Wunmi Adekanmbi Hosts Karen McPherson (Board Member - Connector - Leader) on the LIBI Podcast

Thank you for listening to the Leaders, Innovators and Big Ideas podcast, supported by Rainforest Alberta.The podcast that highlights those people who are contributing to and/or supporting the innovation ecosystem in Alberta.

Wunmi Adekanmbi Wunmi Adekanmbi immigrated 10 years ago from Nigeria where she was a post-secondary instructor and researcher, and led a youth empowerment non profit. Wunmi is passionate about people, information and solutions - in that order. She is a strategist and a connector. Her greatest motivation is creating coherent value streams across organizational functional units using a systems thinking approach. She strives to inspire confidence and intentionality in leadership, equip teams to execute from a big picture perspective, and harness community inter-dependencies. Wunmi is the Organizer and host of Immigrant Techies Alberta, a tech enthusiast group for skilled immigrants who are in or are interested in pivoting to tech careers and startups.

Karen McPherson Karen McPherson was born in Edmonton and grew up in the Grande Prairie area of Northern Alberta. After attending the University of Calgary, she raised two children while pursuing a career in technology, working as a Network Manager, Architect and Developer in the Manufacturing sector in Canada, Massachusetts and the United Kingdom as well as a Business Analyst and Business Continuity Consultant in the Oil & Gas sector in Calgary. In 2015, Karen was elected as the MLA for Calgary-McKay-Nose Hill on the NDP ticket. During her time in office, she was a passionate advocate for survivors of sexual abuse and those living in rural areas without stable internet access and co-sponsored the Alberta Investor Tax Credit Bill to encourage more growth in the Alberta Tech Sector, as well as introducing legislation to help get Albertans back to work. She continued this advocacy after briefly sitting as an independent and later joining the Alberta Party in October 2017. Since leaving politics Karen has become certified in Change Management, participated Full Stack Developer program and sits on the Board of a local Not For Profit, as well as continuing to advocate for reliable high-speed rural internet.

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Show Summary

Karen is an advocate for a provincial strategy to ensure all Albertans have access to reliable high speed internet, and the social, educational and economic opportunities that brings to everyone. She talks about about a project she's working on to address the digital divide between rural and urban Alberta

Show Quote:

"High speed internet is like a road infrastructure. A community is disconnected without it."

"Digital divide is not a rural Alberta problem. It is an Alberta problem."

Credits...

This Episode Sponsored By: Community Now! Magazine

Episode Music: Tony Del Degan

Creator & Producer: Al Del Degan

System Engineering Sponsor: Kris Chase - Chase Telecom Inc.