How do you lead a national infrastructure organization in the process of building a new future? This episode for the Master Builders series, invites in one of the experts behind the curtain: Lisa Mitchell, the President and CEO of the Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships (CCPPP). In her deep-dive conversation with Riccardo and Shormila, she speaks to her journey from politics to the forefront of Canada's infrastructure evolution.

Early experiences in Ottawa prepared Lisa for the fast pace and competing priorities of national infrastructure. She shares how she navigated imposter syndrome and career pivots, and why she sees this moment as a powerful opportunity to modernize P3s. The cross-cultural strengths of this modality, many of which are unique to Canada, create a strong foundation from which to build a groundbreaking tradition, especially today, when infrastructure finds itself front and centre in political discourse. From fostering industry-wide collaboration to advocating for programmatic delivery and inclusive stakeholder engagement, Lisa takes us on a candid, capable, and humble exploration of how we might build a better Canada—one conversation, one contract, and one conference at a time.

Key Takeaways:

• Why redefining leadership means focusing on function, not the title;
• How infrastructure became a top political priority—and what comes next;
• The public and private discourse that makes Canada’s P3 ecosystem uniques;
• What goes into organizing Canada’s biggest infrastructure conference (aka P3 Prom);
• Why the next era of P3s must expand beyond traditional models and asset classes.

Quote

“It's ​naturally ​built ​on ​competition, ​but ​I ​had ​never ​met ​a ​group ​of ​private ​and ​public ​sector ​folks ​that ​were ​so ​willing ​and ​committed ​to ​sit ​at ​the ​table ​and ​figure ​out ​how ​to ​make ​things ​work ​and ​to ​do ​good ​things. If ​we've ​got ​a ​sticky ​policy ​thing, ​I ​can ​pull ​a ​group ​of ​people ​together ​to ​sit ​around ​a ​boardroom ​table  very ​easily. ​They're ​so ​committed ​and ​willing ​and ​they're ​able ​to put ​​the ​individual ​​needs on ​the ​back ​burner ​to ​have ​these ​conversations ​and ​really ​look ​at ​it as ​industry ​specific. ​And ​I've ​just ​been ​so ​fascinated ​by ​that.” - Lisa Mitchell

The conversation doesn’t stop here—connect and converse with our community via LinkedIn:

• Follow Navigating Major Programmes: https://www.linkedin.com/company/navigating-major-programmes/
• Follow Riccardo Cosentino: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cosentinoriccardo/
• Follow Shormila Chatterjee: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shormilac/
• Read Riccardo’s latest a: https://riccardocosentino.com/
• Follow Lisa Mitchell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-mitchell/

Music: "A New Tomorrow" by Chordial Music. Licensed through PremiumBeat.