MARK THOMPSON

Executive Vice-president and Chief Corporate Development & Strategy Officer NUTRIEN LTD.

BIO: Mark Thompson leads Nutrien’s global corporate development and strategy, mergers and acquisitions, economics, sustainability/esg and stakeholder relations functions. He has played an integral role in leading the evaluation and execution of strategic initiatives, partnerships, acquisitions and investments that have been central to the continued growth and development of Nutrien, which is now among the largest and most recognized agribusiness companies in the world. Along the way, he has served as a global ambassador for the agriculture industry and a leading voice in support of Agtech and Sustainable Agriculture. Mark is also a North American Ambassador for the International Fertilizer Association (IFA). Born and raised in Saskatoon, he attended the University of Saskatchewan, where he earned Bachelors’ degrees in Commerce (Finance) and Arts (Sociology), while also competing as a member of the Huskie Men’s Basketball team. He then moved to Ottawa, where he worked in finance and investment roles in the commercial real estate and real property industry. Mark returned to Western Canada to join Nutrien in 2011, where he has had a dynamic, unique and rewarding career path, working across the company’s global retail, nitrogen, phosphate, potash and corporate business units. At Nutrien, he has held numerous roles in strategy, mergers and acquisitions, investor relations, corporate/business development, and sales, marketing and distribution, including key senior leadership positions as special assistant to the CEO, Vice-president of strategy, and Vice-president of retail business development. Mark is an avid reader and lifelong learner on finance and behavioural science. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designations, as well as the SASB Fundamentals of Sustainability Accounting (FSA) credential. Mark also volunteers with Special Olympics Alberta.

BEST/MOST-VALUED CAREER LESSON IN THE PAST YEAR: I’ve experienced a deep sense of optimism and responsibility in navigating the significant challenges and uncertainty that we encountered in 2020. We are taught to fear the prospect of uncertainty. But the global crisis that characterized the past year has again reinforced that uncertainty provides us with unique and valuable opportunities to build resilience, transform and grow, both personally and professionally. Redefining our relationship with uncertainty requires us to see crisis as more synonymous with opportunity.

BEST CAREER ADVICE: We all have a strong tendency to over-attribute successes to our own efforts and contributions, and also consistently fail to recognize the role that luck and circumstance play in any significant success. In the same vein, we usually find ways to diminish our responsibility for failures. Be consistent and introspective in building your self-awareness for these blind spots and be thankful for the tailwinds you get along the way.