Marcel is the President and CEO of the Lawson Foundation.

Marcel’s career has focused on 3 interrelated areas : social research (Founding Executive Director of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, and Special Advisor at the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council); social policy (CEO of the Canadian Council on Social Development, and Deputy Chief Executive, Ministry of Social Development in New Zealand); and philanthropy (CEO of Imagine Canada and of the Lawson Foundation). In these roles, he has worked, and continues to work, to strengthen public policy nationally.

He is an active volunteer and is currently a Board member of Public Policy Forum and of YMCA Canada (vice-chair). He was awarded the Queen Elizabeth Jubilee Medal (2012) and the Governor General’s Cross for Meritorious Service (2016) for his contributions to philanthropy.