For 12 years, the annual Top 40 Under 40 list has tried to give Calgarians a good idea of which young citizens in their community are working toward making the City a stronger, more creative, and ultimately - a better place to live. And with the now hundreds of inspiring people on the Top 40 alumni list, having at least five of these individuals announcing their intentions to run in the 2010 Calgary municipal election should not come as a big surprise. Here's a look at the Top 40 alum hopefuls.
Running for Mayor
Craig Burrows (Top 40 Alumni, 2004) - The outspoken former Ward 6 Alderman announced his intention to make a run at Mayor Bronco's vacated throne in May of this year. In the 2007 municipal election, Ward 6 voters, in what was considered a minor upset unseated Burrows. Earlier that year, a city audit committee made Burrows return $12,000 for a business management course he had taken at the University of Calgary using money he was given by the City. In a statement announcing his candidacy, he accused current city council of "reckless spending and dysfunctional behavior."
Kent Hehr (Top 40 Alumni, 2006) - First-term MLA (Calgary-Buffalo) Kent Hehr has a compelling and unique biography. The former lawyer is a lifetime Calgarian and no stranger to overcoming adversity - Hehr was left quadriplegic in a random act of violence at age 22. The Top 40 Under 40 honour is not the only prestigious list to bare Hehr's name. In 2008, he was named one of "the 20 most compelling Calgarians" by the Calgary Herald, and was also named "Graduate of the Decade" by the University of Calgary Alumni Association in 2005.
Naheed Nenshi (Top 40 Alumni, 2005) - "The community is a good size and at a good point in its history where you can try and get your hands around it and have some impact on the future." That's a quote from Nenshi in a 2005 interview for the Top 40 Under 40 nomination he received. Canada's first tenured professor of non-profit studies at Mount Royal University, Naheed doesn't just talk the talk. He helped many non-profits expand with his Ascend Group as well as helping many large corporations like the Gap Canada, Banana Republic and Old Navy expand into the Canadian marketplace. He was the chairman of the Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts, and was the primary author of Calgary's 100-year vision. Naheed is running on a platform that focuses on city council accountability, "improving a transportation system [that] doesn't work," and fiscal responsibility regarding civic spending.
Running for Alderman (Ward 6)
Gian-Carlo Carra (Top 40 Alumni, 2007) - Carra's father taught piano in New York and his mother was an English teacher from Calgary. As a result, Carra split his childhood between winters in NYC and summers in YYC. He holds a BA in history (1996) and went on to discover his true passion, when he enrolled in the University of Calgary in 2000 to get a Masters in Environmental Design/Urban Design. The tutelage of legendary Calgary city planner Harold Hanen and Calgary architect Jack Long (also a one-time alderman) shaped Carra's "fundamental belief in the principles of design-based civic engagement." He has ten years of community leadership experience working in Ward 9's Inglewood Community Association. Also, he loves Ultimate Frisbee and has played at the national level, and coached Calgary's first junior team to a national championship in 1997.
Running for Alderman (Ward 9) - Rumoured
DJ Kelly (Top 40 Alumni, 2009) - Kelly is an effective community organizer (working with the Winston Heights Mountview Community Association, the Calgary Professional Arts Alliance, Leadership Calgary and several other organizations) and is the marketing and communications director for Lunchbox Theatre. He has not formally announced his candidacy but sent out a message to his website and twitter followers declaring that he will run in the fall of 2010 if enough interested people volunteer for his campaign operations. He wrote in the June 25 post, "you will have to be the one to decide if I run; I won't decide for you. If you want me to run, you will have to make a sacrifice too."
Post new comment