Four alumni named among Ottawa’s Forty Under 40

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The Ottawa Chamber of Commerce and Ottawa Business Journal has announced the recipients of their 2017 Forty Under 40 awards, which recognize the city’s business leaders below the age of 40. Alumni Janice Ashworth (BSc’07, MES’12), Gordon Cudney (LLB’07), Emily Gruenwoldt Carkner (MHSA’03) and Caitlin Kealey (BA’00) are among the 40 recipients selected from over 200 applicants for this year’s awards.

Janice Ashworth

Janice Ashworth (BSc’07, MES’12) is general manager of the Ottawa Renewable Energy Co-op (OREC), where she works in business development, project management and financing. Ashworth is also a volunteer with Ecology Ottawa. She earned her Bachelor of Science and Master’s in Environmental Studies degrees at Dalhousie and has since gained 10 years of experience in the renewable energy field. In an interview with Ottawa Business Journal, Ashworth shared advice she would give to the younger ‘her’: “Be patient. Embrace failures. Question defensiveness. Know when to compromise and when not to.”

Gordon Cudney

Schulich School of Law graduate Gordon Cudney (LLB’07) is a partner in Gowling WLG’s Ottawa office. Cudney practices in the firm’s Corporate Commercial Group, focusing on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, secured transactions, and business succession planning. He is an active volunteer, serving on the boards of the Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health and the Beaver Boxing Club. Cudney shared his ‘biggest lesson learned’ in an interview with Ottawa Business Journal: “Always take the meeting, because you never know what will come of it. My best friend, client and mentor came out of a coffee meeting in 2010 that I wanted no part of. You just never know when something special is going to happen.”

Emily Gruenwoldt Carkner

Emily Gruenwoldt Carkner (MHSA’03) is president and CEO of the Canadian Association of Paediatric Health Centres (CAPHC) and a volunteer board member with Arnprior Regional Health. Originally from Ottawa, she headed east to earn her Master of Health Administration at Dalhousie before returning to Ontario. In an interview with Ottawa Business Journal, Gruenwoldt Carkner shared advice she would give the younger version of herself: “Surround yourself with big thinkers – people who build you up, not box you in.”

Caitlin Kealey

Caitlin Kealey (BA’00) is a partner and managing director at MediaStyle, one of Ottawa’s fastest-growing companies. She has over 10 years of experience in journalism and corporate communications and volunteers with Mamawi Together, an organization that works to bring Indigenous awareness education and reconciliation projects to life in Ottawa and beyond. Kealey opened up about ‘what’s left to do’ in an interview with Ottawa Business Journal: “There is so much injustice in Canada that needs to be addressed and I hope to be able to help in as many ways as possible. MediaStyle does important work to create a more equitable country.”

Read more in “Announcing the 2017 Forty Under 40 Recipients” on ottawachamber.ca.

Images: Ottawa Business Journal website