Report to the Community

Jyoti Gondek was sworn in as Calgary's 37th mayor and the first woman to be elected to this role on October 25, 2021. Prior to being elected as mayor, she served as city councillor for Ward 3 from 2017 to 2021. She holds a Ph.D. in urban sociology, and an M.A. in organizational sociology. 
 
Throughout her career, Mayor Gondek has taken a big picture approach to pressing challenges. Often, she has found processes and policies exist simply because they have never been questioned. She has come to understand that by probing and chipping away at issues, we move forward with improvements that have meaning in our everyday lives.  
 
Mayor Gondek’s professional background includes leading the Westman Centre for Real Estate Studies at the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business where she examined the challenges facing Calgary’s commercial sector as property values in the core plummeted. She knew then that this issue would be a big one for Calgary. She also ran a successful consulting practice for 12 years helping clients in the energy and city-building sectors evolve their business models to fit a changing regulatory and economic environment. 

Brad Parry was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Calgary Economic Development in 2022. He joined the organization in 2019 as Vice-President of Marketing and Communications. With over two decades of marketing leadership experience across industries that span public, private, startup and not-for-profit organizations, Parry has a demonstrated history of building inclusive organizational cultures that are data-centric and focused on growth, spearheading digital and technology transformation and driving innovation. A passionate, strategic and analytical thinker with a penchant for getting things done, Parry has led and acted as a key advisor to small, medium and large-scale operations in the fields of media, technology, advertising and artificial intelligence. He has held several board of director positions, including board advisor and marketing lead for Data for Good, a national volunteer organization that brings together leading data experts and enthusiasts with high-impact social organizations. Parry is also an officer of the Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund.

Navin leads a national team of more than 6,000 team members and is accountable for the end-to-end multi-billion dollar B2B portfolio nationally, including sales, marketing, product development, customer experience, strategy and operations for all TELUS business customers across Canada. As part of his national portfolio, he oversees all customer segments, including Public Sector, Enterprise, Large, and Small & Medium Business, as well as TELUS Partner Solutions, which brings the best of TELUS’ connectivity services to our global partners. He also supports GoCo, one of Canada’s leading managed service providers, as well as several market-leading companies that are part of the TELUS family, including FOCUS, SkyHawk Telematics, Intello, Decisive Farming, and Fully Managed.

From local small businesses and tech startups, to medium-sized manufacturers, large national businesses and public sector agencies, Navin and his team are working with thousands of organizations of every size across Canada to reimagine the way technology can be used to thrive in a digital world. Under his leadership, the team is providing world-leading technology capabilities, ranging from 5G and fibre network connectivity, collaboration, security, IoT, data analytics, and virtual care solutions that power the digital workplace of the future.

Since joining TELUS in 1999, Navin has held senior leadership roles with increasing responsibility across various parts of the organization, including Business Solutions, Partner Solutions, Consumer, and Technology and Operations. He’s played a crucial role in steering some of TELUS’ most successful market growth and service innovation strategies, and has guided several transformations that have driven industry leading business growth, customer loyalty and operational excellence.

Navin has grown up in Alberta, and lives in Calgary with his wife and two daughters. As a strong supporter of his local community and TELUS’ commitment to give where we live, he is actively involved in various causes across the province as well as the local South Asian community. He proudly serves as Vice Chair of TELUS’ Calgary Community board, in addition to serving as a member of the board of Calgary Economic Development, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce Western Executive Council, and the Sandbox Project, which aims to improve the health of children in Canada and across the world. He is also a member of the Business Council of Alberta.

Jyoti Gondek was sworn in as Calgary's 37th mayor and the first woman to be elected to this role on October 25, 2021. Prior to being elected as mayor, she served as city councillor for Ward 3 from 2017 to 2021. She holds a Ph.D. in urban sociology, and an M.A. in organizational sociology.

Throughout her career, Mayor Gondek has taken a big picture approach to pressing challenges. Often, she has found processes and policies exist simply because they have never been questioned. She has come to understand that by probing and chipping away at issues, we move forward with improvements that have meaning in our everyday lives.

Mayor Gondek’s professional background includes leading the Westman Centre for Real Estate Studies at the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business where she examined the challenges facing Calgary’s commercial sector as property values in the core plummeted. She knew then that this issue would be a big one for Calgary. She also ran a successful consulting practice for 12 years helping clients in the energy and city-building sectors evolve their business models to fit a changing regulatory and economic environment.

Calgary Black Chambers (CBC) is a not-for-profit organization looking to make Calgary the most equitable place for Black people to live and work through our pillars of fellowship, mentorship, scholarship and advocacy. CBC seeks to increase Black leadership capacity, and uplift Black culture throughout Calgary. The CBC forges opportunities for Black professionals to further their professional development and give back to their community.

Milk Jar founder, Holly Singer, started making candles in her kitchen in 2014 as a way to get in touch with her creative side, and experiment with natural candle wax after learning most common candles on the market are filled with toxic paraffin wax bases. After a year of making candles as a craft for herself and her friends, paired with the feeling that her career path was not meeting her desire to help people, Holly came up with the idea of Milk Jar; an inclusive candle company that creates job opportunities for people with and without disabilities. Milk Jar also supports inclusive spaces by donating $1 from the sale of every product to organizations that support people with disabilities to learn and grow and initiatives that create inviting spaces. In 6 years Milk Jar has raised over $236,000 for programs in Alberta. Consisting of three lines of candles and two lines of diffusers, each product is handmade at their workshop in Calgary, where they also teach candle-making classes for the public, offer a candle refillery program to encourage candle sustainability, and have collaborated with over 300 companies and businesses to create their own custom Milk Jar Candles. Milk Jar remains locally manufactured, and a staple in Canadian apothecaries with stockists across the country.

Fresh Routes is a not-for-profit social enterprise that is focused on providing healthy and affordable food to as many Canadians as possible — especially those who need it most. Our Mobile Grocery Stores brings healthy, fresh, and affordable food into neighbourhoods facing barriers — allowing choice, maintaining dignity, and building community. Our mission is to ensure that everyone has access to affordable, nutritious food.