Advocates, innovators and community builders in 2nd set of Future 40 Manitoba finalists

CBC Manitoba's second round of Future 40 finalists features an expert on refugee resettlement, an app developer, an award-winning architect and seven other Manitoba leaders.

We unveiled the first round of finalists here on Monday, and we'll introduce you to 10 more people each on Wednesday and Thursday. Finalists will also be featured every morning on Information Radio 89.3 FM with Marcy Markusa and each evening on CBC Winnipeg News at 6 p.m. CT.

Now in its second year, Manitoba Future 40 highlights the province's next generation of leaders, builders and change-makers under the age of 40.

Here's your second round of Future 40 finalists:

(Submissions below were provided by nominators.)

Tim Stevenson

Age: 39

Category: Teaching and Health Care

Tim Stevenson, who is from the Peguis First Nation with family in Fox Lake, is a leader in Indigenous cultural facilitation locally and internationally, and he is the Northern Indigenous Program Liaison at Food Matters Manitoba.

Tim works to reclaim Indigenous food activities with 18 northern communities, promoting cultural foods as an important part of a healthy, modern diet and cultural well-being.

Tim has engaged First Nations youth in creating documentaries and researching contaminants in traditional foods. As well, he has developed cross-cultural youth exchanges on food and culture. He has delivered numerous presentations in Manitoba and Australia.

Through research and advocacy, Tim facilitates cross-cultural connections for First Nations health and wellness through education, employment and youth development. Tim finds ways to serve his community through support at cultural events and ceremony, and he facilitates connections across cultures while building awareness and support for local Indigenous issues.

Shauna Labman

Age: 38

Category: Teaching and Health Care

Shauna Labman is an international legal scholar, an expert on refugee resettlement and an advocate for refugee rights.

She has worked for the United Nations in India, the Canadian Embassy in Beijing, clerked at the Federal Court of Appeal and the Nunavut Court of Justice, and pursued her PhD at the University of British Columbia as a Trudeau Scholar.

In September 2013, she returned to her hometown of Winnipeg and joined the University of Manitoba as an assistant professor in the Faculty of Law.

Shauna works to create relationships between academics, students, and community organizations. She co-founded the Migration Law Research Cluster, which brings in monthly speakers to the university. She hosted the Building Connections: Refugee Research and Community Outreach conference and is an organizer of the upcoming Canadian Association for Refugee and Forced Migration Studies conference in Winnipeg.

She is on the board of directors with the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba. Shauna shares her expertise at community events and in the media.

Chris Johnson

Age: 33

Category: Business and Entrepreneurship

Chris Johnson is the president of Permission Click, a Winnipeg startup that strives to save both teachers and parents time and hassle throughout the permission slip process.

Permission Click was named "Most Promising Startup of the Year" by NACO and is featured in Innovation Alley, a documentary that aired last year on CBC Television.

Chris has just recently closed a substantial round of investment with a number of international investors to bring the company to the next level.

Chris is an active member of the startup community. Chris was named Ecosystem builder of the year by StartUp Canada due to his tremendous efforts in growing the startup community in Manitoba as well across Canada.

As co-founder of StartUp Winnipeg, an entrepreneur-led not for profit community supporting scalable technology startups he mentors a number of fellow startups. He is also an advisor with Startup Canada, where he helps connect the Manitoba entrepreneurship community into the international startup scene.

Follow Chris Johnson on Twitter: @TheJohnsonCorp

​Kalynn Spain

Age: 27

Category: Business and Entrepreneurship

​Kalynn Spain is an incredibly important woman in the small farm agricultural circle. She single-handedly developed the Small Farms Manitoba food and product network after visiting 200-plus farms. She has developed networking relationships between farmers, food buyers, chefs, aspiring small farmers, and more.

She has organized conferences, farm tours for urban eaters, developed an outstanding website and Facebook page, and has basically done exceptional marketing for the small farmers in this province who are working hard to get fresh local products to local eaters.

Dené Sinclair

Age: 36

Category: Community, Social Activism and Volunteerism

As manager for global travel trade at Travel Manitoba, Dené Sinclair is the face of Manitoba, telling our stories to the world.

Dené ensures that this rich history and culture is infused in Manitoba's tourism industry, travelling across Europe, Asia, and North America and creating domestic, national and international partnerships with tour operators, travel agents and tourism agencies throughout the world.

Dené is also a committed community builder, volunteering in the Manitoba paddling community, with Manitoba Special Olympics and on the Boards of Manito Ahbee and Kidsport.

Dené was also one of the central organizers of the 2002 North American Indigenous Games in Winnipeg.

Most notably, Dené was a primary organizer in a ceremonial water walk for Lake Winnipeg in the summer of 2014, bringing public awareness to the dire environmental situation of the water in Manitoba.

Follow Dené Sinclair on Twitter: @Denezy

Erin Crampton

Age: 37

Category: Business and Entrepreneurship

Erin has championed the local, sustainable food issue. She started and now — with her husband, Marc DeGagne — own and operate Crampton's Market, a dynamic seasonal food store.

Erin insists on paying farmers fairly for their hard work and excellent local produce. Erin visits every farmer to ensure sustainable, humane and transparent practices.

She is an excellent marketer with daily Facebook updates (i.e. "Raspberries! Rhubarb!") to provide extremely high-quality food to Winnipeg residents.

Erin encourages new ideas and is continually doing research in Canada and the world regarding farming practices. She is passionate about local economy, environmental impact as well as local community and global regeneration.

She employs 25 people and is a wonderful partner for many local farmers and educated eaters. She knows food is medicine, and she provides the best.

​Follow Erin Crampton on Twitter: @Cramptonsmarket

Shania Pruden

Age: 19

Category: Community, Social Activism and Volunteerism

Shania Pruden has been called many things: Youth activist, blogger, poet and a We Day speaker.

In 2014, inspired by her personal experiences, Shania launched her blog to raise awareness of mental health, homelessness, poverty and aboriginal issues. But she just doesn't write about the issues she sees — she also writes about how to take action to solve them.

"For a long time, speaking up on something that I care about was difficult because I would fear that people wouldn't listen," she wrote in a recent post.

"But when I realized that there are other people who care about the same thing as I do, I wasn't scared anymore and when I added my voice to the other young voices, I knew that we were going to change the future."

Regardless of Shania's past, she never lets negativity stop her from helping others. She believes that everyone has a spark and it's their duty to light it and keep it going.

She went from a young child with no goals in life to being one of the inspirational speakers at We Day 2015, speaking to a crowd of more than 16,000 students and educators about the importance of imagining the possibilities.

Follow Shania on Twitter: @Shania_Pruden

Jared Star

Age: 29

Category: Community, Social Activism and Volunteerism

Jared Star, 29, grew up in Manitoba and, like some LGBT2SQ* youth, faced challenges with being bullied, dealing with homelessness, addiction and the criminal justice system.

With proper supports, he worked through his recovery to make a difference in the lives of others through volunteering, getting his high school diploma and later enrolling in the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Social Work.

He currently works at the Rainbow Resource Centre and helps make Manitoba a safer place for LGBT2SQ* youth.

He has been the recipient of several awards, such as the GLBTT Chamber of Commerce student of the year, the Cheryl Cruikshank Memorial Award and the Snowy Owl Monarchist Society Community Development Scholarship for his ongoing commitment to LGBT2SQ* community.

Liane Veness

Age: 39

Category: Arts, Culture and Entertainment

Liane is a registered architect who consistently balances her time between teaching at the University of Manitoba and her Winnipeg-based practice, WORK/SHOP.

Three years ago, she started up WORK/SHOP, a small, local and independent architecture office and fabrication shop that offers a unique approach to creating handmade architecture.

Her work has garnered attention, winning multiple awards such as a Prairie Design award, Prairie Wood Design award and a Commerce Design award.

Recently, her office/shop was featured in an exhibition series called Twenty+Change, NEXT GENERATION, which celebrates innovative Canadian practices that are setting new agendas through built work. The practices featured in the exhibition are also profiled in a book.

Liane's ambition is to continue to challenge how architecture is traditionally practised as well as how it is taught. Through her workshop, she aims to teach the next generation of architects the value of craft through a direct hands-on approach to learning and understanding architecture.

Karlee Sapoznik

Age: 30

Category: Community, Social Activism and Volunteerism

Karlee Sapoznik is a human rights and social justice advocate, teacher, researcher and NGO leader. Karlee raises awareness, conducts ground-breaking research, combats social injustice and fosters healing and reconciliation with respect to the legacies of residential schools and the human trafficking of men, women and children.

Karlee is committed to reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians. She led a research team that informed the final report of Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

As a professor at l'Université de Saint-Boniface, she created the school's first course on residential schools. Karlee and her students organized a roundtable to foster dialogue between Métis, Aboriginal and Francophone leaders and elders in Manitoba.

Karlee's work with regards to forced marriage has informed Canada's national action plan. Her work on sexual exploitation and human trafficking is informing government officials and task forces across Canada as well as Canada's Exploited Persons Act.

She has served as part of reconciliation, anti-slavery, genocide, social justice, development and peace research projects in countries from Israel to Sierra Leone to many others.

Follow Karlee Sapoznik on Twitter: @KarleeSapoznik