A Message from Mark
I didn't go to college. I came from a single-parent family and left home at 20 with not much more than a willingness to figure things out. What made the difference — at several key moments in my life — was other people stepping in and backing me when I needed it most.
That's what The Money Project is. It's not a program or an institution. It's me wanting to do for someone here in North Bay what others did for me — show up at the right time, with real support, and say: I believe in what you're building.
Northern Ontario has real talent. Hardworking, inventive, resourceful people trying to build something meaningful with fewer resources and less access than they deserve. A lot of them just need a fair shot.
I know what it means to have someone back you at the right moment. That's what I'm trying to give people here.
About Mark
Mark Wilson is a Canadian entrepreneur, investor, and advisor with a 30+ year career built across multiple industries and continents. Born in London, UK, he left home at 20 and spent years living and working in Australia, Russia, France, Hong Kong, and mainland China before settling in Canada.
In Hong Kong, he built and later sold a freight forwarding business — one of the few Western owner-operators in that sector at the time. After moving to Canada, he became the majority shareholder of Envision, a Toronto-based architectural signage and design-build firm.
Away from business, Mark completed a full circumnavigation of the globe as a crew member in the BT Global Challenge — the world's toughest yacht race — and later wrote a book about the experience called Go West.
Today, he lives in North Bay with his wife Gillian. The Money Project is how he gives back.