Age: 34
“People come to me because they have a problem. They explain the problem to me and I try the best I can to give them advice and options, and when they make a decision, I try to help them out.”
If Tyler Shandro’s colleagues at the Criminal Injuries Review Board (CIRB) thought the baby-faced lawyer was too young to look for a position at 28 years old, he’s hoping two kids and five years of additional experience have aged him enough that his recent appointment to the National Parole Board (NPB) seems more fitting.
“It was very flattering to be appointed to the Criminal Injuries Review Board,” Shandro says of the opportunity that came about soon after he was called to the bar in 2005. “I think it’s great to have diversity on any board. Now that I have kids, I’ve aged, but at the time I was 28, and I probably looked like I was 16.”
This past summer, after five years of meeting victims of crime and hearing their stories at the CIRB, Shandro was appointed to the prairie region of the NPB, where he’ll hear conditional release applications for parole.
His most recent appointment is an extension of the work he does in all aspects of his life, using his skills and education as a lawyer to do what he explains all lawyers essentially do – help people.
“People come to me because they have a problem. They explain the problem to me and I try the best I can to give them advice and options, and when they make a decision, I try to help them out,” he says.
Outside of work, Shandro volunteers at the University of Calgary every semester for an evening, answering questions and providing advice to law students through Student Legal Assistance. He’s also a U of C senator, a role that has him talking to potential students about why they should attend the university. “I just try to make sure, especially in Southern Alberta, they are thinking of the U of C as their first choice for school,” he says.
In April, Shandro stepped outside of his role as a lawyer to help start 1400 Months, a company geared toward helping Canadian television companies reinvent themselves to adapt to new federal funding guidelines that require Canadian TV producers to have a website, an online video game or a mobile application, in addition to their regular TV content.
“It’s very exciting,” says Shandro. “There’s a lot that’s going to be happening for television and the digital platforms for production companies in Alberta. I hope we see it all coming and stay at the front of all this change.”
Why he’s the top: Shandro was appointed to the Criminal Injuries Review Board of Alberta when he was 28 and has since moved onto the National Parole Board, where he’s been told he may be the youngest appointee – ever.
The key to his success: “Success is going to always be in the eye of the beholder. So, if you’re happy, if that’s what you were looking for, I guess that’s
success.”