Many of you know me as your public school trustee for the last 11 years, but a few folks have asked about my employment history outside of the school board. I’m very proud of my resume and the incredible opportunities provided to me over the last two decades in Edmonton. I believe if you compare my resume to other candidates, you’ll see I have many unique experiences that help set me apart.
Serving as a Trustee with the Edmonton Public School District is a part-time position. I’ll write more about the immense experience gained in policy governance, leadership and fiscal oversight— direct transferable skills that set me apart from other candidates in this ward.
Even while serving as Board Chair and Vice-Chair, I’ve always held another job. (You can see some of the highlights of my work at the school district at www.michaeljanz.ca/record)
2009 – 2012: Marketing Director, Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues
I worked on promotions, outreach and training for Edmonton’s 155 Community Leagues. I planned city-wide festivals, tradeshows, and countless workshops and training for volunteers. I helped on our live local stategy, neighbourhood planning, collaborated with partners in crime prevention and led a strategy to welcome more young people into the community league movement. It was a great way to get to know incredible volunteers from every single neighbourhood of Edmonton!
2014-2015: Project Manager, Edmonton Queer History Project
I managed a team to create events and a historical exhibition of film and memorabilia for PRIDE 35 at the Art Gallery of Alberta. We conducted and synthesized over 21 interviews with human rights pioneers. We documented their achievements in a mixed media exhibition. This was a fantastic project, giving me the privilege of working with some of the giants of Alberta’s Pride communities.
2015 – Present: Director Communications Mentor Canada / Partnership Engagement Manager Alberta Mentoring Partnership
Formally working for Boys & Girls Clubs Big Brothers Big Sisters of Edmonton and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada, I worked to engage, support and build capacity in youth serving mentoring programs across Edmonton, Alberta, and Canada. I helped provide advice, support, and research to 170+ partner schools and agencies. And we provided extensive marketing and communications programs to promote youth mentorship.
2003-2009: Student Leadership, University of Alberta
I held numerous leadership positions (paid and unpaid) at the U of A from Student Union President, to representative on the Board of Governors and four years as a leader in residence and student housing.
I’ve been very lucky to have such interesting work throughout my career. I always want to do what I can to build up our community. And I hope to be able to do the same as City Councillor for Ward papastew.
City Council recently approved a rezoning across the street from the U of A and it got me thinking about all the underutilized or unused space on the U of A main campus.
The expression I often hear at city hall is “highest and best use of city land” – in other words, land that brings benefit to the community (eg, a park or public space) or land that generates revenue for the city to offset taxes and pay for services (Industrial, commercial, residential in that order)
But what if the University of Alberta could generate revenue and mitigate the housing and climate crisis? The university already has the vehicle: the U of A Properties Trust, an arms length development corporation that pays dividends back into the U of A through innovative developments and land leases.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been meeting with several different organizations, attending meetings, door knocking, and responding to emails about the Old Strathcona Public Realm Strategy.
I wanted to share a bit of what I have been hearing and manage expectations about timelines. You can read and review the full draft plan here: https://www.edmonton.ca/sites/default/files/public-files/Old-Strathcona-Public-Realm-Strategy.pdf?cb=1713376450
Edmontonians are not receiving a fair deal from the provincial government. If the UCP reversed reductions and funded Edmonton fairly, your property taxes could be ~7% lower.
