Corb Lund delights in making the ordinary extraordinary with his music — and his mindset.
Corb Lund
The music of the land and water.
When you listen to Corb Lund’s music, you can hear the Rockies in his voice. A sixth generation Albertan, Lund comes from a long line of ranchers who instilled a respect for the land and waters that have provided the foundation for their family. He sings about cowboys, Western heritage and rural themes inspired by the place he comes from. “When it comes to art and expressing yourself, regionalism is something you should wear on your sleeve. There’s an old saying — the job of art is to make the personal universal and to make the ordinary extraordinary,” says Lund. “If that’s the goal, I like writing about this part of the country and this part of the world.” Lund is an outspoken advocate for water and land conservation in the province, something passed down through his family’s generations. He rode every inch of his family ranch along Waterton Park with his grandfather many times over, talking about the water levels in the creek and the maintenance of the land. It created a deep, permanent love for Alberta. “I love it here and I’ll never leave,” he says. “My great-great-great grandfather is buried in Mountain View, so I’m not going anywhere.”
David Wishart
A lifetime of rewarding curiosity.
Dr. David Wishart’s world-renowned research career began on the knees of his parents. Born and raised in Edmonton, Wishart was brought up to be curious about life and nature. A University of Alberta Distinguished Professor, Wishart teaches courses and leads a research group focused primarily on metabolomics, a field he established as a curious scientist. Metabolomics is the study of small molecules, which had been largely ignored in favour of studying the human genome. His research has found that metabolites are responsible for 90 to 95 percent of disease — and not flaws in genetics, as previously thought. “Metabolites are the canaries of the genome. In some respects, it’s liberating because it’s not as if our destiny is in our genes. It’s really in how we live, what we do, where we live,” he says. “This development has opened the door.” Wishart sees the successes of his career in the difference it makes in the world, not the citations, prizes or awards. It’s often invisible work, but it can make lives easier. “My job is my hobby. I do it because I like these things and I have the opportunity to always ask questions and try to find answers,” says Wishart. “Curiosity has kept me going.”
David Wishart is a world-renowned researcher from Edmonton.
Melanie Beebe pays a visit to local greenhouse in Red Deer.
Melanie Beebe
How to answer the call with conviction.
Melanie Beebe’s path to teaching wasn’t linear. She started out studying psychology, drawn to understanding people, before realizing her place was in the classroom. “It took me a while to figure out exactly where I needed to be, but once I got there, I knew I was a teacher,” she says. “It’s who I am.” For Beebe, teaching isn’t a job — it’s a calling rooted in compassion, community and curiosity. Raised in Rimbey, Beebe brought the warmth of rural life into her classrooms, creating inclusive spaces that meet students where they are to nurture their growth as future citizens. In 2022, the community-driven Common Ground Garden Project at École Oriole Park School turned learning into hands-on action. Beebe’s Grade 4 class walked nearly six kilometres every week to dig, plant and harvest food for Red Deer’s vulnerable, learning science, cooking and financial literacy along the way. “These [young] Albertans now know how to give back to the community. They learned teamwork, resiliency, grit — and that they can do hard things.” Now semi-retired, Beebe is grateful for the time she had planting seeds of confidence in her students. “I am really blessed to have been able to work in my passion,” she says. “This project is one sample of teaching, but there has been a lot of amazing people and children throughout my career.”
Karina Birch
When success comes naturally.
When Karina Birch started Rocky Mountain Soap, the notion of ‘natural’ wasn’t on trend. But she and her husband Cam knew their endeavour was going to be 100 percent natural or nothing. “I like to remind myself that it is a story of humble beginnings,” she says. “It’s just two people who saw something purposeful and went for it.” Birch has a deep connection to nature, something that living in Canmore makes easy. “The mountains are everything to us — a reminder that we need to protect this beautiful, pristine environment that we live in. And that’s connected to how we think about the business, product development and how we build culture,” says Birch. “It’s not separate for us.” Through necessity, Rocky became vertically integrated, handling formulations, manufacturing, research, quality testing and fulfillment in-house. It’s an important aspect of the company, enabling them to tailor batches, scale and touch every ingredient. Now, 25 years later, natural has become table stakes in skincare and Birch is looking to the future of the business. “For us, building an enduring sustainable business is the goal. We move fast at times, but it’s with intention,” says Birch. “Maybe we won’t see Rocky at its peak, or maybe we will. What matters is that we build something sustainable.”
Karina Birch, founder of Rocky Mountain Soap, is right at home in the great outdoors.
Angela Welz on the balcony of her home in Edmonton.
Angela Welz
Hearts can heal.
After losing her daughter to a toxic drug supply overdose, Angela Welz turned unimaginable grief into a lifeline — building a peer support community that helps families across the country feel seen, heard and less alone. Healing Hearts began in Edmonton and now has more than 50 groups across Canada, entirely volunteer-led with trained facilitators equipped with resources and tools to manage each group. “I started the group to support others, but it’s also become a stable place that has helped me a lot, to be able to share my story” says Welz. “But also to listen and just be there for other people who have lost a loved one in the same way.” Welz is passionate about changing the stigma associated with substance use and raising public awareness about the scale of the crisis. “The big hope for me is that we see an end to toxic drug poisoning deaths.” The folks at Healing Hearts have planted memorial trees with the names of lost loved ones and organize International Overdose Awareness Day events on August 31, lighting up Edmonton’s High Level Bridge in purple. “It’s organized by our families and it’s so powerful,” says Welz. “We acknowledge our loved ones in a safe space, surrounded by community. It’s really a beautiful thing.”
Oil sands legend Jim Carter in downtown Edmonton.
Jim Carter
Drilling down to lift all the boats.
Jim Carter never met a challenge he didn’t like. One of the youngest mine managers during the build-up of the oil sands, he got the Syncrude truck and shovel fleet up and running, a technical challenge ‘of the highest order’. He continued to move up in the firm thanks to his tenacity and ability to solve problems. “I don’t give up on things. I keep trying from another angle and that was the whole story of the oilsands,” says Carter. “Doing it reliably and safely, with minimal impact on the environment. It required a lot of tenacity to stick with it.” Carter had a 28-year tenure at the company, with a front-row seat to Fort McMurray’s development into the city it is today. “We were building a company, an industry and a community. We wanted the economic uplift of this facility to bring everybody with it — the high tide lifting all the boats.” Carter credits Alberta’s entrepreneurial spirit for the opportunities it offered him, and many other people, in building their careers. It’s something he hopes will continue. “Alberta enjoys many smart, young people who are entrepreneurs,” says Carter. “We need to encourage them to continue to be — we need to keep that spirit alive and well.”
Legendary music promoter Ron Sakamoto is a member of the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame.
Ron Sakamoto
Promoting what counts.
Ron Sakamoto has dedicated his life to helping thrill audiences. Oddly, it was small town boredom that set him on his path. In the early 1960s with nothing to do on Friday nights in Medicine Hat, 18-year-old Sakamoto and a friend opened the Honeycomb A-Go-Go in the basement of an empty bowling alley. The Ron Sakamoto Varsity Club in Lethbridge followed. It started a multi-decade music career that has made him one of the biggest promoters in the industry. Despite the odds, Sakamoto chose to build his music career in Lethbridge, rather than being drawn to the bright lights of Los Angeles or Nashville. “My dad said, it’s not where you’re from that counts, it’s what you do that counts,” he says. “If you feel you can do it from here and you love living here, stay. He knew I could do it.” He figured things out on the fly, as he booked some of the biggest names in music. He was the first to bring the makeup-clad rockers KISS to Canada, brought the Doobie Brothers to Lethbridge and helped launch Shania Twain’s first tour. Still the biggest independent promoter in Canada, he’s won dozens of awards, including a JUNO and an induction in the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame. “At the end of the day, I didn’t do it for awards,” says Sakamoto. “I did it because I love it.
Michelle Hordal is a former teacher and the founder of the social enterprise Adaptabilities.
Michelle Hordal
Where dreams are within reach.
Michelle Hordal is a dreamer. As a former teacher who worked with individuals with disabilities she found that, all too often, people tend to look at limitations rather than possibilities. But Hordal viewed her students quite differently. “They surprise us in a way that we shouldn’t be surprised. We should support them to do whatever their hearts desire.” In 2004, she founded Adaptabilities, a social enterprise aimed at addressing critical gaps in support, including reliable respite care and inclusive programming. They provide in-home support, summer camps and innovative programs such as high school transitions and social nights. “We are creating a world of belonging through programs and services that empower people with disabilities to grow and succeed.” Adaptabilities is a “for-impact” social enterprise, with a revenue generating model that enables them to scale up in size or location. They have a team of 200 people, four locations in Edmonton and a plan to expand provincially. Hordal has heard from many families that these offerings can give some parents the first chance they’ve had to be alone, or the first time their child has been able to stay a whole day at a program because the right supports are in place. “I get to wake up with purpose every day,” says Hordal. “My goal is that the people we work with get to as well.”
Lu Carbyn
A biodiversity pioneer for the future.
Humans are good at many things — especially urban and commerical sprawl. For Lu Carbyn, it’s the reason he believes concerted conservation efforts are critical. Born in Namibia, Carbyn arrived in Edmonton as a young boy. His academic journey took him across Canada and Europe, before he came back to finish his education at the University of Alberta. After graduation he eventually became a research scientist with the Canadian Wildlife Services. There Carbyn pioneered studies in the Rocky Mountain National Parks where he became a pivotal figure in studying wolves in the wild in Canada, with a focus on their role as predators in the ecosystem. Retirement has not slowed Carbyn’s commitment. He has established two nature environments — totalling over 300 acres — around Edmonton, preserving biodiversity for the future. “We have to protect these areas, so we don’t use all of the space we have just for commercial purposes,” he says. As president of Nature Alberta, Carbyn established an endowment fund that now exceeds $550,000 to create sustainable funding for the organization’s future. Today as an adjunct professor at the University of Alberta, he continues to inspire students about the importance of understanding the human impact on nature and the individual responsibility needed to make a difference in the world, and in their own backyard. “We need to protect wild wilderness areas to provide resources to future generations [in Alberta],” says Carbyn. “That takes people, individuals and leadership.”
Lu Carbyn, here at the University of Alberta, continues his conservacy work, 50 years after he began.
Tina Thomas is a true community builder.
Tina Thomas
Making real impacts for tomorrow.
As CEO of the Edmonton Community Foundation (ECF), Tina Thomas looks beyond quick fixes. She’s focused on impact that goes deeper. “When we talk about how we operate, it’s the idea that together, we thrive,” she says. “We bring donors and charities together to build all the things we love and need, that give us joy and keep us safe.” In 2025, ECF granted $44 million to charitable organizations — since 1991, approximately $500 million. From these roots, Thomas is exploring ways to invest meaningfully in key local issues, such as early childhood development and affordable housing, which take time to show results. “We have the ability to be patient. We might not see the outcomes in the next two years — it might be 15 years — but a community foundation can really invest in the long-term.” Thomas is an Albertan ‘through and through,’ born in Peace River to parents who immigrated from India. Thomas credits ECF’s growth to the generosity of Edmontonians, something her mother experienced herself when she arrived, as she was welcomed and supported by locals. “Edmonton sits within an Alberta spirit of being can-do,” says Thomas. “[It’s] a province where people will build things, try things, do things, where we’ll help each other.”
