Next Up

Sachi is a trained bean counter (Chartered Professional Accountant) and holds a Master of Professional Accounting degree from the University of Saskatchewan and a Bachelor of Management degree from the University of Lethbridge. She loves working as a Community Services Accountant for the City of Red Deer as it allows her to help improve the lives of Red Deerians, share her experience and knowledge, work collaboratively with and learn from passionate colleagues, and continuously improve business processes.  

Sachi was born and raised in Ritto, a small town in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. She grew up being surrounded by nature; she swam in Lake Biwa, a UNESCO Ramsar Wetland, as well as hiked and skied on mountains in her prefecture. These fun experiences combined with frequent visits to a local nature centre with her father cultivated her commitment to environmental conservation. She believes in taking small but steady steps in climate change actions. She has demonstrated her commitment by leading the implementation of the composting at work program for 2 divisions at the City of Red Deer. As a member of the City's Green Team member, she collaborates with other team members to inspire City staff to participate in organization-wide environmental initiatives. She hopes to continue supporting, increase her participation in, and/or inspire others to take climate change actions at the City, including neighbourhood planning, composting at home and work, recycling, and reducing energy usage. 

When she is not tweaking spreadsheets, making recommendations, or preparing budgets, Sachi loves spending time with her family and friends, playing piano, hiking, cross country skiing, playing with animals, learning foreign languages, and volunteering. 

My intent and desired outcome has always led to making a difference in the lives of others. Teaching is my passion, this is where I shine. I am currently a grade 4 teacher and Eco-Club leader at Andrew Sibbald school. Last year my colleague & I introduced a comprehensive waste management system at out school that includes all recyclables, as well as compost. I am an advocate for environmental & outdoor education.  

 I live an engaged life with passions for the arts, the outdoors and healthy living. Good food, museums, theatre, reading & galleries are always on my to do list. Likewise, I try and get out the the mountains for hikes or snowshoeing as much as I can. I feel whole when I am outside.  

Dan Fipke is a young professional from Calgary, Alberta and has 5 years’ experience in Alberta’s electricity industry. He currently works at the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) as a Commercial Analyst, tasked with the procurement of operating reserves and other ancillary services to maintain Alberta’s reliable grid. Previously he worked in Forecasting and contributed to the development of an annual 20-year load and generation forecast for the province of Alberta. Dan has also worked for the Alberta Department of Energy in Resource Development and AMIS Inter- Ag, an international management firm focused on sustainable agriculture development.  

Dan completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Calgary in Political Science and Economics. Currently he is pursuing a Masters of Environment and Management from Royal Roads University in Victoria, BC. He also volunteers his time with Student Energy, a global non-profit focused on educating ad connecting students to address the challenges of the global energy system.  

Born in Gatineau, Quebec, Thana spent his early years living in Ottawa where he was raised speaking French, English and Thai. He attended the University of Guelph, where he was actively involved in student politics and graduated with a Bachelors of Engineering Degree. 

Thana currently works in Calgary in the environmental engineering sector with a company that specializes in air quality and greenhouse gas emissions. Thana has ran as the Green Party of Canada candidate in Calgary Centre for the 2015 and 2019 Federal Elections. In May 2019 Thana was the Calgary Mountainview . Provincially, ha has run for The Alberta Greens in the  2016 Calgary-Greenway Provincial by-election, and in the 2019 general election in Calgary Mountainview. Furthermore, Thana was the establishing Director of Sustainability for the Marda Loop Community Association, an Ambassador for the Canadian Geothermal Energy Association, and is a member of the Federal Green's council and Shadow Cabinet Member for energy. He is a convenor for Protect Our Winters (Calgary), a group of outdoor winter enthusiasts advocating for climate action.

From a young age, Thana has been passionate about politics and the environment. Having been raised in an ethnic community, he understands that it is important to include all cultural and socio-economical groups when developing policy.  

In his spare time, Thana plays hockey, is an avid snowboarder, writes music, dabbles in photography, learns about anything space related, and is often in the mountains enjoying Mother Nature. 

Jerry has worked in the Labour movement in Alberta for the last six years and is currently the Executive Liaison with the Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA), responsible for the Governance and Communications teams. He is committed to increasing progressive activity within union settings and ensuring that our public services remain strong. 

Prior to his work in Labour, Jerry was very active as an organizer with the NDP. He worked for four years on Parliament Hill for an NDP MP from BC as a Parliamentary Assistant. He also worked on a number of high profile local election campaign in various roles, including as campaign manager. He also served for one year as the Chief of Staff for the Alberta NDP caucus. In the 2015 provincial election, he acted as Director of Organization for Alberta’s NDP. 

During his time in Ottawa, Jerry’s MP was the critic for the environment and he worked very closely with many of the national environmental NGOs in creating significant legislation on the environment. While little of this legislation was ever enacted, that work certainly changed the conversation around the environment on a national level. Finding a just transition from a non-renewable to a sustainable basis for our economy was a major focus of their work. 

Jerry sits on the Advisory Committee for Next Up Edmonton, owns a 90-year-old house in Old Strathcona in Edmonton and is a red wine aficionado. 

Teigan is a born and bred Calgarian - but she doesn't view this as limiting! Adventuring and communicating is Teigan's method of discovery, of self and others, and sharing. Currently, you'll find her working as an Executive Assistant in the Office of the Councillors in Calgary City Hall. Her past work experience include natural gas, non-profit, institutional sectors - and their intersections. She's looking for win-win situations in matters of social justice, the environment, and within our larger cultural paradigm. She's been fortunate enough to travel, and even gave it a go living in France. In these experiential circumstances, she gained invaluable learnings that affect how she lives and shares here back in Alberta. 

Teigan brings humour, lightheartedness, and a genuine capacity and interest in working with others. She believes that quality exists in details, in preparedness, and in the ability to encourage people's strengths to foster a collaborative environment. She believes that emotional and rational validation are the true power couple. She believes in the synchronicity of people and experiences - and cannot wait to see what the Climate Leadership Program has in store! 

Julie Wiseman lives in a trailer, but it wasn’t always that way. Born and raised in suburban Calgary, to outdoor enthusiast parents, she eventually crept south to complete a Management Degree from the University of Lethbridge. After spending two weeks post grad, in Corporate downtown Calgary, she fled the prairies for the fluidity of ocean living in a small Vancouver Island community. It was Alberta who taught Julie to love the outdoors, but it was British Columbia who showed her how to make it a lifestyle.   As grateful as Julie is to BC, to her a landscape hits you only as hard as the depth of your memories in that scenery. So Julie happily ran home after five years and doubled down further, by joining the family business.  

Working in Business Development for an oilfield service company, Julie spends her days’ consistently conflicted. She is divided between a professional gratification from economically viable decision-making and a personal awareness that those decisions can effect climate change. The good news is Julie really likes bridges. 

Oh and birds too.