About Duncan

Duncan Cryle helps nonprofits and mission-driven organizations build sustainable, high-functioning and joyful teams and cultures where people can bring their whole selves and thrive while delivering on mission.  

After parallel 20-year careers—co-founding and leading Clear Sky Retreat Center (a non profit) and serving as a senior technology leader at companies including IBM and SS&C Technologies—Duncan has transitioned to consulting full-time. He brings a rare combination: deep operational and strategic expertise from senior leadership roles in major companies, combined with decades of hands-on experience building conscious, resilient nonprofit communities and teams.

A Unique Background

Duncan brings expertise from two parallel 20-year careers that uniquely position him for this work.

In 2004, he was a founding member of Clear Sky Retreat Center, a meditation community in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Over two decades, he has served in roles including Board Chair, co-Executive Director, and Associate Teacher. Clear Sky became a "living laboratory" for exploring awareness-based approaches to team learning, communication, organizational development, and transformation. When the organization faced near-bankruptcy in 2012, Duncan and the leadership team helped guide it through a fundamental restructuring to become a flourishing, financially sustainable nonprofit—experience that deeply informs his understanding of the challenges mission-driven organizations face.

Simultaneously, Duncan spent over 20 years as a technology leader in financial services, from an innovative fintech startup (Algorithmics, later acquired by IBM) to senior director roles at IBM and SS&C Technologies, where he led international cross-discipline teams. He was one of the pioneers of IBM's mindfulness community, which grew to over 10,000 members in 30+ countries, and later developed and led a global mindfulness and resilience program at SS&C Technologies, reaching 25,000+ employees. Through this work, he learned how to introduce transformative practices within large, complex organizations while navigating corporate realities and demonstrating measurable impact.

This combination—hands-on nonprofit leadership and large-scale corporate experience—gives Duncan an unusual perspective on what it takes to build organizations that are both mission-driven and operationally excellent.

Why This Work Matters

Duncan believes that to address the complex challenges of our time, we need organizations where people can bring their whole selves to work—their passion, creativity, and deepest values—while also building the operational excellence needed to have real impact. Too often, mission-driven organizations struggle with burnout, financial sustainability, and team dysfunction despite the dedication of their people.

His approach integrates:

  • Operational excellence: Strategic planning, decision-making processes, financial sustainability, governance structures

  • Mindful leadership: Presence, resilience, and self-awareness as foundations for effective action

  • Team and community building: Trust, communication, and collaborative practices that allow diverse groups to work together effectively

  • Values-based culture: Aligning daily operations with deeper purpose and mission

Duncan also holds a Ph.D. in philosophy, which allows him to think systemically, integrate academic research on organizational development, and help organizations see patterns and possibilities they might otherwise miss.

Ready to Transform Your Organization?

If you're leading a nonprofit that's struggling with burnout, team dysfunction, financial constraints, or the gap between your mission and your day-to-day reality, Duncan would welcome a conversation about how to help your organization thrive.

Photos all courtesy of Ava MacLean