Age: 31
Occupation: Owner, Elevated Escapes; co-owner, Sundance by Basecamp
After graduating from the University of Toronto in a pre-law program in 2018, Jenna Walsh returned to Alberta, knowing she wanted to build a life in her home province. With one canvas tent and $700, she started Elevated Escapes. In 2024, she became co-owner of Sundance by Basecamp. Today, these multi-million-dollar glamping companies help raise Alberta’s profile as a tourism destination.
“I wasn’t ever afraid to start small,” says Walsh. “I’ve learned that resilience and persistence matter more than personality, and, at the end of the day, grit is what carries you through.”
Walsh has two operations in Alberta, each with a glamping site — including six riverside geodomes in Bragg Creek — in nature-based destinations. She has helped guests to enjoy the outdoors year-round, contributed to the growth of Alberta’s winter tourism economy, and designed experiences that highlight the beauty of Alberta.
Sundance by Basecamp features 85 sites including trapper’s tents, tipis, 24 fully furnished glamping units and five seasonal, canvas glamping units. Through co-leading a $1.6-million expansion in 2025 to develop winterized glamping sites, Walsh has enabled year-round use of the site and increased revenue by $732,000.
Walsh is also dedicated to building community. In 2023, the Alberta Council for Global Cooperation awarded her a Top 30 Under 30 award. She is also one of the lead producers of the Social Venture Institute Alberta, an annual conference bringing social entrepreneurs (business owners who are also change-makers) together, and the co-founder of the Girls of Tomorrow Foundation, which she started 12 years ago with her then-pen pal Majorine Namitala. It offers entrepreneurship, scholarship, solar energy, menstrual health and permaculture programs for boys and girls.
Top 40 Under 40 2026
Devin Fisher and Gabrielle Leakey