Meet your final 2017 Future 40 and Bright Light winners
CBC Saskatchewan is unveiling this year's winners all week on radio, TV and online
The final group of 2017 CBC Future 40 winners includes one woman leading the way in researching solid organ transplants, a woman who is opening up the conversation about death and dying, a man who is changing health care culture and a comic book writers who is highlighting mental health.
From Oct. 23 to Oct. 26, CBC Saskatchewan is announcing 10 Future 40 winners each day. This is the final bunch of Future 40 winners, and two Bright Light winners — teens in Saskatchewan whose accomplishments deserve to be celebrated on their own.
Read about the other Future 40 winners here, here and here.
The winning submissions below were written by nominators.
Elaine Will
Age: 30
Category: Arts, Culture and Entertainment
Elaine Will has been a fixture on the Saskatchewan comic book scene, and through her work, a tireless advocate for improving narratives on mental health.
Her independent graphic novel Look Straight Ahead was a semi-autobiographic account of a young person's harrowing journey through mental illness and the healing power of art. Look Straight Ahead has been hugely influential and helpful to readers all over the world, and garnered Elaine positive coverage in numerous media outlets.
She has also participated in talks, conventions and seminars around the globe in support of her work. Her work has elevated the quality of independent comics publishing in Canada, showcasing topics as diverse as historical subjects, video game culture and CFL football, all with her unique prairie touch. With up and coming artists like Elaine as representative, the Saskatchewan comic book world of the future is in very good hands.
Tenille Campbell
Age: 34
Category: Arts, Culture and Entertainment
Tenille Campbell is a Dene/Métis author and photographer from English River First Nation in Northern Saskatchewan. She is a PhD student at the University of Saskatchewan, focusing on Indigenous literature.
She is the author of #IndianLovePoems, a poetry collection with a gaze upon Indigenous erotica and the humour within.
She is the owner and artist behind Sweetmoon Photography, a successful business that specializes in photographing Indigenous people.
She is also the co-creator of tea&bannock, an online collective blog featuring the photographs and stories of Indigenous self-identifying women photographers through Canada.
Tenille Campbell is also an accomplished speaker, speaking at events and on panels throughout Canada, and is known for her wonderfully refreshing sense of Dene humour. She is humble, generous, and the perfect candidate for the #CBCFuture40!!
Joel Bernbaum
Age: 36
Category: Arts, Culture and Entertainment
Joel Bernbaum is the founder and artistic director of Sum Theatre and creator of Theatre in the Park, a free professional play performed in parks across Saskatoon every summer for the last five years. More than 10,000 individuals have participated in this free community-building event.
He also created and directed the first Theatre in the Pool. Twenty Indigenous and 20 newcomer children received free swimming lessons and then performed alongside professional actors. More than 1,000 individuals came to see the free performance over its three-day run.
Joel has also developed and created many other community-building theatre programs, including Theatre on the Trail (an upcoming free winter outdoor play), the Nutana Winterlude Festival, Playwright in a Shop and The Last Sunday, a monthly free event that presents brand new art reacting to the last month's current events. Thanks to Joel's vision, energy and drive, Saskatoon is becoming a more inclusive place through art.
Joel is also an award-winning playwright whose work has been performed all over Canada and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. His play Home is a Beautiful Word, for which he interviewed 500 individuals on the topic of homelessness, will be presented this spring by Persephone Theatre, accompanied by a community engagement piece encouraging individuals to end homelessness. Joel is an accomplished director and actor and in 2015/2016 was named the Urjo Kareda resident at Tarragon Theatre (a prestigious placement). He is an active member of the Jewish Community and father to an adorable two-year-old.
Neal Kewistep
Age: 36
Category: Teaching and Healthcare
Neal was the first First Nations graduate of the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Saskatchewan, Masters in Public Administration in 2011. He is also the first person of Indigenous ancestry to hold the office of the director in population and public health with the Saskatoon Health Region.
He is a co-founder of the Wicihitowin Aboriginal Engagement conference in Saskatoon community together to work towards Indigenous inclusion in human services and the economy. Neal's leadership has led to increasing the infant and childhood immunization rates to close the gap between the most affluent neighbourhoods and the inner city neighbourhoods, and also addressing safe housing issues in a new way within the scope of the Public Health Act. Thanks to this leadership, we have moved further along in the past five years than ever before in addressing inner city health disparities.
Neal is changing the culture of how this health care team meets client needs, and how we manage public health services in our region.
Neal is also a leader in changing our health care culture through his work with cultural competency. He has a quiet, gentle way of bringing forward difficult conversations that impact First Nations and Metis peoples today in the health care system and beyond. Through this he leads us to reconciliation and definitive action, and supports team work at many levels. He was honoured this year by appearing on the cover of Relevance magazine, a publication targeted towards young people looking for career options.
Holly Mansell
Age: 39
Category: Teaching and Healthcare
Holly is an associate professor at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition (UofS) and was awarded Provost's College Award for Outstanding Teaching in 2016.
Her area of research is solid organ transplant. She has dedicated her focus to lead a team who has developed a video education series for patients, designed to allow transplant patients to tell their stories, pass along what they feel is important in addition to providing clear, interesting explanations about the science of transplant. This is a novel project which promises to improve the education and quality of life of kidney patients in Saskatchewan (and beyond).
Aysha Yaqoob
Age: 21
Category: Community, Social Activism and Volunteerism
Aysha started Pencils of Hope in 2015, right in the middle of her university career. Her organization donates school supplies to students all over Saskatchewan, especially those attending schools on reserves. She uses 100 per cent of the proceeds from her photography business to fund the charity. On top of that, she keeps her students engaged in class and tries to find ways they can enjoy the content.
She is the intern in our class and we collectively think she should be nominated for all her work with reconciliation, her charity, and her leadership in our school community.
In the past, she has also volunteered and planned the Canadian Cancer Society's Relay for Life (when she was only 17) and has volunteered in the community many times. She is a great role model for us as Grade 12 students and for those in the community. Instead of just wishing things would be different, she makes an effort to make them different.
Lisa Greig
Age: 32
Category: Teaching and Healthcare
Lisa is opening up our hearts and minds to allow us to discuss hard topics like death and dying. This conversation allows us to focus on a fruitful life by discussing death. Presenting gatherings such as Death Cafe within the community has helped many in their struggle to openly converse about this topic.
- TedX Saskatoon speaker.
- Prairie Hospice instructor.
- Keynote with Parkinson's conference.
- Teaching death and dying at U of S.
- Has presented multiple Death Cafe events within the community.
Vivek Patawari
Age: 30
Category: Business and Entrepreneurship
Vivek took over the existing business Cafe Noir and flipped it from any regular bistro to the Vegetarian Cafe in 2015.
He then rebranded it to The Karma Conscious Cafe & Eatery with the essence of consciousness not only in food but also in day-to-day dealings.
He took the business to next level by supporting a chosen charity for six months by giving three per cent of the proceeds and also by helping the people in need by having food box, Karma board and the Karma wheel.
The Karma is the only 100 per cent vegetarian cafe in Saskatoon with great vegan and gluten-free options.
Cara-Faye Merasty
Age: 33
Category: Leadership
Cara-Faye Merasty is from Pelican Narrows, Sask., and a member of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation. She is a leader in her community with the following achievements:
- Despite losing her parents at a very young age, she graduated from high school and went on to complete a Bachelor of Indian Social Work Degree in 2005. She obtained her law degree in 2012 and was called to the bar in 2013.
- She completed two international work placements in New Zealand for her social work and law program. In 2005, she completed a four-month work placement working with Maori youth. In 2012, she attended the Intensive Program in Aboriginal Lands, Resources & Governments at Osgoode Hall Law School and completed an eight-week work placement in a Maori organization.
- She has worked for Legal Aid Saskatchewan for three and a half years providing legal services in the North and currently working in Prince Albert, Sask. As a fluent Cree speaker she provides legal advice in her Cree language to the people within her Nation.
- She was a volunteer board member for the Community Initiatives Fund for Saskatchewan for eight years and for the past year has been on the Northern Adjudication Committee. The CIF provides funding support to community-based projects throughout Saskatchewan.
- She has been a volunteer board member for the National Indian Brotherhood Trust for the past year and a half. The trust allocates funds for individuals and groups for education programs aimed at healing, reconciliation, and knowledge building.
Matthew Dunn
Age: 36
Category: Science and Technology
Matthew Dunn is a professional engineer, former athlete, community leader and board member of Saskatchewan Aboriginal Track and Field. He is a proud Dene man from the Athabasca Fort Chipewyan First Nation.
Matt works tirelessly in his roll as Indigenous Peoples Initiatives Co-ordinator at the University of Saskatchewan College of Engineering. His achievements include:
- A masters degree in engineering in 2010, and has made it his life's mission to encourage and support Indigenous peoples to consider and enter the sciences, specifically engineering.
- Chair of Engineers Canada's Equitable Participation in Engineering Committee.
- Is on the APEGS Equity & Diversity Committee and Indigenous sub-committee.
- He has been instrumental in starting a Canadian Indigenous Advisory Council to the American Indian Science and Engineering Society to encourage youth to enter into the sciences and engineering.
- Former recipient of the prestigious Indspire Award for science and technology.
This father of 2 continues to set a great example for his community, his family, and somehow finds time to volunteer and encourage youth to be active in the field of science and engineering and on the playing fields. Matt is quietly doing the work every day for change and is working hard to remove barriers and to inspire future generations to achieve their dreams.
Bright Light Winners
Natalya Shevchuk
It is the passion for her community and the environment that she combines with dance that makes her unique. A Saskatchewan gem!
Natalya Shevchuk, 18, is a graduate of the International Baccalaureate program at the NBCHS. She is an honour roll student with a 96.5 per cent average. Vice-president of the Interact club and a member of the cake decorating club, she was selected/competed at Skills Canada (baking) achieving fourth place in the province.
She studies Ukrainian dance at Svoboda Dancers North Battleford, the Pavlychenko Folklorique Ensemble and has received numerous awards at festivals, including Saskatchewan Youth Dance Ambassador. Mentoring younger dancers, she performs at every function, seniors home and charity fundraiser whenever requested. Presently she is studying at the Institute of Choreography in Kyiv.
She is:
- A national winner in photography in the Get to Know Contest 2013 and 2015, and presenter at the Get to Know youth Unconference in Calgary in 2015.
- An environmentalist working to stop litter and recycle cigarette butts, who participated in Living Green Expo and Gone Wild Expo with her anti-litter campaign. She has given anti-litter presentations to municipal councils and schools lobbying against litter, its harmful effects on animals, and purchased a cigarette butt receptacle and installed it near her high school, recycling the cigarette butts with teracycle community activism.
- The architect of the Battleford's Trade and Education Center Dancers Who Care campaign and has organized three fundraisers, collecting $21,000 for this cause. Her work has inspired so many others to become active, showcase their talents and help cognitively challenged adults in North Battleford.
Harkirat Bhullar
Harkirat, a Grade 11 student, leads the Project Buddy program at Evan Hardy Collegiate. This program has provided nearly 25 young newcomer school students a smooth transition to their new life by providing a supportive environment and, most of all, friendship. He is driven to reciprocate the kind of support he once received as a newcomer, not that long ago. This program was also awarded prestigious SaskTel I am Stronger grant.
In Grade 8, he joined the Autism Speaks Canada Saskatoon Walk planning committee board as the youngest member and founded the first youth talent search for young people with autism and is still an active member. The talent search he initiated is now in its third year and is successful in appreciating the talent of young people with autism.
He was also one of 20 young Canadians selected for a two-week volunteering program in Kenya organized by ME-to-WE, sponsored by Potash Corp.
When not dedicating time to his community, he is busy exploring his passion for science. He is pursuing research on autism diagnosis and machine learning under the guidance of University of Saskatchewan professor.
He was selected as one of seven young Canadians to represent Team Canada at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Los Angeles in May 2017. He has also received Duke of Edinburgh's Do the Duke in the UK international award for his community leadership and involvement in science. As a whole, Harkirat makes a difference in his community through a multitude of ways.