John McCall MacBain, a Canadian citizen from Niagara Falls, is the Founder and Chair of the McCall MacBain Foundation and President of Pamoja Capital SA, its investment arm.
From 1987 to 2006, Mr. McCall MacBain was the Founder, President and CEO of Trader Classified Media which was the world’s leading classified advertising company. In 2006, he successfully sold Trader Classified Media and set up the McCall MacBain Foundation.
The McCall MacBain Foundation has committed over $500 million of charitable donations for scholarships and education, health and the environment, especially climate change, in Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Africa. The McCall MacBain Foundation is considered one of the global leaders in scholarships including as the Second Century Founder of the Rhodes Trust where he donated £75 million, the McCall MacBain Scholarships at McGill where he created a new scholarship which is internally operated with a $C 200 million donation and leading scholarships in South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the United States with scholars coming from around the world. Mr. McCall MacBain is a member of the Giving Pledge.
Mr. McCall MacBain is a Rhodes Scholar and received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, an M.A. in Law from the University of Oxford, and an Honours BA in Economics from McGill University. While at Oxford, he was Co-Captain of the Varsity- winning Oxford University Ice Hockey Club.
John currently devotes a significant amount of his time to philanthropic activities. In addition to his role as Chair of the foundation, he was also the Chancellor of McGill University from 2021 -2024 He is an avid skier, swimmer and cyclist. John lives in Geneva, Switzerland and has five children and three grandchildren in four countries.