For Katie MacMillan, talent knows no bounds. The Edmontonian’s transformation from teacher to talent agent began with a personal experience that sparked a big idea. MacMillan’s daughter has cerebral palsy, is a power chair user, and was a burgeoning model. “We’d show up at a fashion show and there was no ramp to the runway, or there was a dress that was incompatible with wheels,” says MacMillan. “Nobody was asking the right questions.” Then one day, the correct question was posed. A photographer asked if her daughter had any access needs before a shoot. MacMillan had clearly seen the gap — and now she saw the opportunity. Enter Kello Inclusive, MacMillan’s Edmonton-based national talent agency that exclusively represents disabled and visibly different talent. Her goal? To build an agency that would help address the need for authentic representation in media. “All kinds of folks exist in the real world and have fulfilling, bright, cool, interesting lives that you don’t end up seeing much of in our media, says MacMillan. Within months of its founding, Kello had not only the support of organizations based at home in Alberta who had become clients, but had models flying to Paris to shoot with L’Oreal. “We were able to make things happen early in large part because of Albertans being open to inclusivity.”

Some people may claim to be disruptive, but Dinu Philip Alex is certified. “Troublemaker was a word used sometimes, but it was really questioning why we were doing certain things in a certain way.” An architect by trade and certified disruptive strategist, Alex was born in Nigeria and lived in South Africa and Dubai before coming to Canada in 2004 to pursue a Master of Science at the University of Alberta. In his role at the Edmonton Downtown Business Association, he questioned the issue of garbage in the downtown core. His solution was a pilot project that introduced larger, covered trash cans and separate, unlocked bins for people experiencing homelessness to collect bottles and cans. Its success led to the City of Edmonton considering a broader rollout. “The disruption component is that there were people open to trying something different.” Alex has applied this thinking to the City of St. Albert, where he leads the operations portfolio. He also began his own consulting business in 2020 called Next Evolution Ventures, which integrates consultation with diversity and inclusion to solve real challenges. “It’s okay to try something and fail,” says Alex. “If it doesn’t work out, there’s something you’ll learn through the process.”

Kirk Zembal started his career like many Albertans, chasing drilling rigs in the oil fields. Fast forward a decade and he is a co-founder of Blindman Brewing — a venture he started with a few friends to bring good times and brew better beer. A leader in sustainable brewing, Blindman Brewing is the first in Canada to implement a CO2 capture system to reuse the carbon dioxide produced during fermentation to carbonate the beer. They’ve installed 180 solar panels and also launched a recycling program with other breweries to reuse can holders. “Craft brewing started with this idea of doing better. Sustainability is part of that,” says Zembal. “All of us wanted to try to do better by our communities and the places we live.” For Blindman, that community is Lacombe, an agricultural hub thanks to its ideal growing climate. Zembal views their base as the secret to their success, full of innovative people starting up businesses, music festivals or sports clubs. “There is a sense that you can create whatever you want in Alberta,” says Zembal. “I wish I could brew that up and get somebody to drink our sense of adventure, creation and fun.”

With the change of name from Fort Calgary to The Confluence Historic Site & Parkland, Jennifer Thompson is leading an ambitious cultural transformation, by centreing the land, the river and Indigenous voices in its reimagining. Thompson came from the City of Calgary to take on the next chapter of The Confluence, a project whose renaming was informed by an extensive engagement process in which people’s hopes for the site were truly heard. “People wanted more truthful stories,” she says. “They wanted to know the full history of this site, the land to be cared for, and for it to be the centre of its identity.”

The Confluence — I’táámito’táaattsiiyio’pi in Blackfoot — is being reimagined to properly reflect the layered history of land that has been a gathering place for Indigenous Peoples since time immemorial. Renovations of the cultural centre are underway — a permanent Blackfoot exhibit, curated by artist Star Crop Eared Wolf of the Kainai Nation, opened in 2025. “Ensuring we’re talking from a place of decolonization and honouring a truthful perspective, I’ve learned you can’t stop and it has done nothing but make me a better person and benefited this space,” says Thompson. “It’s so important to ensure that we’re raising the voices of Indigenous Peoples in Canada.”

Melanie Dene has always known where she comes from: the north. It’s central to her identity. A member of Mikisew Cree First Nation in Treaty 8 territory, her roots are in the bush and the river — and she loves the cold. “I always say it reminds you that you’re alive.” Dene is managing director at Indigenous Climate Action in Edmonton, an Indigenous-led organization working to amplify and centre Indigenous voices in climate solutions. Dene’s work is informed by the Indigenous wisdom — everything comes from the land and demands balance and respect for what it provides. Since Indigenous peoples are stewards of the land, creation stories have solutions to address climate change — and some communities are already demonstrating it through food sovereignty, solar energy and practicing Indigenous birth work. “Everything that we need as humans comes from the land. We have this intimate relationship with our traditional lands, because we respect what she provides for us. If we’re not taking care of her, she’s no longer going to provide for us,” says Dene. “I think it’s about restoring the relationship with the land and also the relationship with our relatives, our kin, to find a balance.”