As Lead Director for the 2023 Commonwealth Study Conference (CSC2023), Ian Anderson was responsible for all components of the international program’s renewal and development from 2020 until its successful conclusion in June 2023. The Conference brought to Canada 250 emerging leaders from more than 30 Commonwealth countries for a two week development program and renewed the Commonwealth Study Conferences after a 15 year hiatus.

In addition to his pro bono work with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Commonwealth Study Conferences, Ian is founder and Chair of Temple Scott Associates (TSA), a major Canadian public affairs firm with offices in Ottawa and Toronto.

Ian was named to the Queen’s Honours List for 2008 and inducted into the Royal Victorian Order by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in June 2008. He was awarded the Queen’s Jubilee Medal in 2012 for services to Canada. He was elevated in the Royal Victorian Order by King Charles III in January 2024. He co-wrote a book about the Duke of Edinburgh and the history of the Conferences that was launched at Buckingham Palace in 2007. He managed the 1998 CSC in Canada and a number of Governor General’s Canadian Leadership Conferences between 2004 and 2017. He is a director of the Association of Commonwealth Leadership Conferences.

Prior to consulting, Ian served the Prime Minister of Canada as Deputy Principal Secretary and started his career as a journalist and commentator for several national and international media organizations, reporting for Reuters, the Montreal Gazette and Maclean’s newsweekly.