Page 27 - XperienceAlberta-EDA-2024-1

last year, is the Impact Series, where first-year undergrads mingle with alumni who have become local business leaders. This year’s event attracted more than 1,000 attendees.
The BAA put together another initiative last year called Ask an Alumn anything, a virtual chat that gives mentees 30 minutes to ask mentors anything about their schools or career journeys or other pertinent advice.
“Going to business school is overwhelming, but the U of A wants to show there is always support, there is guidance from previous alumni, and there are resources,” says Kevin Lai, a volunteer board member of the Business Alumni
Association and co-chair of its mentorship program.
The need for mentorship has increased in the last two years as the U of A has begun encouraging entry to the business program directly from high school,
instead of requiring students to do a year in science or arts first. The university
has since tripled its number of business students, to about 1,300.
Some of these programs have come about as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the growing need to teach students networking skills. The pandemic also opened up new technologies the
U of A is investing in for mentorship opportunities, which will connect mentors and mentees from around the globe –
such as Mentorly, a software platform
for mentorship program development which can allow students to connect with alumni around the world, or Ten Thousand Coffees, which is a virtual platform that matches students with mentors based on their interests and goals.
Lai says mentors are happy to give back, and he’s been surprised to hear how far-reaching the impacts of these programs have been for many mentees.
And constant improvement is positive.
“I think the theme is truly just to improve the economy ecosystem around Edmonton,” Lai says. “That’s something that’s true and dear to the heart of many small business owners in Alberta.”
BY THE NUMBERS
64.9 PER CENT of workers in Alberta have completed post-secondary education
39 YEARS
Average age of Albertans, making it the youngest province in Canada
44,000+
Number of registered apprentices being trained in Alberta
>$1 BILLION Sponsored research revenue attracted by
Alberta’s academic and research universities in 2020-2021
26
publicly funded post-secondary institutions in Alberta
9Comprehensive community colleges in Alberta
5Independent academic institutions in Alberta 4Comprehensive academic and research
universities in Alberta
4Polytechnic institutions in Alberta
$1.33 BILLION Value of Alberta Innovates’ portfolio, the
province’s largest research and innovation agency, in 2023
AT A GLANCE
Cando Indigenous Spirit
Economic Development Officers (EDOs) play a large role in developing and fostering a community’s economy, and since 1990, the Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers (Cando) has been a leading authority on Indigenous Community Economic Development.
One way it leads is through its Economic Development Youth Summit, which brings First Nations, Métis, Inuit and
non-Indigenous 18-to-30-year-olds together to work on case studies and present economic development initiatives judged on innovation, feasibility and sustainability.
Each year, thanks to Cando, 50 delegates (out of many more applicants) receive free travel and accommodations to network, learn from and work with other future EDOs to ensure Indigenous businesses and entrepreneurs become an even bigger part of Canada’s economic future.
EMBRACE.ELEVATE.ENVISION. 2024 XPERIENCEALBERTA 27