economic return. Malcolm led the university team responsible for the $70-million-per-year partnership and negotiated two consecutive five-year agreements.
A record $182-million research enterprise. Led the team that helped grow the university's annual research income to its highest level ever, and led the bid that won a $77-million national award — the largest research grant in the institution's history.
Service on public-purpose and innovation boards maintains a line of sight on where the horizon is, and where the ecosystem is heading.