An Edmonton magazine recognized three area residents this week as some of the best and brightest minds of the capital region.
Avenue Edmonton published its Top 40 Under 40 list this week. The annual series highlights 40 exceptional Edmonton-area residents who are under the age of 40.
This year's list included three people with ties to the region.
The Cocoanista
Jacqueline Jacek grew up in Legal before moving to Sherwood Park to open her chocolate-making business, Jacek Chocolate Couture. She made the list for her charity work.
When the Gazette last talked to her in 2011, Jacek was running her company out of her basement. Now, she's got stores in Sherwood Park and Edmonton, and is opening a third in Canmore later this month.
"Even in tough economic times, I think people still look for that little bit of luxury. You can't really go out and buy yourself a new car, but you can buy yourself a really fine piece of chocolate."
Jacek said she got hooked on charitable work in 2013 when she was hired to provide chocolates for a fundraiser at the Enjoy Centre. The event was a benefit for an orphanage in Bulembu, Swaziland.
"I fell in love with what they were doing in this town," she said, as the charity aimed to create six industries there to provide ongoing support for the orphanage.
Jacek created a line of chocolates based on those industries – such as a honeycomb-shaped one imbued with Bulembu honey – and raised $20,000 for the charity by selling them over three years. Those funds helped refurbish a house for six kids, construct a community garden and ship a load of donated goods to the community.
Jacek said she's now getting about 10 requests a week from charities to provide similar support, and has decided to donate any profit she makes from charity events to the charities that hire her.
Jacek said she and her staff do this because they see their job as about spreading joy rather than making money.
"This has soul and it gives us a greater purpose."
The Leader
Morinville Mayor Lisa Holmes made the list for being one of Canada's youngest female mayors and an advocate for Alberta's municipalities as chair of the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association.
Her husband, Thomas, made the list last year.
"It's an absolute honour and it's even more special that I get to celebrate it with him," she said of making the list.
Holmes, 36, was elected mayor in 2013. She's since grappled with a challenging agenda that's included a photo-radar plebiscite, a contentious public school site, and a $63 million recreation centre.
Holmes was also co-chair of the Capital Region Board task force that wrote the recently approved Edmonton Metropolitan Regional Plan, which outlines how regional governments will handle their next million residents.
Holmes said her biggest regret in life was that she did not take enough risks.
"Everything I've done to get me to this point was a risk that I took, but it paid off, and everything meaningful you do requires that leap of faith."
While she's enjoyed her time in office and has no plans to stop serving her community, Holmes said she had not yet decided if she would run for re-election next year.
"My boys were three and six when I started and now my oldest is in junior high. It's not cool to have a mom as mayor like it used to be."
The Planner
St. Albert's Travis Peter was picked for bringing innovation to the everyday urban experience.
Peter, 36, has been with the City of St. Albert for 10 years and is currently the smart city and innovation manager.
"Innovation in a municipal context can sometimes be seen as an oxymoron," he said, but he doesn't believe that's the case.
"Especially in St. Albert, we have a ton of opportunity."
As director of the Alberta Smart City Alliance, Peter works to promote the use of technology to create more efficient and innovative communities.
"We want to give to residents and businesses the ability to manage their lives in the most efficient and effective way."
That means using cheap sensors and the Internet to optimize performance, he explained. These technologies could let residents track their water use in real-time or prevent traffic jams on St. Albert Trail.
Peter said he was now ramping up the city's open data efforts so that businesses could better use the information the city has to create apps and make decisions. Expect a broadband strategy next year and more on energy conservation in the future.
Avenue's Top 40 Under 40 list can be found in its November 2016 issue.
