Volume 2 Issue 4 • November 2019
published by ZX Media Corporation
DISCOVER ALBERTA’S INNOVATION ENGINE Extending the horizon of possibilities to solve today’s challenges, reaching new potential, and creating a healthier and more prosperous future for Alberta, and the world.
A Grassroots Magazine • For Community by Community • Our imperfections make us great !
CONTENTS INNOVATION
EDUCATION
The Renewable Energy of Learning 5
Bullying In Schools: A Curse And An Opportunity 35
The Downside of up on 5G Technology 10
The Hunter Hub For Entrepreneurial Thinking 48
The Road Less Excavated 14
Loosening The Classroom Structure 52
BUSINESS Suzanne West The Heart Of A Technology Trailblazer 17 The Power Of Strategic Conversation 22
COMMUNITY
Exploring Events 56 The Uncomplicated Family 58
Krista Malden & Kenzie Webber
publisher@communitynowmagazine.com
CONTENT CONTRIBUTORS VOLUME 2 ISSUE 4 Stacy Richter
Platform Calgary
Jill Quirk
Nicole Langton
Zanika Malden
Greg MacGillivray
Diane Swiatek
Wendy Hutchins
Les Mottosky
Uncomplicated Family
Jade Alberts
U of C The Hunter Hub for Entrepreneurial Thinking
Alberta Innovates Heloise Lorimer/ STEAM Team Koleya Karrington
Platform Calgary: Junction Cohort 3: Meet The Founders 24 Telling It Like It Is
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Copyright 2019 ZX Media Corpoartion, Calgary Alberta Canada
Community Now! Magazine Copyright 2018, published by ZX Media Corporation. Volume 2 Issue 4 November 2019
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Credit to ErroristArtist aka Zanika Malden
From Calgary: In the spirit of respect, reciprocity and truth, we honor and acknowledge Moh’kinsstis (Blackfoot) and the traditional Treaty 7 territory and oral practices of the Blackfoot confederacy: Siksika, Kainai, Piikani as well as the Stoney Nakoda and Tsuut’ina nations. We acknowledge that this territory is home to the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3 within the historical Northwest Métis homeland. Finally, we acknowledge all Nations, Indigenous and non, who live, work and play and help us steward this land, honour and celebrate this territory. This sacred gathering place provides us with an opportunity to engage in and demonstrate leadership on reconciliation. - Wendy Hutchins
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INNOVA IN NOVATION TION The Renewable Energy of Learning
T
Les Mottosky
here are some human processes that are, at best, under-appreciated and at worst, completely misunderstood. We have powerful and transformational tools accessible to us when we question what we think we ‘know’ about our natural functions and learn how to alternatively apply them. Our sexual energy, the power of fasting — intermittent or otherwise— and working with our breath are a few examples. The one we’ll explore in this article is learning. Learning is the foundation for creativity, innovation and progress. When we learn, we literally make new connections in our brains. Connections that lead to ever-newer connections. (continued on next page) Community \\ 5
Learning isn’t just a necessary and energizing part of our experience as youngsters, it also becomes a critical strategy and tool in healthy aging as we get older.
(continued from page 5...) There seems to be no more appropriate jumpoff point than a quote from one of Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks: “L’apprendimento non esaurisce mai la mente.” If your Italian is a little weak, what Leo had noticed about himself and others was that “Learning never exhausts the mind.” You may discover this to be accurate for yourself and it feels true for me. But maybe most convincingly, we need only look at an average two year old. When I became a parent almost two decades ago, I created a simple thesis: if we were to define ‘intelligence’ by the ‘rate at which a human being learns’, there would be nobody smarter than a two year old. If we also take into account the energy level of a two year old, the da Vinci quote takes on a new level of resonance; their relentless buzzing vitality and curiosity are ever-present traits of their waking hours. Learning truly never exhausts a toddler. Mind or body. But what about schools? Those places we go to learn. Why did so many of us go through
6 // Community Now!
a period of disliking school? Or why do children often find school a point of tension? Despite what’s implied in our first two decades, school is not life. That said, life —if it’s approached effectively — can be a process of constant learning. While the two concepts of ‘learner’ and ‘student’ can be thought of as synonymous, there are some meaningful differences. We are born learners. And there is a meaningful distinction between a learner and a student. Being a learner is our birth right. Becoming a student is a societal construct that we are squeezed into. Learning is intrinsic. Being a student is extrinsic. Learning often appears as playful and fun. Being a student can look a lot like effort and strain. Learning is engaging and experimental. Being a student resembles sitting through a monologue.
Learning is about discovering the lessons that work for us. Being a student is about memorizing the curriculum put in front of us.
happiness. James says “As we get older, it is more important to find things to do that light up our lives”.
Experimentation, play and pursuing an intrinsic impulse are energizing activities for most of us. At nearly every age. If those were the frameworks designed for us at educational institutions, we would likely have drastically different experiences of the hours, days, weeks and months we spend in scholastic environments.
Our mind is central to this effort, and we appear to thrive when pursuing new things for the mind to experience. New skill acquisition or learning a new language (which lands very high on the list of benefits), becoming part of a new group, meeting new people, or experimenting with a new means to use existing skills, optimizes longevity and health span. In fact, it’s not unrealistic to say that flourishing as we age, is built upon patterns of learning as a continued life skill.
Learning isn’t just a necessary and energizing part of our experience as youngsters, it also becomes a critical strategy and tool in healthy aging as we get older. The Director of Research at the Sloan Center on Aging & Work, Jacquelyn James, supervised a study of the benefits that older people gain from continued activity. The things they engaged in—paid work, caregiving, volunteering, and education— were strongly related to their level of enjoyment and the derived benefits of the activity. Merely participating in an activity will not create the benefits of engagement. Engagement needs to be connected to purpose and the outcome of producing
It’s becoming apparent to science that even deep into our late years, our minds possess a seemingly infinite capacity for learning. But what if we start out in a state of fatigue. Can we energize ourselves, when our learning mojo feels low-low? In the journal “Current Directions in Psychological Science”, J.E. Langer’s article “Mindful Learning” explored an apparent conflict (continued on page 9)
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(continued from page 7...) in education: “mindlessness” and “mindfulness”. As part of our dues for being human, we all have a pre-programmed “mindlessness” mode; a rigid state of “auto-pilot” that is often based on routines and habits. “Mindfulness” is a state of utter engagement with the moment where the mind is responsive to, and interactive with, new things. Mindless learning, does not typically transfer to new knowledge. We require the dynamism of mindfulness - questioning, noticing and making new connections to turn information into knowledge. To create the renewable mind energy of learning, we need to re-energize our bodies and re-set our minds from time-to-time. Research suggests that this can be achieved with as few as 30 seconds of mindful breathing before we jump (back) into our learning activity. 30 Seconds!
Learning is so fundamentally hardwired into humans, that we can step outside the context of our learning activity, take a handful of deep, connected, body-conscious breaths — and ala-ka-zamn! — we have a new way to rejuvenate our ability to learn. Just as a kinesiologist will tell you that the human body is designed to walk, science is beginning to understand that the mind — with it’s faculties of consciousness, imagination, perception, thinking, judgment, language and memory — is designed to learn. This apparent endless potential for learning is at the core of what it is to be human. From the first breath to our last one, the trajectory and quality of our lives is determined by the lessons we learn and apply to our human experience. Far be it for me to correct another historical figure’s claim, but perhaps what Rene Descartes meant when he said “I think therefore I am”, was actually “I learn therefore I am.” Innovation \\ 9
THE DOWNSIDE OF UP ON 5G TECHNOLOGY Stacy Richter
T
he future of a 5G world is almost here
“
Truck drivers, couriers, taxi drivers, Uber and Lyft drivers may very well be out of work.
10 // Community Now!
and few will be left untouched by the innovations that will come as a result. Most will benefit and revel in the next evolution of technology. Many will be seriously disrupted whether they know it yet or not. Most people think of slightly faster loading cat videos on YouTube when they hear about 5G technologies. While that is somewhat true, this technology is expected to have a much larger impact on most of the connected world.
The phrase “5G” simply refers to 5th Generation mobile technology. Here is how we got to where we are1: The other mobile network generations are 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G. • 1G delivered analog voice. • 2G introduced digital voice (e.g., CDMA). • 3G brought mobile data (e.g., CDMA2000).
5G then, will usher in the IOT (Internet of Things) era. The 5G difference is estimated to be 10-20x faster than 4G in real world applications (as opposed to laboratory tests). Two other improvements that make 5G such a technological accomplishment is its increased efficiency and reduced latency2. That means very little to the everyday smartphone user but it means a lot to the non-human users of mobile networks.
• 4G LTE ushered in the era of mobile Internet. (continued on next page) 1) Qualcomm. (2019, November 1). What is 5G?: Everything You Need to Know About 5G. Retrieved November 3, 2019, from https:// www.qualcomm.com/invention/5g/what-is-5g. 2)Wall, M. (2018, July 24). What is 5G and what will it mean for you? Retrieved November 3, 2019, from https://www.bbc.com/news/ business-44871448.
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(continued from page 11...) Three of the biggest innovations that 5G networks are expected to enable include: Greater Speed • Most recognized benefit • Results in faster downloads & uploads • Faster streaming for multimedia Efficient Use of Frequency • Better use of the wider frequency range available • Permits more devices to be on the network at once without affecting performance Lower Latency • Latency refers to the delay for performing a function between devices (e.g. time you click on a website link to the time it takes to load). • The most significant result from 5G technology The efficiency and reduced latency are the two factors that will disrupt the connected world the most. It isn’t that these improvements exist, 12 // Community Now!
it’s what types of innovations will be enabled as a result of these improvements. Daniel Newman writes “technology depends on other technology to catch up with it. And 5G is exactly what the following developments have been waiting (impatiently) for.”3 Some of those developments according to Newman include Smart Cities, Mixed Reality and Smart Factories. The one distinct innovation that has the potential to disrupt the most are autonomous (self driving) vehicles. Autonomous cars have been on the road for quite some time. These vehicles have not made it to Canada’s roads en masse because they are severely limited by access to a qualified network. Until 5G rolls out that is. Self-driving cars rely on GPS and cloud technologies to navigate safely. They do a pretty decent job overall. That is until there are hundreds or thousands of other self-driving vehicles nearby. These vehicles rely on collecting data about its surroundings, transmitting that data to a cloud, comparing the GPS and then receiving updated data from the cloud about the navigation.
In other words, your car’s sensors indicate an intersection with a light coming up and sends that information to the cloud. The cloud compares the data to the GPS and then sends the updated information to your car to either stop at the red light or continue through the green light. This over simplified explanation is why 5G is so important. When there are multiple vehicles on the road, the time it takes for each of them to send/receive data to the cloud and wait for an update (aka Latency) is plenty of time for an accident to occur. The microseconds this process takes feels like less than a blink for a person but is an eternity for these technologies. The roll out of 5G mobile networks reduces this latency to near zero. That means that two vehicles can transmit their data to each other directly and simultaneous with the cloud. Interpret: Self driving vehicles can navigate safely. Will this mean that all of our current 4G LTE devices will become obsolete and need to be upgraded. Yes. Eventually. That’s not the real disruption. Transportation is one of the industries that will be disrupted the most when 5G is widely adopted and it will be self-driving vehicles that will start that avalanche.
Consumers will look at self driving vehicles as a convenient innovation. People will be able to ride in their cars and not need to drive them. That on its own is not so disruptive. Thinking about all other forms of logistics like livery services (taxis, limos, Uber, Lyft) who no longer need to hire drivers to drive their customers. Courier and delivery services would no longer need to hire drivers to deliver packages. Long haul trucking companies will be able to have their trucks driving 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for 365 days a year without the hourly restrictions of human drivers. Drones will no longer need to be flown by pilots and will be able to pickup and deliver packages at any time of day within their range. While many of these services already exist at a micro scale, 5G is going to enable an adoption rate that will rival the growth of the Internet. As with every disruption, there is the benefactor and then there is the disrupted. Truck drivers, couriers, taxi drivers, Uber and Lyft drivers may very well be out of work. To put that in perspective, there are approximately 300,000 truck drivers in Canada in both the for-hire industry and private trucking activities.4 The potential for job loss is large. The pain of moving to 5G will not go unnoticed. It will be felt by thousands of individuals. While most people will welcome the connectivity 5G is expected to bring, the downside of up is apparent.
3) Newman, D. (2019, March 6). Five Advancements 5G Will Enable In The Future. Retrieved November 3, 2019, from https://www. forbes.com/sites/danielnewman/2019/03/06/5-advancements-5g-will-enable-in-the-future/#df89e6d30933 4) Gill, V., & Macdonald, A. (2019). Understanding the Truck Driver Supply and Demand Gap and Its Implications for the Canadian Economy. Retrieved November 3, 2019, from https://www.conferenceboard.ca/topics/energy-enviro/truckdrivers.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1
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Photos courtesy of Great Excavations
THE ROAD LESS EXCAVATED Conversation yields inspiration An Alberta start-up is making it easier and safer for industry to traverse Canada’s difficult terrain — from naturally occurring muskeg and wetlands, to human-created tailings ponds and cut lines.
Great Excavations was launched by CEO John Skierka after a pivotal conversation with a family friend who wondered aloud why no one had solved the problem of birds nesting in tailing ponds in the North. To him, the solution was simple: use a floating excavator to turn over the grass growing on top of the muskeg so the birds have nothing to land on. At the time, John was based in Hong Kong and working in the aeronautics industry. Originally from a ranching family based in the Crowsnest Pass, he was intrigued enough to check out local manufacturers in China to see what was available. He figured the technology, which wasn’t being used much in Canada, could do the trick efficiently and effectively.
John Skierka 14 // Community Now!
Bringing unmanned amphibious innovation to Alberta Seeing a business opportunity — not just in the oil field, but in other industries dealing with challenging geography — John decided to start a company, incorporating Great Excavations in 2013. By 2016, the company had grown to include brother Tom Skierka as Chief Operating Officer and Director of Maintenance, and sister Lisa Skierka as Director of Business Development. All three siblings had worked internationally and saw potential to grow the sector at home in Alberta, through the Canadian north, and worldwide. Using amphibious equipment, the company primarily provides environmental services for the forestry, mining, and energy sectors, with a special focus on bird aversion systems and caribou habitat remediation. The company also has a parallel research division, Amphibious Equipment Solutions, that launched the same year. “When John started bringing in amphibious equipment, he was surprised at how old-fashioned the technology was worldwide,” explains Lisa. The company’s biggest challenge has been to modernize the equipment — which hasn’t seen many improvements since the 1960s — and adapt it to the needs of a northern climate while also enhancing safety and efficiency.
Regional Innovation Network of Southern Alberta. The company received business support and resources through the Tecconnect centre for entrepreneurship and innovation, and connected with numerous contacts and organizations. Through continued work with Alberta Innovates and its local Technology Development Advisors (TDAs), Great Excavations has received funding assistance by way of a microvoucher and voucher, as well as important guidance and connections. “Great Excavations is an exciting, growing company that has leveraged the support and resources in the community,” says the company’s current TDA, Lindsay Spadavecchia. “They are a great example of how companies can, with their Regional Innovation Networks and Alberta Innovates, find the support and resources that fit their needs along their business journey.”
Understanding the environment Since its inception, Great Excavations has pushed ahead with the development of key safety features for operators of the equipment.
(continued on next page)
Support yields steady growth In the last six years, Great Excavations has grown steadily despite economic changes and government cutbacks, but new innovations require extensive capital and expertise. The company turned to Alberta Innovates for help and joined Economic Development Lethbridge’s Tecconnect community in 2016 — a member of the Alberta Innovates-supported
Lindsay Spadavecchia Innovation \\ 15
“Our technology is a game changer not only for amphibious equipment, but other equipment as well,” says Lisa. John adds that, for him, it’s about improving the equipment, tailoring it to meet the needs of each job.
The company is also developing remote-controlled technologies as part of their pathway to autonomous vehicle operations. Lisa explains that even with state-of-the-art safety features, such as those funded in part by Alberta Innovates, working on uncertain terrain means they can always do better.
“Our experience working with the equipment on Canada’s terrain means we understand the hardships and what needs to be done to improve the technology,” says John. “Our in-
Great Excavations’ work in this area incorporates everything from hand-held devices to mobile command stations and has the potential to eliminate many hazards while also
(continued from page 15...)
novation is driven by the desire to make amphibious equipment work better, serving the needs of industry while also providing solutions for municipalities — for example storm ponds and sewage lagoons — and wetlands management.”
reducing environmental impacts, she says: “Great Excavations is setting the standard for how these machines should improve in Canada and worldwide.”
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BUS USINESS INESS Suzanne West The Heart of a Technology Trailblazer Alberta is a land founded by pioneers and risk-takers; a special breed of people with the depth of vision to see a stark, open prairie and reimagine it as a place of prosperity, civilization and growth. From our province’s early farming communities to its thriving cities and innovative oil & gas industry, Alberta has been the site of massive transformations since the first horse-drawn carriages wound their way across the Plains. Suzanne West, visionary entrepreneur and founder of Imaginea Energy, was a powerful force in the latest generation of Alberta trailblazers, those who looked at the heavy environmental impacts of our important resource industries and could envision a greener and more sustainable future. Koleya Karringten, CEO of cleantech firm, Absolute Combustion, became close with Suzanne while Koleya was helping to commercialize Absolute Combustion’s low-emissions oil & gas technology. “She was so much more than just a business collaborator to me – she was a friend, a mentor, and someone who understood the challenges of what I was trying to accomplish (continued on page 19) Business \\ 17
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Suzanne was a pioneer for women in the energy industry, one of the few females with a successful track record of building and evolving oil & gas companies.
(continued from page 17...) more than anyone I’d ever met,” Koleya said. “She saw that our visions were aligned and worked hard to help me navigate some difficult terrain, both as an entrepreneur and as a woman in non-traditional industries like energy.” Over her career, Suzanne had faced and overcome those obstacles herself – and her early experiences formed her compassionate worldview. Born in the small town of Cardston, Alberta in 1965, her family moved to the Middle East when she was a child, where her father was a payroll administrator at an oil & gas company. Moving from a sheltered life in a quiet Alberta town to a remote part of Iran was a culture shock that changed her forever. “That was the first time I’d seen abject poverty, people who had nothing. I remember getting my head screwed on tight when I was 10 years old — like, listen, you have more than most of the people on this planet,” she was quoted as saying in a Calgary Herald interview. Surrounded by the realization that both she and all Canadians were blessed to live a lifestyle that most on the planet could only dream of, she became driven to build a better future.
This was no surprise to her family, who had always seen a spark in her – something unique and powerful that set her apart from other children her age. Her aunt recalled Suzanne’s mother, Karen, saying that “she was different, something special and was going to make a difference in the world.” Her journey started in a seemingly unlikely place – the energy industry. Suzanne had a brilliant analytical mind and seeking a challenge, she enrolled in a University of Calgary chemical engineering program as one of the only female students. At a time when women were a vanishingly small minority in technical education, her experiences with discrimination and bias led her to make advocating for women a priority throughout her career. “She taught me such powerful lessons about what it means to be a woman in a male-dominated industry, and we had a special bond because of it,” said Koleya. “Suzanne’s advice to me was always to assert myself and engage on an equal footing. I think I would have felt much more intimidated in boardrooms and field sites without her counsel.” (continued on next page) Business \\ 19
(continued from page 19...) Early stints at Imperial Oil and Gulf Canada Resources helped Suzanne learn the intricacies of the oil & gas industry, but she knew early on that she needed more than a stable career at one of the major companies. After seeing the limitations of working within conventional players in the industry, she realized that to truly create change, it would have to come from her own entrepreneurship. Her first company was Touchstone Petroleum Inc. founded in 1999 by her hard work, strong values and the backing of supportive friends and family. After acquiring wells and building the company from the ground up to 280 barrels a day, she successfully sold it after only two years. Her next venture would be far more ambitious. With a solid track record behind her, she was able to raise $20 million from a Texas private equity firm to form Chariot Energy, and with strategic well purchases grew it to 3,700 barrel-equivalents a day, an incredible accomplishment. Chariot was acquired for $188 million in 2005. These were the first numerous companies that Suzanne created – and while some were equally successful and others less so, she became a powerhouse in Alberta’s energy community and an outspoken public figure regarded with respect and admiration throughout the industry. Having blazed a trail for women in a primarily male industry, she turned her attention to something even deeper to her heart – the environment. Suzanne had always been philanthropic and held her companies to the highest environmental standards, but she realized that innovation needed an even greater focus in her life. 20 // Community Now!
After attending a business retreat on Richard Branson’s Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands, she became inspired to turn her latest venture, Imaginea Energy, into an oil & gas company that would start a green revolution in the industry. “People, Planet, and Profit was the motto Suzanne lived by,” recalled Koleya. “And she meant them in that order. She truly believed that when human beings and the world we live in were given priority, it would create a prosperity that would benefit everyone.” Fueled by her passion, Imaginea developed a full technology innovation program to help find solutions to some of the biggest ecological challenges that the industry faced. She eventually spun off Imaginea 2.0, a company fully devoted to helping entrepreneurs like Koleya develop and commercialize green technologies for the energy industry, helping build the foundation for Alberta’s now-thriving innovation community. According to many who knew her, Suzanne lived the vision of sustainability and mindfulness that she had for Alberta. An avid cyclist, she could often be seen biking to her office along the riverside trails and made time every day to ground herself through meditation and reflection. Always looking for new ways to give back, she created the Power of One Foundation to support causes she believed in and show that a single person could make an incredible difference. Her vision extended beyond clean technology to a reimagining of the basic ways we share and communicate information. She was the founder of the Alberta Blockchain Consortium (ABC), the province’s first organization to create awareness of the transformative power of blockchain technologies, which now has international reach and supports a growing
blockchain ecosystem with events, advocacy and projects. Koleya, now the Executive Director of the ABC, believes that Suzanne saw the technology’s power to bring people together. “She saw an amazing business value in the way that distributed data could help companies cut costs by overcoming expensive administrative and financial processes,” she said. “But I think she truly saw the way that the open distribution of information could be used to unite people for social good.” Like so many other visionaries, Suzanne simply didn’t see the world as a zero-sum game. With a fierce conviction that the word ‘or’ should often be replaced with ‘and’, she lived her life through the belief that it is possible to have it all – a prosperous energy industry and a clean environment, a successful career and a strong home life. This holistic way of looking at the world enabled her to merge disparate ideas to form new solutions to old problems and was a vital part of the special contributions she made to Alberta. Tragically, in 2018, Suzanne was diagnosed with an especially aggressive brain cancer and passed away just a few short months later. With so many meaningful projects recently initiated, standing at the doorway to a complete evolution of her career towards what she was truly passionate about, it was impossible for her to believe she wouldn’t see it come to fruition. “There are still great things to do in my life,” she was quoted as saying after her diagnosis. While Suzanne was unable to see her plans fully realized, her legacy was the creation of an entirely new culture in Alberta – one that, through technology, facilitated a new integration between supporting industry and protecting the environment. She removed the
division between the two – demonstrating that, as with so many things in life, people didn’t need to choose one thing to the exclusion or detriment of the other. And as an inspiring leader, she left behind many people determined to carry out her vision. Suzanne was a pioneer for women in the energy industry, one of the few females with a successful track record of building and evolving oil & gas companies. She was a trailblazer in creating a culture of environmental sustainability that led Alberta’s oilpatch to become the country’s largest spender on clean technology. And she supported, advised and guided the next generation who would come after her so that her dreams and theirs would endure. To this day, Koleya has a selection of quotes and sayings from Suzanne that appear on her computer calendar as daily reminders of her wisdom. “When I look back at her life, and her incredible accomplishments – she helped transform an entire industry – I know that her mindset made her the person she became. She truly believed that one person could make a positive change in the world. And every day, because of her, I remind myself of the same thing.”
Visit the Alberta Blockchain Consortium: https://albertablockchain.com/ Discover more about Absolute Combustion International: http://absolutecombustion.com
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THE POWER OF STRATEGIC
CONVERSATION
Greg MacGillivary
R
complexity where the future is fundamentally apid change at a global scale is unfamiliar (e.g., the rise of populism, division driving increased complexity and or the rise of ISIS in the Middle East). uncertainty as new developments continually challenge our worldview. As ev Kahane concluded that addressing tough er-innovating human beings, we are constant problems requires taking a systems approach ly challenged to understand the complex, that is broad, holistic and integrated. He also independent and often interdependent sys concluded that innovative engagement protems that we have created – systems having cesses must involve dialogue and collaboramultiple qualitative and quantitative variables.
tion.
S2S has developed and utilized a number Cities, where most of us live, are but one exof facilitated engagement processes that ample. Cities involve complex interactions promote systems thinking, dialogue and between systems involving land use, energy collaboration. Our solutions are simple, diause, mobility, water and waste all of which logue-based and action-oriented with the goal are overlaid with the additional complexities of building engagement and performance. of technological advancements and environmental, economic, social and political sysScenario Planning is a question-rich process tems. This complexity and uncertainty makes that encourages systems thinking, embraces our ability to intervene to improve the system uncertainty and structures complexity. Parvery challenging - like deer in the headlights, ticipants are engaged in the development of we become frozen in the face of complexity four scenarios, which are then used to think and uncertainty. though strategic issues and potential responsComplexity and uncertainty give rise to what Adam Kahane called tough problems that have: (1) dynamic complexity where causes and their effects are separated in time and space (e.g., climate change); (2) social complexity where multiple stakeholders have differing interests (e.g., fossil-based versus renewable energy use and associated infrastructure development); and (3) generative
22 // Community Now!
es and consequences. A shared understanding of how the future could unfold is built, which informs strategic decisions and improves risk management. The Business Idea clarifies how an organization or team creates value on a single page. With an integrated internal-external view of how value is created, participants then explore how value creation can be accelerated.
Strategy is how an organization improves through shared action. The S2S approach to strategy: (a) integrates what an organization is today and will become all in one place; (b) integrates what gets done (strategy), how it gets done (culture) and takes an all-stakeholder perspective in developing strategy; and (c) builds engagement, which Gallup has proven improve performance by 200%, by engaging every mind in developing and executing strategy. Collaborative Leadership is a values-and-interest-based approach that builds common ground and shared solutions among diverse stakeholders while fostering shared leadership, ownership and accountability for action. This why-who-how-what-based solution was initially designed to build common ground among First Nations and pipeline companies and was later applied to Canada’s decarbonization challenge. Designed to across the
worlds of government policy, in corporate and non-profit boardrooms as well as in community halls, coffee shops and over kitchen tables – this is a gift to be shared with those who believe in better who believe that collaboration is the key to success. Creating the space for strategic conversation is a powerful approach to decision-making, and ultimately, to making better strategic decisions. Question-based, conversation-rich processes emphasize the social aspect of learning and the importance of building both relationships and shared understanding. In our 15 years of practice, S2S has found that strategic, conversation-rich processes help participants to build the ideas, relationships, alignment, engagement and performance that drive success.
Business \\ 23
THE IMPORTANCE FOUNDERS HAVE ON THE COMMUNITY STARTS WITH THIS SAYING... “we saw an obvious need and believing that the world was better with it than without it”
– AMMOLITE BIOMODELS
24 // Community Now!
Platform Calgary, is continuing Alastair Ross’s 38-year legacy by fostering and supporting the community that’s dedicated to growing and diversifying Calgary’s economy. The organization provides access to education, coaching and connections that help people gain entrepreneurial, technical and innovation capacity - building upon our city’s potential to become a global hub for startups and innovation One of the programs Platform offers to help innovation-driven Founders is Junction. The Junction program includes a mix of in-class educational sessions, hands-on workshops, special events, mental health awareness, 1:1 Advisor coaching, and peer-learning over a 9 week timeframe.
MEET THE FOUNDERS OF JUNCTION; COHORT 3 “As a first time CEO I’ve been relying on favors from my network,
Founders: Jessalyn Holodinsky (CSO), Noreen Kamal (CTO), Jennifer van Zelm (CEO)
and a lot of self-teaching to get
Destine Health
the corporation organized; I saw
Fun Facts: The three officers are spread across the country right now: Calgary – Toronto – Halifax, “so we have a truly virtual organization.” Platform, Junction Participant: Jennifer van Zelm. From
Junction as a great opportunity to get a professional ‘check’ on how I’ve been doing while also getting to be part of the Calgary ecosystem more. As a B2B company, with a focus on international sales, we weren’t really waving our flag around Calgary too much, so this was also a way to get more exposure locally and
Calgary. DESTINE is an acronym! They love acronyms in the medical research field:
grow our support network while
DEcision Support Tool IN Endovascular therapy
not taking our eyes off the ball.”
What does your business do? Improve outcomes for emergency stroke patients by getting them to the right place at the right time. DESTINE has developed a cloud-based decision support tool that identifies the best first destination. The tool is based off years of peer reviewed research that has shown the correct hospital is context specific. The coolest thing about DESTINE is that it all started with market pull. While it was a research project at the UofC, inbound interest from around the world came in asking ‘can you make these protocol maps for us’? So that funded the development of our current platform, and led to the first pilot client (out of Germany) using the SaaS version of our capabilities.
- DESTINE Health Inc.
“Junction
provides
access
to
education and coaching that will help entrepreneurs, like myself, gain the technical and business skills to be successful. Most startups fail within a year due to lack of community support. Junction will help us establish a clear foundation, to clearly articulate our business to customers and investors, and finally prepare us to scale our business.” - OYO Cater
“We are a part of Junction, to have fun learning and growing with a keen group of cohorts and advisors” – Ulivit
“We are a part of Junction to lay down a foundation for iWare Travel and
What problem are you solving? Since the breakthrough of a new (surgical) stroke treatment, there is uncertainty about how patients should access it. When is it better for them to bypass closer hospitals that only offer the traditional (but still effective) treatment in order to get to the surgery sooner? DESTINE can create research-grade protocols that are geo-specific for any health region in the world in minimal time. Accomplishment: “Just a few weeks ago we signed our first client that will pay through DESTINE, not the University, and that was huge for us. They are out of Norway.”
destinehealth.com
network with like-minded people” - iWareTravel Business \\ 25
Founders: Laura Gustafson and Carla Gustafson Ulivit Ulivit was founded in 2017 What does your business do? Founders: Mike Bignold & Dave Vass CostCertified Launched: 2016 What does your business do? CostCertified is an “all in one” construction platform that has allowed for the first time, consumers to purchase construction services in the same, rich interactive experience they are familiar with when buying other products or services online. What Problem are you solving? For residential contractors who find it time consuming & hard to build accurate, detailed construction quotes we provide a web platform that simplifies this process. For consumers who are renovating or building a new home who get frustrated with unclear, static quotes that are lacking detail we provide an online, interactive experience that allows them to clearly understand what they are getting and make changes on the fly with the price changing in real-time.
costcertified.com
Ulivit is rethinking protein by crafting delicious health bars from natural ingredients, sustainable and local plant protein (Pulses) with 100% compostable packaging. Food is increasingly seen as an important aspect of treating illness and preventing it but access to healthy affordable and sustainable food is a problem. What problem are you solving? After working in the Health care system for over 10 years and seeing firsthand what food and diet was doing to the body on the operating table team at Ulivit began rethinking protein by crafting delicious health bars from natural ingredients and sustainable and local plant protein (pulses) with 100% compostable packaging. Pulses are plantbased protein such as chickpeas, lentils, dried beans and peas and are one of the most sustainable sources of protein. Canada is one of the largest producers of pulses. Food is increasingly seen as an important aspect of treating illness and preventing it but access to healthy, affordable and sustainable food is a problem. Ulivit’s goal is to help shift people to healthy and delicious plantbased food. “We need to look at preventative healthcare. Instead of treating people with expensive prescription drugs or surgeries, let’s get to the root and let food be the medicine.”
ulivit.ca
26 // Community Now!
Founders: Neha Verma Hub Orgs Launched: August 2019 What does your business do? B2B marketplace that connects business service buyers to service provider vendors; such as accounting, Marketing, IT....etc. For businesses: Businesses post their work requirements on the platform, HubOrgs provides them with timely quotes/portfolios of different vendors and help them through the process of hiring the right vendor. This cuts cost and time spent on procuring the vendor. For service provider vendors: Vendors can see business leads posted by buyers in real time and can apply to the opportunity in a timely manner. This gives every business a fair chance to compete in the market and also helps them to save on manpower and time spent networking/cold calling and lead generation. What problem are you solving? HubOrgs is a two-sided marketplace solving problems for two sets of users. Service Providers: Not every business has a dedicated person or resources to allocate strictly to business development and lead generation. We bring business leads to the business owners so they have a fair chance to compete for the opportunity. Service Buyers: Buyers spend hours on search engines to find vendors, then to reach out and follow up in getting quotes from each individual vendor and the process becomes long, expensive and overwhelming. On HubOrgs, buyers just need to post their requirement once and the right vendors come to them. We make procurement easy for business owners!
huborgs.com
Founders: Tara Matheron, Juan Rojas One Budd Launched: May 2019 What does your business do? OneBudd is a free mobile, e-commerce site that allows consumers to shop cannabis products across local retailers with options to Click and Collect or obtain delivery within the hour. What problem are you solving? Product scarcity in the legal cannabis market for craft cannabis products and high THC/CBD strains along with the convenience and desire for discreet delivery. Fun Facts: We are following ALL AGLC regulations, making us one of the first legal online stores. We partner with local businesses for local people.
onebudd.com
Founder: Pratik Patel
Founder: Eric Yeung
OYO Cater
PostGame
Launched in February 2019. It is currently operational in Calgary with plans to launch in Edmonton early next year OYO Cater is an online marketplace that connects companies, institutions, and people with great local catering options who specialize in bringing the best catering services to you and your events.
Launched: July 2019
What does your business do? OYO Cater is an online marketplace that connects companies, institutions, and people with great local catering options who specialize in bringing the best catering services to you and your events.
enabling pre-ordering for dine-in.
What problem are you solving? OYO Cater is a marketplace business model solving a two-sided problem. On one hand, the restaurant sector in Canada is struggling with more than a third of restaurants in Alberta considering closing their doors . On the other hand, business customers spend a considerable amount of time researching local caterers and placing orders manually. Not to mention the regular follow-ups required until the order is delivered and set-up in the office.
oyocater.com
28 // Community Now!
What does your business do: PostGame connects adult recreation league sports teams with restaurants offering group specials. We are developing a mobile app to help teams communicate and organize their postgame plans, save money via group deals and save time by
What problem are you solving? Helping
teams,
organize
social
outings,
celebrations, while saving them time and money. Fun Facts: “I quit my IT job to open a doggy daycare.� (Eric is the Founder of PAWS Dog Daycare) Our company meal is ramen!
postgame.menu
Founders: Aubery Blair-Pattison, Carolyn Anglin, Rick Hu, Christine Jansen
Founder: Spencer Kerber, Alexander Leakos, Shanika Abeysinghe
Ammolite BioModels
Bessie
Launched in 2015
Launched: July 2019
What does your company do? Ammolite BioModels uses engineered materials to replicate knee anatomy, along with the tactile feel of bones and soft tissue, to train operating skills anytime, anywhere.
What does your business do? Bessie empowers honest and responsible farmers to get their food to people.
Provide realistic training models for knee surgeons to learn and practice on. What problem are you solving? The Current training and demonstration options are either cadavers (with biohazard and accessibility issues), poor performing synthetic models, or patients. We are providing a highquality replacement for cadavers and patients. Fun Facts: Accepted into the BCIP program, 2016 TENET i2c Winner, and we bike almost everywhere. We bike almost everywhere
What problem are you solving? People want to eat naturally-raised food that they can trust. Bessie connects these people to farmer’s directly at a cost that’s competitive with local grocers. Bessie supports family farms by paying them a premium and takes on the work of getting their product on people’s tables. This lets farmers focus on what they do best; raising healthy and tasty meat! Fun Fact: We don’t eat meat all the time! Veggie days are cool too
bessiebox.com
ammolitebiomodels.com
Business \\ 29
Founder(s): Farzan Havaee (CEO), Mohammad
Founder(s): Lancy Qiu & Ya Bo
Fakhreddin (CTO), Fardi Bavi (CFO)
iWareTravel
Rambody
Incorporated in October 2018. Launching our MVP (minimal viable product) in November 2019.
Launched in March 2019 “Rambody is the new generation of training, connecting personal trainers and their clients anywhere in the world - anytime and anywhere.” Platform Participant: Farzan Havaee From: Iran What does your business do? Rambody is mainly is a B2B platform, which both fitness professionals and trainees can use it to communicate with each other without any geographically and language barriers. What problem are you solving? Rambody has a 2-sided marketplace, we solve a different problem for the Personal Trainer and another problem for their trainees. For the Personal Trainer, Rambody helps them grow their business by allowing them to have a tool in the palm of their hands that can: create personalized training sessions, body analysis, help them access clients around the world and help with client management. For the trainees, they are able to access their workouts anywhere, anytime, and interact with their personal trainer on-demand.
rambody.com
30 // Community Now!
What does your business do? Revolutionizing how people buy cross-border travel insurance. What problem are you solving? Did you know that you can buy travel insurance either from your home country or from your destination country? Did you know that you may get better coverage or better services when you buy from your destination country? Take Canada for example, when visitors to Canada buy travel insurance from Canada, they get: Direct billing between the insurance companies and the local medical service providers which means they don’t need to pay out of their own pockets. Optional pre-existing condition coverage which might be an exclusion in some countries. Fun Fact: iWareTravel is a team of immigrant entrepreneurs fighting to promote and sell Canadian products to the global market!
iwaretravel.ca
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CM
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CY
CMY
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Design. Create. Inspire. VCAD offers exceptional, career-focused design education at our campuses in Calgary and Vancouver!
Fashion Design
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Architecture Design and Technology
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Visual Effects Art and Design
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Learn how you can get started today.
career.vcad.ca // 1.800.290.2414 Business \\ 31
TELLING IT LIKE IT IS In this issue of Telling It Like It Is meet Ryan Hutchinson, P.Eng. Business Development Manager of ACAMP. ( A hidden Alberta Gem, we want everyone to learn about!) IMO acamp is one of the hidden gems for development in Alberta, please explain what ACAMP does?
•
We can provide you with a quote to go look for funding and if you are an S-M business we can help reduce your costs on our hourly rates.
•
Happy to Jade. However, I think that a hidden gem we may be that it really shouldn’t be.
•
•
Essentially what we do is stretch dollars and shorten timelines.
We are here to help keep technology in the province so anything within our wheelhouse will not be turned away.
•
For tech developers, it is virtually impossible to hire all of the skill sets and purchase all of the tools required to develop a new gadget.
•
By virtually, I mean some skill sets and tools in your product development may not be justified to hire full time or purchase outright.
•
That is where ACAMP comes in. We can help fill those holes in your product development life cycle either completely or in part.
What industries are you focusing on, and can you please give us some examples of acamp success stories? •
O&G, Upstream midstream and downstream
•
Ag, Drones
•
Biomedical, wearables for humans and animals
•
The best example I can think of is the Hifi Engineering. They originally started out as a technology distributor but thru our work they are now a technology developer and manufacturer employing 20 engineers and technicians that are selling their product around the world. It was primarily designed to detect and prevent incidents on pipelines but now it being applied to mining and other threat detections to critical infrastructure. ACAMP is very proud to have assisted them in their development.
I have seen the results and talked to people that have qualified for ACAMP, what are you looking for when it comes to partnering with entrepreneurs? •
A great new idea. We do need to vet your idea and see if you do have a feasible solution and that often takes our SME’s to see if it can be accomplished from a technical perspective. –
•
•
We won’t reinvent the wheel but we can make it better.
We operate as a fee for service on an hourly basis.
Please walk our listeners through a typical partnership from start to completion? •
If you had one piece of advice for small businesses or start-ups, what would it be
Also, we do perform a check to see if this has been done before if you are new to the marketplace. –
•
We won’t build a perpetual motion machine no matter how much money you have.
•
Make sure you have all 4 pillars of your business planned nailed down. –
Your product or technology is solid
–
Good people in place.
–
Capital funding
–
Market demand
All 4 of these need to be in place to build your company. If any one of these is insufficiently vetted out, your company will fail.
www.acamp.ca
Initially we will set-up a meeting with my colleagues that have decades of experience to understand your technology and see if and where we can help.
Jade Alberts Jade Alberts Consulting 403-771-1301 • www.JadeAlbertsConsulting.com • www.LinkedIn.com/in/JadeAlberts
Banbury Crossroads School Seeking a school like home?
For 40 years, Banbury has offered an atmosphere where children feel safe, comfortable, and relaxed. We offer full Pre-K to Grade 12. To learn more, please schedule an appointment with us today or call Anne in the office at (403) 270-7787.
www.banburycrossroads.com
Building B1, #201, 2451 Dieppe Ave SW, Calgary, AB T3E 7K1
EDUCATION EDU CATION Bullying in Schools:
A Curse and an Opportunity Diane Swiatek, Founder and Director of Banbury Crossroads
“
Bullying in schools seems particularly abhorrent to us, because it occurs among the innocent in society, and, consequentially, both victims and perpetrators are robbed of that innocence.
B
School, Est. 1979
ullying is a curse, as far as the victims of it are concerned. “Just make it stop!” is their unanimous, heartfelt plea to anyone listening. Bullying is also a curse for school communities, when by-standing students, teachers and parents encounter its shocking, unwanted, reality. Always afterwards. For it is impossible to predict exactly where or when it will occur. If it were predictable, a teacher could approach a student saying, “I know that in five minutes you are going to bully so-and-so by doing such-and-such, so DON’T!” Teachers are not mind-readers. And that is part of the bullying curse—its unpredictability, and the sense of helplessness and dread that result from it. In dealing with most problems involving people, there are three (continued on next page) Education \\ 35
As in many other facets of life, no matter who causes the problems, other people need to step in to do what they can do— the more of us, the better. (continued from page 35...) main ways to react: to attempt to change the other person, to change oneself, or to change the environment. Attempting to change the other person is the absolutely hardest—and least effective—approach, even though this is the approach most commonly attempted first. We need to realize that other people are not, truly, in our control. Also, genetic research has shown that some people have an innate and biological predisposition to violent and anti-social personalities. They are not going to change, just because we don’t like them the way they are. Attempting to change
36 // Community Now!
ourselves is, at least, do-able, in terms of taking responsibility for ourselves by finding solutions that we can do on our own to protect and stand up for ourselves, and ultimately, to transform the problematic situation through our own self-responsible reactions. However, changing the environment can be the most empowering way to realistically, effectively, and actually, remove the crux of the problem. Therein lies an opportunity: the challenge to enact effective prevention of bullying in the first place. And that is the best-of-all solution. So, in order to prevent a problem, we need to understand that problem—its deep causes, its various expressions, its history of helpful and unhelpful reactions from others, and its possible antidotes. Seeing bullying in all its permutations and combinations requires the dissection only possible in a much longer article (as I attempted in my piece, “Banishing the Bullies”, written for this magazine in December 2018). Indeed, the topic of bullying is fodder for books, and plenty have been written about it. However, no
Witnessing violence between children, and the shattered lives that result from it, is absolutely horrifying to adults who do have empathy. Whether targetted or diffuse, bullying is exasperating, because it is so often hidden and denied, and so, so slippery to deal with. Sometimes children seem driven to bully irrationally, even when it only serves to ruin their own reputations, and doesn’t lead them anywhere positive. Even subtle expressions of bullying—those tiny paper cuts of sarcasm,
matter what has already been written, to date, this topic is still alive and kicking, literally! As a matter of fact, bullying has become so endemic in large conventional Canadian schools that the CBC has done a major investigation about it over the past month. It is an opportune time to have a serious and nuanced look at this most hated problem that a school can have. Everyone cares about this topic in one way or another, and the frustration is mounting. Bullying in schools seems particularly abhorrent to us, because it occurs among the innocent in society, and, consequentially, both victims and perpetrators are robbed of that innocence. We first see the stark suffering of the victims. It is obvious. However, helplessness, fear and misery are likely to have been experienced by both, because the perpetrators may have previously been victims of bullying themselves—by some adults, older youths or peers. The lack of empathy and overabundance of selfishness that bully/victims have received becomes the role model that perpetuates itself. This is the source of most of society’s ills. The sad reality is that bullying is contagious.
malignant teasing, manipulation, exclusion, shoves, name-calling, put-downs and so on— are extraordinarily frustrating to endure, both for the child targets and the adult would-be protectors. “Making it stop” can seem so impossibly out-of-reach. So, outrage and pity, guilt and the grief of thwarted protectiveness are our common adult responses, because we know that these children were abandoned when they crucially needed us. They did not choose the conditions that led to their roles in this drama. Moreover, they are relatively short on self-reflection, and their under-developed pre-frontal cortexes limit their capability for sober second thought. In addition, their youth itself means that they are inexperienced problem solvers. They flounder for wise ways of dealing with challenges. They are so vulnerable. Experiencing bullying—no matter which role they play—is simply over their heads. They all drown. The truth is that children need adult guidance, support, caring, mentoring and affectionate connection. They need wise, detailed conversation to help them navigate through their lives, and sometimes they don’t get it. Bullying can be, ultimately then, the ugly result of adult irresponsibility, arbitrary authoritarianism, unkindness, lack of compassion and neglect.
(continued on next page) Education \\ 37
(continued from page 37...) Sometimes, identifying the problem indicates the direction for problem solving. If these adult abdications of support, guidance, love, respect and compassion cause bullying, then the answer is to do the opposite: support, love and guide youth, by providing them with empathy and understanding, respect, responsiveness and constructive role modelling. And this is absolutely true. This is a responsibility and a challenge that confronts not only parents and teachers, but also our entire society, in every social group, everywhere. Bullying, in both its extreme and its subtle expressions, is one of those “wicked problems” that confront us in any civilization. The attempt to erase this one’s sting by prevention is the opportunity we face now. This is not easy. As all wicked problems are complex
38 // Community Now!
and ubiquitous, and certainly not simple to address, this is an enormous task. We are not all pointed in the same direction, and do not all have the same priorities. Some people are just not interested, or unable, to participate in this task of eradicating bullying. If we examine the history of both helpful and unhelpful reactions from bystanders over the centuries, we will see that people have tried to deal with bullying, rather than eradicating it. That effort was through various, mostly unhelpful, ways—punishment primarily, segregation, and the humiliation of angry tirades. The truth is that bullying is very difficult, and even frightening, to deal with, because it encompasses that most threatening of human emotions—anger. But punishment does not work to deter potential perpetrators, first, because they often figure that they will not be caught. Second, it would have
to occur every single time, without fail; and third, it would have to be severe, so severe that it could be termed abusive. Both Alfie Kohn and Dr. Thomas Gordon have thoroughly recorded the pitfalls involved in the behaviorist approach of punishment and rewards in their books, “Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A’s, Praise and Other Bribes”, and “Teaching Children Self-Discipline at Home and at School”. Ultimately, the most toxic effect of punishment is that it damages the relationship between the deliverer and the receiver, by introducing profound distrust and fear within the child, because it only occurs when there is a strong power differential. Victims and perpetrators commonly arise from these very conditions, so punishment is antithetical to a search for bully prevention. On the other hand, the kindly, gentle, understanding and wise parental figure is also pervasive over the centuries, and this approach has been more effective in nurturing emotionally and socially healthy individuals who would neither tolerate, nor perpetuate bullying.
Given the fact that we are not going to encounter across-the-board cooperation in eliminating bullying of any severity from the childhood scene, the reality is that we have to act ourselves from our own initiative. As in many other facets of life, no matter who causes the problems, other people need to step in to do what they can do—the more of us, the better. So, societally, we need to expand our current support for families who need assistance when their problems are overwhelming, and when the conditions for spawning acts of violence and bullying are present. That is a matter for friends and relatives, social workers and psychologists, financial advocates, lawyers and judges, health care professionals, and governments at all levels. We are our brothers’ keepers. But how do we do this in schools? How do we counteract bullying there? The examples from Ontario that involve fatal stabbings and violent throws that crack skulls on the pavement are extreme cases that astonish us, (continued on next page) Education \\ 39
(continued from page 39...) because they go so far beyond the typical furtive shoves, manipulation, sarcasm and nasty comments, or social media posts (which are bad enough). Any time overt physicality is involved, even stepping on toes, perpetrators step onto a slippery slope, because one little thing can engage the amygdala of either party, and reasoning goes out the window. The outcome is stunningly horrifying. Further, when it happens in a school, where children are there precisely to learn the vast and wonderful workings of the universe, to learn flexible and empathetic social behaviours in a safe and caring environment, to establish meaningful relationships based on constructive communication and negotiation—well, something is inexcusably wrong there. This dramatic and traumatic behaviour indicates serious mental and social malfunctioning, and it needs to be dealt with by the rule of law. Its serious consequences cannot be ignored: victims can experience lifelong stress and distrust—if they survive! Perpetrators need serious and professional intervention to prevent them sliding into a criminal lifestyle. In these cases, prevention is the wickedest problem imaginable, and it must be confronted as a whole societal responsibility. Under far milder circumstances, in the typical cases of bullying among students, the motive seems to be a search for power/control, as a duality. But “seems” is the operative word: more than power, what children and youth really need is agency. They need power over themselves, not over others. The control they need over their own lives has to come through developing effective decision-making and through confronting the consequences of their actions. In order to give students agency, we need to change the environment in schools. 40 // Community Now!
The atmosphere, or culture of schools, needs to change from the current adult-dominant structure, in order to promote self-sufficiency in students. This is an important endeavour, because all students, when they depart from Grade 12, will have to use their skills in logical and moral reasoning to make the most crucial decisions impacting their subsequent adult lives—their careers, families, homes and recreational pursuits. Young people need to be prepared to take responsibility for themselves in this way. So, schools that purposely allow students to develop skills in decision-making are on the right track. In this regard, some Self-Directed Learning (SDL) schools, like Banbury Crossroads and Bishop Carroll in Calgary, provide environmental models for success through allowing students to participate in scheduling their days, choosing their study spaces, designing their assignments, setting their goals and analyzing their progress. Whether small (Banbury) or large (Bishop Carroll), these schools have organized social relations and academic instruction to include opportunities for individualized and small-group mentoring. The very structure of these schools is designed to promote these meaningful relationships between people of different ages, which mirrors how the real world operates. Their school culture supports the growth of trust between students and teachers by the very time that they need it—the point at which they join the adult world legally. In such schools, relationship-building between students and mentors/ student advisors necessarily gives visibility to all students. They need that. Small settings are particularly apt for providing this meaningful social and emotional connection. It cannot be overstated how important it is for all students to be actually visible to their adult (continued on next page)
(continued from page 40...) mentors. When caring and trusted teachers know their students well enough, they will inevitably notice signs of problematic attitudes and behaviour. They can anticipate those times when students need input, a helping hand, guidance or understanding. They will intervene at appropriate times when their students struggle with social functioning, and they will provide insight while their students deal with difficult people. Children of all ages also need to have a voice, in order to participate in designing their daily experiences and their goals, and they need opportunities for self-advocacy. Even elementary students can learn over time to express calmly to parents, peers and teachers, “I don’t like the way you are speaking to me,” or “I don’t feel like playing like that”, or even “STOP!” It becomes
WE MAKE
natural to advocate for themselves. Such children do not feel comfortable in a victim role, and they will struggle against it, which also helps in our antibullying campaign. The overall atmosphere of comfort and trust in SDL schools diffuses, and can even eliminate, whatever negative emotions surely would have come from feeling invisible, helpless, frustrated and ignored, both academically and socially. Moreover, those daily choices that students make produce a sense of healthy self-confidence, hopefulness, and respect for themselves and others. Students there also benefit from specific training in communication and negotiation skills through actual courses, internships with a contributive community emphasis, peer mentoring programs and leadership skill in-services. All of this explicit training in the “soft skills” helps to further engage youth in developing
SCHOOL OF ROCK | Calgary, Alberta 2707 - 17th Ave SW Phone: 587-353-7625 calgary@schoolofrock.com
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42 // Community Now!
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their resilience, knowledge and experience with people of all sorts and ages. Character-strengthening is a prime result of designing an environment that builds social and emotional intelligence. As a result, bullying is rare in positive and nurturing SDL schools. Prevention works there. Schools are also special places, because their whole raison d’être is to promote learning about this fascinating world in all its complexities, and to engage in detailed exploration of how the world works. Students are supposed to also be gaining knowledge, and asking questions about, all the creatures that inhabit this earth, including ourselves, and how we may best contribute to our social and natural environment. Thus, schools are places where the question is commonly posed, “How should we then live?” Defining meaning and developing passions for certain spheres of knowledge and action are proper realms for schools to handle. In doing so, we generate a never-ending stream of ideas and theories about the way things work. Anthropology and sociology, political science and history, archeology and psychology are all rife with multitudes of ideas we have devised over time to explain what we have done with each other as we attempted to coexist in groups. In order to understand the interrelated factors within the social studies, to examine health issues and social justice goals, and even to confront the curse of bullying, students have certain logical and moral reasoning skills to acquire, so that they can become as objective and clear-headed as possible. As a part of this exploration, students need to understand that these ideas all have consequences when they are put into practice. So, this is one thing that schools can do particularly well: they can challenge the ideas that are generated individually, in small groups, and in overall expectations within the institution. In other
words, young people need to learn how to think. They can only do this with enough engaging discussion on relevant and meaningful topics over time—and this needs the mentorship that SDL schools provide. Sometimes, even attitudes and thinking about conflict and competition may become habitual and dysfunctional, and actually promote bullying within and outside schools. Matthew Warters, a sociology and economics aficionado, explained one such ideology that produces a cycle of conflict: categorization of “the others” leads to their diminishment and then to their dismissal. Once someone has pegged certain people as suitable for dismissal, any disrespectful act can be justified against them. Bullying follows this route, because the (continued on next page) Education \\ 43
(continued from page 43...) victims, whether single or multiple, can be seen as deserving whatever aggressive, inhumane treatment they get. This is true of bullying in school playgrounds, as well as bullying against illegal immigrants, the Rohingya, or the underdog in any conflict anywhere. The train of thought is the problem. Any ideology that focusses on the egotistical judgement of people as fitting into certain categories is one way that attitudes and beliefs can create the conditions for bullying of all sorts. Another thought fallacy is to see bullying as fulfilling a natural dominance hierarchy. Certainly, it seems pretty clear that dominance is the aim of a person who stabs or pummels another human being. But this is not to say that dominance hierarchies are, in themselves, to blame. There is a biological imperative for
such hierarchies, and not just within human groups. Even lobsters have been observed maintaining dominance hierarchies. In fact, these social imperatives can reduce fighting, when the individuals know where they “fit”. Power does become a basic motivational force while people participate in these pecking orders, because people care where they are in the dominance hierarchy, and they want to get more resources. However, we should not reduce everything to the issue of power as the fundamental element of conflict. It is too simplistic, and it contributes to a breakdown of discourse. Life is not just about power: as Dr. Jordan B. Peterson points out in “The 12 Rules for Life”, if only power exists, then the use of power becomes fully justifiable, and can be used for any reason whatsoever. And bullying is also not just about power and dominance. As we have seen, there is a complex, multifaceted background to a bully’s life and
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motivation. We need to be scrupulous about our analysis of this issue. I have not called it a “wicked problem” for nothing. Still, one thing that schools can do is to not allow such ideologies of arrogant superiority/ inferiority to go unchallenged. Schools and universities are places that promote freedom of thought, through intellectual examination using logical and moral reasoning. We need to value that process, and ensure that it is a rigorous process, and one that avoids logical fallacies. Our goals, and particularly our actions, will only be as good as the soundness of our thinking. However, with a sigh, I have to admit that sometimes we fail to build up the resilience and social intelligence and honorable character within our students, or we fail to predict the outbursts of frustration, spite, impulsivity or ideological confusions that lead to
bullying. That failure lies heavily upon our hearts, because we wish we could never be the cause of a child’s pain. Nevertheless, I know, after working with young people for 44 years, that it is just as important to learn how to deal with that pain, how to analyze rationally the particulars that lead to emotional trauma, how to speak about it with a strong and caring heart, and how to keep on trying to prevent fallout from future encounters with aggressors. If bullying does appear in a school, the adults will inevitably find out, confront the people involved, and engage in extensive discussions to uncover the reality of their conflict, and to discover possible ways through it. Parents, teachers and peers—the bystanders—can participate in the process, because they are all impacted by it. Together, we need to help the victims to find the strength and power of speaking up and demanding respect, and we also need to help the perpetrators to understand the reality that others are just as important and worthy of respect and agency as they are. Always, we need to foster empathy, flexibility, and the need for win-win solutions to conflicts. This is the mandate for schools—to help all children, all youth and all adults within their communities to behave according to their highest truths and their best selves. It is, again, not easy. But herein lies our other opportunity in the face of aggression: the challenge to react with effective social wisdom and teaching when bullying occurs anyway, despite our best efforts. And that is the next-best-of-all solution. Or maybe it is equally-best: after all, it is pretty amazing if we actually can transform the problematic situation through our own effective responses to it, both in the moment and for the future.
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www.thedoorway.ca CRA 13140 1226 RR0001
www.thelisteningproject.ca listening to everyone
Business \\ 47
The Hunter Hub for Entrepreneurial Where people, talent University Thinking launches ofideas Calgary’s first women in and collide entrepreneurship training program Who is the Hub for?
It’s for everyone! The innovation, social enterprise and entrepreneurial communities including: students, student clubs, faculty members, staff, alumni, Calgary and beyond.
How can the Hub help you?
What is the Hunter Hub for Entrepreneurial Thinking?
The Hunter Hub is the University of Calgary’s new initiative to engage and immerse students, faculty, staff, alumni and the Canadian community in a culture of entrepreneurial thinking, challenging them with a new and bold approach to teaching, learning, discovery and knowledge-sharing.
The Hunter Hub is a safe place to try out your entrepreneurial ideas. Do you want to learn what entrepreneurial thinking is? Do you have an idea for a business? We can connect you with information on all aspects of starting a business or side hustle.
Strengthening the University of Calgary’s women-led innovation ecosystem Shea Coburn
The Hunter Hub for Entrepreneurial Thinking was created in 2017 Hunter gift Hubfrom for the Entrepreneurial with a generous Hunter Family Thinking Foundation, as an interdisciplinary nucleus for activities that will support entrepreneurial experiences, to lead in Whenstudent building ideasenable into faculty reality, research innovation, and expand a growing community of entrepreneurial shows that female entrepreneurs encounand innovative thinkers.
ter unique barriers such as limited access to funding and capital, lack of mentorship, and Events & Programs Innovation Reactor Program implicit biases in the business and investor Summer Incubator TENET I2C worlds. Energy New Venture Competition European Innovation Academy Global Entrepreneurship Week obstacles, To combat these
the Hunter Hub APPLICATIONS OPEN for Entrepreneurial Thinking has launched its Falling Walls Lab UCalgary newestInnovation program — WELab, an entrepreneurNorth American Academy (see our website for further details) ial training program designed to inspire and develop the next generation of women entrepreneurs, leaders, and changemakers across diverse disciplines. Funded by the federal Research Support Fund’s Incremental Project Grant, the Hunter Hub’s WELab program will serve all 48 // Community Now!
Do you have entrepreneurial expertise to share? We’re always on the lookout for entrepreneurs to share their experiences and expertise with our students and growing entrepreneurial community. Want to join a panel, present a workshop, or share your entrepreneurial journey? We’re also looking to host entrepreneurs-in-residence and mentors to help guide emerging entrepreneurs. If this is you, let us know!
female-identifying students, staff, and facul(403) 220-4425 ty members interested in receiving entreprehunterhub@ucalgary.ca Ucalgary MSC 171 neurial training.
“The Hunter Hub for Entrepreneurial ThinkFollow us: ing is proud to be launching unique program@hunterhubyyc ming designed to equip diverse and emerging entrepreneurs with the tools to build their ideas into reality,” says Alice Reimer, interim executive director of the Hunter Hub and CDL Rockies site lead. “This is the opportune time to formalizeucalgary.ca/hunter-hub our support of female-identifying entrepreneurs interested in contributing to Alberta’s innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems through providing entrepreneurial training and capacity-building.”
Koning, academic director of the Hunter Hub for Entrepreneurial Thinking. “The boldest universities link needs with great ideas, through processes that help drive innovation — just like WELab and the Hunter Hub. We are building this program to empower and equip participants to enter competitive STEM and entrepreneurial fields with a network of like-minded women behind and beside them.”
The program’s announcement event hosted students, staff, faculty, government representatives, and partners from the local innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems. The event was emceed by Susan Skone, associate vice president, research. The announcement provided attendees an opportunity to learn more about the program’s offerings, goals, partners, contributors, and showcased the program’s alignment to the University of Calgary’s 2018 Academic and Research Plan and Indigenous Strategy, ii’ taa’poh’to’p. “As one of Canada’s top research universities, we have a limitless capacity to generate new ideas to address the complex issues that our society faces today,” says Dr. Alice de
WELab’s 2019/2020 program offerings include entrepreneurial training workshops and networking events beginning in October. “It’s at events like this, that I am excited for our future, because we are growing the skills of our future leaders and these leaders who will go out into the world and make change happen and change the world one idea at a time,” says Dr. Lesley Rigg, dean, Faculty of Science. “The world around us presents diverse challenges and we need diverse perspectives to build our best understandings about nature’s complexities. When we are inclusive, that brings one more crucial set of perspectives and skills, strengthening the diverse ways science can address complex issues in today’s world.” (continued on next page) Education \\ 49
(continued from page 49...) “Through this program, Indigenous women will play a vital role as leaders and changemakers in the future of STEM, and will contribute to the diversification of Alberta’s economy in the months and years to come,” says Dr. Michael Hart, vice provost of Indigenous Engagement. “WELab’s program will build bridges for emerging Indigenous entrepreneurs, and will open doors for generations to come as we envision a prosperous, Indigenized future in Alberta.” After the announcement event, the Hunter Hub hosted the University of Calgary’s first WELab entrepreneurial training workshop, led by award-winning entrepreneur, TEDx Speaker, and STEM educator — Dr. Gina Cherkowski. The workshop gathered students from across various faculties and levels interested in learning how to build social enterprises in STEAM fields.
“WELab connects emerging entrepreneurs and changemakers with the training and community connections needed to contribute to Alberta’s innovation ecosystem,” says Elise Ahenkorah, programs and partnership specialist for WELab. “It is thrilling to work in collaboration with faculty partners to proactively build inclusive entrepreneurial training opportunities for diverse innovators to unleash new perspectives and ideas that will contribute to Alberta’s innovative advantage.” Additionally, WELab will offer a resource page to centralize resources, templates, recorded workshop sessions, and funding sources for women entrepreneurs and innovators. To stay up to date with the Hunter Hub and WELab’s activities, please register for their newsletter.
About the Hunter Hub for Entrepreneurial Thinking The Hunter Hub for Entrepreneurial Thinking was created in 2017 with a generous endowment from the Hunter Family Foundation as an interdisciplinary nucleus for activities that will support entrepreneurial student experiences, enable faculty to lead in innovation, and expand a growing community of entrepreneurial and innovative thinkers. It includes a dedicated space on campus (a collision space) where students, faculty, and staff can gain and share knowledge, build networks, and turn ideas into practical solutions that can benefit society.
Research Support Fund and Incremental Project Grant The federal government’s Research Support Fund (RSF) assists Canadian post-secondary institutions and their affiliated research hospitals and institutes with the expenses associated with managing the research funded by Tri-Council agencies (CIHR, NSERC, and SSHRC). The Research Support Fund helps the university create an environment where researchers can focus on their research, collaborate with colleagues, and translate their discoveries and innovations. The Incremental Project Grant is a new stream of the RSF that focuses on innovation and commercialization activities, facilities renewal, information resources, and equity, diversity, and inclusion. Read more about how UCalgary uses the Research Support Fund. 50 // Community Now!
nd
Magazine’s 2 Annual
Mental Health Event Speaker Series
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13TH | 8 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
LET’S BREAK SOME STIGMAS AND MOVE THE NEEDLE... CO-EMCEE: Peter
Lafontaine
Business & Technology Leader, Change Agent, Sales & Marketing Excellence, Entrepreneur, Mentor & Social Good Interloper
PANEL HOST AND CO-EMCEE:
Jade Alberts Founder; Peer Guidance
Jim Gibson
Partner of Thin Air Labs, Author & Influencer
Connie Jakob Speaker, Author & Connection Coach
Les Mottosky
Tom Morin
vation Strategist
& Coach at Work Feels Good
Greg MacGillivray
Ken Goldstein
Curious, Creative & InnoAuthor, Speaker, Consultant
Managing Director, Managing Director, Scenarios to Strategy Inc. The Goldstein Group
Executive Director at Alberta Blockchain Consortium Sargent, Calgary Police Service Financial Organizer, Ideal Life Functional Mind Wellness &
Koleya Karringten
Stacy Richter
The Marketing Mindbender
Vanisha Breault
Founder & Executive Director, Terminator Foundation
Jill Quirk
Educator, STEM Leader
Kelly Blain
Garry Woods
Certified Therapeutic Reflexologist. Yoga Instructor & Change The Face of Addiction Educator
Karen Judge
Dean Kendall
Kurt Kinnear
Happiness Educator
Experience Ltd.
Community Builder & Leadership Guru, Hubudub
Robyn Woods RSLP CEO/Founder Teleroo, Kids Uncomplicated, Kristylee Christensen Fehr
The Uncomplicated Family
Community Advocate, Mom & Survivor
Lunch is included! For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/cn-magazines-mental-health-speaker-series-tickets-75880264915
Loosening the Classroom Structure Focusing on Promoting Imagination and Community in the Classroom Jill Quirk – STEAM coach
S
ir Ken Robinson- the New York Times best-selling author of ‘The Element’, TED speaker, education and creativity expert has been asking the question, “Do schools kill creativity?” Robinson states in his TED talk that fostering creativity is as important as literacy in schools. He also states that “if you’re not prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with something original”. If students are given opportunities to fail, then they will also have opportunities for authentic growth and learning. However, how do we ensure that we have these environments?
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Picasso states that “all children are born artists. The problem is to remain an artist as we grow up”. Are students getting “educated” out of their creativity? Are we presenting enough opportunities for students to be creative? The ability to imagine is the fuel behind creative thought; inspiring a sense of humanity, and providing the foundations for critical thinking. The big question? How can we help student growth by developing these important student skills, like creativity?
Here is a fun October example of trying to infuse creativity in schools…“The wizard has taken over the lab…Can you create spooky designs to help chase the wizard out of the lab?” This design challenge had 11 different smaller challenges where students could choose however many challenges they wanted - ranging in skills from technology (coding), to fashion design, to figuring out circuits/magnets and chemistry. Throughout the challenge the students are reflecting on what they made and it helps me understand what kind of learning is happening. A STEAM based model in schools allows for student choice and it can help to ignite their passions.
found that I must learn how to be more flexible and make more lines for each person. The easiest part of this challenge was when I made a Scratch game (a free online coding game). I loved working on it at home and figuring out how to make the Sprites move.” Alia This student loved being challenged by figuring out the new technology. She was not the only one. Another student named Cora, also enjoyed being challenged by technology but in her case, it was with the application Garageband. “The hardest part of the challenge was making scary music in an application called Garage(continued on next page)
Here are some comments from the Wizard Challenge: “The Wizard Challenge asked us to make things to help a wizard. I tried to make a “magical wand” using magnetic circuits called Little Bits. I found that it was hard to figure out a way to get the circuits to stay connected but also not seen on the wand so it looked magical. I also found that the hardest part of the Wizard Challenge was when we had to create a spooky video with a group of people, and just like that I had to fit in another person’s role into the script we had already made. I Education \\ 53
(continued from page 53...) band because I had never used Garageband. The easiest part of the challenge was making a costume for a stuffy because it was so fun to make a Gumball costume for a small bear” Cora. With one of the 11 challenges – students had to figure out a way to make a bubbling potion. Students had to analyze all the materials given to them and decide which ones would create a bubbling potion. Some students found the chemistry part of this challenge difficult. “The hardest part of the challenge was when we were asked to make a bubbling potion. However, the easiest part was when I built something out of Knnex” Jelani. STEAM based education allows for students to have a variety of different experiences and
emotions. There are usually moments where students feel challenged and moments when they figure out a challenge and feel super successful. What I always try to provide is for older role models to help students not feel too frustrated and alone. STEAM Team leaders help the younger kids to understand what is happening in the lab. STEAM leaders can explain the science behind what is happening – for example when creating the potions, the STEAM leaders explain how the different materials react to each other, therefore creating a chemical reaction. A very common theme I found in the student reflections after the Wizard challenge was that students were recognizing that it is hard to work together. “When we started the challenge, we all had something to do and we all wanted to try something new. However, as we continued, I found the hardest part was learning how to work as a group. The easiest part was when I was creating a dragon out of Pleistocene because I was able to make it just how I wanted” Mya. With student’s recognizing the difficulties they have with group work, students must find ways to come together to solve the problems. I’m hoping for students to learn from
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their previous mistakes and learn how to reevaluate a task to get the tasks complete. “We were able to complete this challenge by dividing up the work and then separating it into different smaller tasks. Then we all made individual plans for the smaller tasks� Tarek. When Tarek was making his stuffy a costume, he found that the fabric he chose was not the best quality. So, next time he does a challenge he has decided he will not rush, do more sketches, choose better fabric and make better design plans. Ultimate Collaboration What the goal is for a STEAM challenge is to throw challenges at students and see how they manage to complete it. For example, every year, we ask the grade 5s to make a Haunted House in our classrooms using blankets, cardboard and of course duct tape. Students always rise to the occasion. It is such an unusual task that they must use their creative ideas to solve this unlikely problem.
Our big overarching challenge this year is How can we learn to build sustainable solutions to our growing food problem? We took a field trip to the Calgary Stampede and learned a lot about Sustainability from a program called, Journey 2050. The program introduces the students to agricultural programs around the world and how we can start to help this global problem by looking at local solutions. We have starting the discussion of what we can do to help? We have also started to work alongside grade 9s and 10s from The Rockyview School Farm cohort to see where we can think sustainably and reduce our own carbon footprint. Students have started the challenge by designing a sustainable farm collaboratively in Minecraft Education Edition. I can’t wait to see what students create and build with this next Building Sustainably Design Challenge.
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CN! EXPLORING COMMUNITY EVENTS: SHEINNOVATES Sept. 22 2019 in Edmonton Alberta This was an evening of networking, learning and discovery among a group of like-minded women who aim to make an impact on their community both local and globally.
RAW - STELLAR A live action event of various artists, from live music to hair stylists, jewelry makers, fashion designers, painters and sculpters. This is an amazing event everyone should attend.
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CALGARY REPTILE SHOW “The fall 2019 Calgary Reptile Expo was very busy and bustling. We have seen an upward turn in attendance by both vendors and attendees, and especially families attendance. We are glad we can show off some amazing vendors and help introduce people to the hobby, in a safe and informative way. We are always looking for ways to improve the expo, and look forward to future expos becoming even bigger and better.� - Cody Faulds; President of the Calgary Reptile Association. Over 5,200 people gathered together to learn about reptiles. This event is an amazing example of community teaching community about reptiles and how to care for them, pick one for pet and discover new things.
CALGARY TATTOO AND ARTS FESTIVAL A weekend full of art, exploration, and learning about tattoo artists, tattoos and getting tattoos.
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The Uncomplicated Family Calgary, Alberta – Over two years of international cooperation and technology investment led by Canadian-based digital health company, The Uncomplicated Family (TUF), has resulted in the successful completion of the Panacea Gaming Platform (PGP), a project organized through the EUREKA-ITEA Cluster Programme. With approval finalized by the EUREKA-ITEA Cluster Board, TUF Founder and CEO, Robyn Woods, will now launch the Serious Gaming platform with the goal of supporting Special Populations and those with disabilities around the world. TUF was one of the first two companies in Canada to lead a EUREKA Cluster after Canada joined the pan-European intergovernmental organization in 2012. The project involved participation of nine partners from four countries (Belgium, Canada, Republic of Korea and Slovenia) across three continents. “The international collaboration of software developers, researchers, industry leaders, and clinical experts has resulted in long term relationships that will survive well past the
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completion of the project” said Woods. “We recognized the significant impact we could have on children and families that require effective, evidence-based gaming software to support their development, so we’re elated to finally be here,” added Woods. The project’s core motivation consists of facilitating development, encouraging research and setting the quality standards for Serious Games and gamified apps in health, resulting in three games and two gamified health apps based on the scientific methodologies and guidelines developed during the project. They are expected to form the quality standard for the app/game development industries. Clinical guidelines will address the needs of special populations in relation to the sample games/gamified applications. These include research methodologies; designing therapeutic interventions that incorporate gamification; motivation and how to increase user engagement through tailored feedback and reinforcement; attrition; and ethical data management.
Completes International ITEA3 EUREKA Cluster Project Consortium of international partners led by Canada’s The Uncomplicated Family Corporate Group (TUF) to launch Serious mHealth Games and Kids DigiHealth Network
Kids DigiHealth Network (www.KidsDigiHealthNetwork.org) As a result of three years of international collaboration, the PGP consortium has established a non-profit organization that aims to improve quality of health games and gamified apps on a global level by offering new development, testing and collaboration tools to the industry. The new organization, called Kids DigiHealth Network (KDHN), will serve worldwide technological innovation activities under this name. KDHN will act as a trusted voice and use advanced technology and state-of-the-art methodologies to provide the best and most effective tech recommendations for those who would benefit from digital therapies. It will also offer a stakeholder/business matchmaking system to improve collaboration in healthcare and software industries and create new opportunities in these ecosystems.
Research and Development Support Since 2016, advisory services and funding from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) have played a significant role in supporting the project. “We owe a great deal of gratitude to NRC IRAP for investing in us, allowing us to undertake this collaborative research and development project, and helping bring our vision forward,” said Woods. For more information or to arrange an interview with Robyn Woods, please contact Michael Kydd at Michael.kydd@teleroo.com or 902 880 6121. About ITEA: https://itea3.org/about-itea.html About TUF: http://theuncomplicatedfamily.com/
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innovation • education • community • business innovation • education • community • business innovation • education • community • business innovation • education • community • business innovation • education • community • business We invite YOU to join our community! innovation • education community • business When Community collides with •Innovation, what happens? Inspiration is Created, Diversity•is community Seen, Curiosity comes to Life innovation • education • business innovation • education • community • business innovation • education • community • business innovation • education • community • business When Community Now! Magazine launched its platform to connect peo& Diversity innovation • community •Community business ple, education connect industry•and storytell, an exInnovation traordinary thing happened; community and innovation • education • community • business innovation collided, opening new opportunities to become engaged & inspired. We are innovation •for everyone education • community • business allowing people to explore through storytelling for the soul innovation community • business purpose•of education connecting, inspiring,•engaging and educating – together, as a community! We are providing a place for people innovation education • community • business to be open•and candid, a place to talk about what is hapin our cities and elsewhere in our province. CN! Is innovation • pening education • community • business creating a diverse, strong, new community which brings all those with talents and curiosity to talk innovation •together education • community • business about the why’s and the how’s of innovation, innovation •people, education community • business education and • business... And how Inspiration & Connections these overlaps create new and exciting Creativity innovation • education • for community • business possibilities all! innovation • education • community • business Business, innovation • education • community • business Education, innovation • education • community • business Leaders, Students, Innovators, innovation • education community • business Not for•Profits innovation • education • community • business innovation • education • community • business innovation • education • community • business
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