What is Calgary On Purpose?

We are a group of Calgarians working to uncover the shared values and ambitions of our community. In so doing, we seek to create a space for constructive conversations about the future of our city. Our mission is to increase transparency, build trust, and facilitate inclusion. We believe that every individual has the opportunity to shape Calgary’s future.

We want to hear from you

We want to hear from you—what is your vision for the future of Calgary? What is your story about Calgary? Tell us in any way you feel, through artwork, poetry, music, writing or a photo, here.

What we heard

We went to Calgarians and asked them questions about their city and their vision for it. Find out what we heard and how it can help shape our city.

Read the report

The People

Jason Grelowski

Jason is a business executive and entrepreneur, with over 20 years’ worth of experience advising and leading organizations. He assists corporations and businesses, in both the private and public sectors, to re-invent and re-position themselves to be stronger and more effective. As a native Albertan and proud Calgarian, he has lived and enjoyed cities across Canada and has developed a strong commitment to his community and the arts.

Jason is a creative thinker and strategist, with an infectious passion and positive outlook. He is committed to Calgary On Purpose’s desire for positive dialogue, supplemented by fact-based policy discussions.

Andrew Ng

Andrew has made a career out of listening to the stories of others as a journalist in Edmonton and Calgary. His favourite stories to cover involved average folks doing amazing things, even more so when those people were youth. There’s a fairly well-known adage in journalism that everyone has a story and Andrew sees Calgary on Purpose as an opportunity to live that adage and discover what Calgarians have to say about their community.

Colin Jackson

Having retired after a career in the performing arts and broadcasting, Colin volunteers in support of education, poverty relief, and community building organizations. He admires the wisdom of First Nations author, Thomas King, who says that "we are the stories we tell."

As a proud Calgarian, Colin wants to be part of revealing, then telling, a story of our city as a place of deep connectivity, remarkable kindness, and selfless compassion.

Brenda Kenny

Brenda brings extensive experience in sustainability, innovation, energy and environment.  Her work and leadership has spanned government, industry, civil society and academia.  For Brenda, the intersections, gaps and “creative collisions” are what matter most in times of crisis and conflict.  Her career has navigated those gaps seeking to connect people and ideas toward innovative solutions and deeper trust.  She sees as crucial the many new ways of engaging and seeing our city and our world, and draws inspiration from thoughtful citizens such as Parker Palmer, understanding “By the tragic gap I mean the gap between the hard realities around us and what we know is possible — not because we wish it were so, but because we’ve seen it with our own eyes.”

Daranne Harris

For Daranne, a commitment to community and the common good is the thread that weaves through her life. After two decades in business, community development, and healthcare, Daranne is currently pursuing her PhD at the University of Calgary. Her research focuses on how experiences of awe and wonder relate to compassion expressed by healthcare providers in long-term care settings. She is the Founder of Catalyzing Compassion, a channel for evidence-informed compassion education and coaching that supports individual and organizational well-being.