10 more 2017 Future 40 winners

From researchers to a nature enthusiast, to local social media stars, this group of CBC Saskatchewan Future 40 winners is making its mark in the province.

From Oct. 23 to 26, CBC Saskatchewan is announcing 10 Future 40 winners each day. With this latest group, a total of 30 winners have been announced so far.

Listen to Saskatoon Morning with Julianne Hazlewood on 94.1 FM in Saskatoon and The Morning Edition with Sheila Coles on 102.5 FM in Regina and 540 AM across the province each morning to hear about a fresh group of winners. Then, tune in to CBC Saskatchewan News with Jill Morgan each evening at 6 p.m. CST for another five winners announced.

The winning submissions below were written by nominators. 

Ashlyn George

Age: 29

Category: Arts, Culture and Entertainment

Ashlyn is a familiar and friendly face around Saskatchewan and a true prairie advocate. A former Saskatchewanderer and current digital content entrepreneur, Ashlyn is continuously reinforcing positive perceptions of Saskatchewan through her talents as a motivational speaker, travel journalist, and landscape and adventure-travel photographer.

Ashlyn channels her infectious energy and warmth into creating written and visual content for readers on her website, The Lost Girl's Guide to Finding the World. She takes tremendous pride in Saskatchewan and has shared this with people around the world during her travels to more than 55 countries and all seven continents.

Ashlyn makes people proud to be from Saskatchewan and she makes them dream big about what they can do and what they can be. She inspires people to get out and explore and learn. There is no greater gift. Having built an online community with nearly 50,000 devoted social media followers and readers, her award-winning work on Saskatchewan has been shared tens of thousands of times. She has been published by notable organizations such as World Nomads, Much Far and Wide, Matador Network, and the Huffington Post as well as profiled by CTV, CBC and Global News.

In 2017, Ashlyn was nominated in the Under 29 category for the YWCA Women of Distinction Awards. She received the Saskatchewan Tourism Travel Media Award for her collection of eight pieces on Saskatchewan and was voted Best Saskatchewan Blog by SaskNOW.ca. As one of the province's most influential millennials, Ashlyn's passion and enthusiasm for celebrating Saskatchewan, its people and its places are truly inspiring.

Shawna Oochoo

Age: 33

Category: Community, Social Activism and Volunteerism

Shawna "Walking Bear Woman" Oochoo is the co-founder and president of White Pony Lodge Inc. a non-profit community based organization with the mission to "create a safe and connected community" with the vision of "cultivating a proud, inclusive, and respected community guided by the spirit of truth and reconciliation through community engagement, partnerships, programs and services."

Shawna currently coordinates programming such as the White Pony Lodge Community Patrol and is also the program coordinator of White Pony Lodge's Youth Street Gang Exit Program. She is also a North Central Community Association board member, Reconciliation Regina's Communications sub-committee member, and is a member of Regina's Gang Prevention Committee.

Shawna is a student at the First Nations University of Canada and is enrolled in the Reconciliation Certificate Program. In addition, Shawna facilitates the "Straight Outta: North Central" presentation which is gang awareness and prevention presentation that focuses on educating and informing communities about how the impacts of residential school and inter-generational trauma contribute to Indigenous youth gang involvement.

Shawna's future goals are to continue to cultivate a deeper understanding of her traditional roots but also to further her education and obtain a degree in aboriginal justice and criminology. Shawna's passion is to empower and encourage young Indigenous men and woman to heal, rise above their trauma and achieve their goals and dreams.

Kylie Kvinlaug

Age: 39

Category: Teaching and Healthcare

Dr Kvinlaug is originally from Prince Albert and attended medical school, and completed a general surgery residency through the University of Saskatchewan. He has been instrumental in bringing new technology to the Saskatoon Health Region, after completing a vascular fellowship at McGill University.

He has modernized our endovascular aneurysm program, expanding the patients we can treat with minimally invasive surgery. He also modernized our vein program, to the point it is the most comprehensive public program in Canada, including radiofrequency vein ablation, and ultrasound guided treatments, allowing less painful, minimally invasive options to treat vein disease.

Dr. Kvinlaug is a dedicated and highly rated assistant professor at the University of Saskatchewan. He is the program director for Surgical Foundations, and overseas the first two years of education for all surgical residents, who have recently been doing very well on national licensing exams.

Tammy Robert

Age: 39

Category: Community, Social Activism and Volunteerism

Tammy writes the Oursask.ca blog, using a mix of investigative journalism, thoughtful research, commentary and biting wit to bring a new perspective on Saskatchewan politics. Through compelling storytelling and a deep understanding of the province, she engages readers who might otherwise not pay attention to the important issues of the day.

She is one of the top three influencers on Twitter in the province, using that medium to spark discussion and debate. The public discourse in Saskatchewan is more lively, more nuanced and more informed due to Tammy's skills as a communicator.

Jared Clarke

Age: 31

Category: Community, Social Activism and Volunteerism

As an elementary school teacher, Jared Clarke shares his passion for birds, nature and science with his Grade 6 and 7 students on a daily basis, instilling in them a love of the outdoors. He works hard to build trusting relationships with his students so that they enjoy coming to school to learn each day.

Outside of his job, Jared volunteers with CJTR, Regina's community radio station, to produce and host a weekly spoken word radio show called The Prairie Naturalist, which covers environmental topics relevant to Saskatchewan. Additionally, each summer, Jared spends hundreds of hours conducting various bird research programs, including a bird banding station, an American Kestrel nest box monitoring program and a Ruby-throated Hummingbird project. He is also a volunteer regional coordinator for the Saskatchewan Breeding Bird Atlas, which is a province-wide, five-year citizen science project.

Jared sits on the Friends of Wascana Marsh board of directors, and is the chair of the Edenwold School Community Council. Lastly, he was selected to attend a Climate Reality Leader Training workshop in Pittsburgh this October, led by Al Gore, where he will learn to inspire and develop positive climate action in Saskatchewan.

Jared, his wife and five-year-old twins live on a farm near Edenwold.

Greg Moore

Age: 32

Category: Business and Entertainment

Greg Moore and his business partner, Justin Reves started Pidgeon Social last year. Having a background in marketing and a passion to help others succeed in business, Greg has been making a huge impact in the Regina business scene.

Apart from being an inspiring entrepreneur, Greg, together with Justin started a Facebook Live show called The Justin and Greg Show. Collaborating with many others in Regina and Saskatchewan, Greg truly is one of the Future 40 in this province. Keep an eye on him.

Justin Reves

Age: 30

Category: Business and Entertainment

Justin Reves and his business partner, Greg Moore started Pidgeon Social last year. Having a background in marketing and a passion to help others succeed in business, Justin has been making a huge impact in the Regina business scene.

Apart from being an inspiring entrepreneur, Justin, together with Greg started a Facebook Live show called The Justin and Greg Show. Collaborating with many others in Regina and Saskatchewan, Justin truly is one of the Future 40 in this province. Keep an eye on him.

Nicole Baldwin

Age: 24

Category: Community, Social Activism and Volunteerism

Nicole is a researcher at the U of S, where she is studying the effects of chemicals on the DNA of amphibians, with the goal of developing better understandings of the effects of chemical toxicity.

Nicole deployed as a member of the crew of HMCS Winnipeg for 10 months in 2015. During this time, she represented NATO on behalf of Canada, working primarily in the Mediterranean Sea. Nicole participated in search and rescue and recovery operations related to refugees who were attempting to reach Europe from North Africa. For her work with NATO, Nicole was awarded two medals by the Canadian Armed Forces.

At the local level, she has represented the RCN in a number of capacities and received the Saskatchewan Scholarship of Honour in 2016. In 2014, she worked as a science ambassador in The Pas and Opaskwayak Cree Nation, and supported teachers in the development of engaging and culturally relevant science activities.

Nicole is a regular volunteer in classrooms around Saskatchewan where she speaks about science and the role of the Armed Forces. Nicole is a volunteer and advocate at Saskatoon Lighthouse and with the MS Society of Canada. Her commitment to the people these organizations support is evident in her words and actions every day.

Amy Smith-Morris

Age: 31

Category: Teaching and Healthcare

Amy dedicates her time helping people with cancer. She obtained a degree in pharmacy and a clinical doctorate with a focus in oncology but her real education in cancer care came when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the age of 30.

But Amy saw her diagnosis as a unique opportunity. She documented her cancer story on social media — live streaming her chemotherapy sessions (over 20,000 views) while answering viewer questions. Highlighted by local and national media (CBC's The World This Weekend), she inspires us to discuss the physical, financial, and emotional impacts of cancer on patients, caregivers, and those working in health care.

Wanting to support to young, female cancer survivors, Amy founded Survivher. Young women diagnosed with cancer have different struggles and concerns and Survivher offers opportunities to connect through an online support group. Frustrated with a lack of detection and treatment advances, Amy initiated a research grant to support Saskatchewan researchers working in cancer care for women.

As a lecturer (College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan), she teaches pharmacy students clinical concepts with examples from her patient story. Amy continues to support various Saskatoon cancer charities: Ovarian Cancer Canada's Walk of Hope, Choc La'Cure, and the Terry Fox Run.

CeCe Baptiste

Age: 38

Category: Leadership

CeCe Baptiste has over 14 years of planning experience in finance, operations and strategy, working with provincial government, crown corporations, and banking institutions.

CeCe was instrumental in championing and establishing Aboriginal Mentorship Program at Saskatchewan Research Council, and provides similar advisory services to other organizations and boards. Her current work focuses on embedding Indigenization in strategic planning.

CeCe sits on numerous boards and committees. Currently she is board chair of the United Way of Saskatoon and area, board director of SaskGaming Corporation, finance committee member for West Wind Aviation and is a founding member and past president of the Saskatoon Aboriginal Professionals Association.

CeCe was nominated for the 2015 YWCA Woman of Distinction award in leadership, received the inaugural 2015 FSIN Strength of Our Women award in business, and in 2017 was named one of 10 University of Saskatchewan Canada 150 Citizens.

CeCe is one of few Indigenous people to hold professional designations with both CPA Canada and the Institute of Corporate Directors. CeCe devotes her energy to building partnerships, believing in the power of communication to break down barriers and advance respect. She provides organizations with presentations on Intergenerational Trauma, drawing on her personal story of overcoming abuse and institutional barriers to achieve her goals. She also participates in public forums and discussions on racism, volunteerism, and empowerment.

CeCe is Cree from Little Pine First Nation, and believes cultural pride is integral in being successful. She instills this in her children by participating in cultural activities.