President's Notebook
APEGA
beyond keeping the lights on and the oil coming out of the ground. Two major elections are coming up (not to mention the APEGA election, underway now). It may be too late to run provincially or nationally, but I implore you to participate. Ask the right questions. Support good candidates for good reasons. The public arena needs critical thinking, especially in a world that often looks at ignorance as a virtue and rails against expert opinion. I do not believe one side or the other of the political spectrum has a monopoly on altruism. In our time, intolerance and selfishness are finding purchase on the left and the right. No matter what your own leanings are, you can be better than that. Alberta is often seen as some kind of redneck outpost, and current events, along with our reactions to them, are doing little to change that, especially after they’ve gone through the media filter and been reduced to Facebook memes. I think we need to show the world that we can be pro-pipeline and pro-solar. We can simultaneously support the oilsands of Wood Buffalo and the windfarms of southern Alberta. We can seek solutions without destroying what we already have. REAL-WORLD EXAMPLES An honorary APEGA member many of you will have heard of is Calgary oil entrepreneur Jim Gray, OC, AOE. He’s started something in his city that fits nicely into what I’m talking about, stemming from his Top 7 Over 70 Awards. The Calgary and area awards program sprung from a pair of observations. All kinds of demographic groups, except seniors, are regularly awarded for their successes. At the same time, Mr. Gray noticed an explosion of new ventures among those who have reached or passed traditional retirement age. Wasn’t
it time, he thought, to celebrate and encourage those late-career (or even post-career) successes and new directions? Top 7 Over 70, in partnership with the Calgary Seniors Resource Society, was born. Mr. Gray did not stop there. The next step in this story is InterGen Canada, which unleashes what its website calls “an army of mentors and advisers” on companies that participate in its four-month accelerator program. Who are these mentors and advisers? Retired or soon-to-retire executives, of course. InterGen also holds workshops, roundtables, and meetups—all geared towards connecting that senior and priceless resource I’m been talking about with younger entrepreneurs, their ideas, and their projects. I think we should all keep an eye on InterGen. And those of us in the senior category should look at InterGen as an example of what we can continue doing, when our more traditional careers are over. Here’s something else that ties into what I’m talking about. In 2008, Stanford Medicine in the U.S. founded the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education. The centre, within the Department of Neurosurgery, addresses a need for research into what motivates us to do good things. It’s also about cultivating good as a necessary part of societal and individual development. That’s amazing and encouraging: that being good is being promoted as a separate academic endeavour, worthy of being addressed as a medical matter. If medicine can promote altruism, why can’t we? Why can’t all professions? So I’ll end on that note. I hope that, during my presidency, I’ve managed to encourage you and inspire you. I know many of you have done exactly that for me. Thanks to all those who supported me, shared an idea with me, or shared a story with me. It’s been a great ride. Let’s all start developing our next big idea. And let’s all do our part to build a better world.
LINKS APEGA Foundation
InterGen Canada Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education
Questions or comments? president@apega.ca
6 | PEG SPRING 2019
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