It is a true honour to be writing this message to you as the new Community Co-Chair of the Next Gen Committee. For the past two years, I have worked alongside the committee members and volunteers with Next Gen on our different initiatives, and have seen the array of talents and commitment that this team brings to the table. Their creativity, innovative ideas, and desire to contribute to our greater community is inspiring. They have inspired and supported me to step into this role, and for that I am truly grateful. I want to recognize and thank our outgoing Community Co-Chair, Cary Williams, our City Co-Chair, Heather McRae, our Coordinator, Christine Causing, and all of the people who have touched this committee since its inception and helped build it to where it is today. You have enabled us to establish a firm foundation, from where we will take this committee to the next level. We are “growing up” as an organization, and it is exciting to see the transition taking place.

For those that don’t know anything about me, here is my story. I have lived in Alberta all of my life, starting on an organic farm in northern Alberta. I attended my first year of college in Grande Prairie, and then moved to Edmonton to complete a Civil Engineering degree at the U of A. My first job out of university stole me away from Edmonton to Calgary for almost 7 years, where I worked as a structural engineer. I returned to Edmonton in 2008, and have been working for a developer in the commercial/residential industry ever since. I am passionate about community, urban design and construction, sustainability in all aspects of our daily lives, travel, music, and photography. I have always felt a strong desire to contribute to my community and become involved in something bigger than myself. When I first returned to Edmonton, I started searching for ways to become more involved and that’s when I discovered the Next Gen Committee. I was intrigued by the structure, with a combination of community members and employees from the City of Edmonton. I saw the potential of bridging the gap between City Administration, City Council, and the greater Next Gen population in Edmonton, and decided that I wanted to devote my time and efforts to helping make this city a world class community.

The Next Gen Committee and its volunteers have ambitious goals for this next year, goals that I am certain we can achieve with some hard work and support from the greater community. We want to be a hub for connecting people, places, community, and ideas, and a new website will be one of the key tools that will help us get there. We want to build strong partnerships with the community, focus on community engagement and enable next gen’ers in the community to have a voice on the issues important to them. Our upcoming events this year will be focused toward achieving these goals. I look forward to working with the Next Gen Committee, our great group of volunteers, and the greater community to make these things happen and become a success.

I am always available to chat about ideas you might have for the Committee or if you might want to get involved in one of our initiatives. Feel free to drop me a note at f8_shutterbug@hotmail.com, or on twitter: @teganmd

Cheers,
Tegan Martin-Drysdale