A St. Albert professor and Morinville’s mayor have been declared two of the 50 most influential people in Alberta by a prominent magazine.
Alberta Venture published its annual 50 Most Influential People list Monday. The list, compiled by the magazine’s staff, lists people who have profound influence over some important aspect of society.
St. Albert’s Kristopher Wells and Morinville Mayor Lisa Holmes both made the list, as did Premier Rachel Notley, Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid, and Fort McMurray fire chief Darby Allen.
Wells is a professor at the University of Alberta and faculty director for the Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services. He was recognized for his years of work as a champion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights.
Wells recently completed a successful Kickstarter campaign to manufacture rainbow-coloured Pride Tape and to raise awareness of LGBTQ issues in professional sports. He is currently working with the provincial government to fight transphobic and homophobic bullying in schools.
It was a nice surprise to make the list, said Wells, who noted that these lists are all totally subjective. What’s important is the work that these lists highlight.
“It’s not about me or other people. It’s about helping society to move forward.”
Holmes was recognized for her work as president of the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) to secure funding for the province’s 266 urban municipalities.
It’s a great honour to be included in such an amazing group of people, Holmes said.
It was also kind of funny that her husband, Thomas, had made Avenue Edmonton magazine’s Top 40 Under 40 list just last fall, she added.
“I can say mine is better than his!” she joked.
Holmes said this honour recognizes the hard work the AUMA has done to make the needs of Alberta’s municipalities heard.
“We’ve been really pushing hard to get a new funding model for municipalities,” she said, one Notley appears willing to discuss.
The AUMA is now a leader on climate change with its Municipal Climate Change Action Centre (which supports about $5 million of municipal solar power projects a year) and is deep in talks with the province about changes to the Municipal Government Act.
“That’s been a huge amount of work for us this year, just trying to make sure municipalities are consulted and our views are at the table.”
The list is available at albertaventure.com.
