Nov 11, 2024

Towards a Sustainable Future

With a background in international economics, Gabriela Beltran always had the urge to help improve people's quality of life and a policy degree became a tool to find those solutions.

Aug 10, 2024

Amplifying Indigenous voices

Lauren Dahnke's journey towards reconciliation and making space for Indigenous ways of knowing in various aspects of work.

Feb 15, 2024

Gaining a Northern worldview with the GENI Program

For Kent Bretzlaff, the GENI program ticked all the boxes. The ease of online learning meant he could continue living in the North and gain a multidisciplinary skill set in the circumpolar region.

Apr 28, 2023

Integrating empathy into the building blocks of our communities

Spending nearly a decade working with police agencies in the Metro Vancouver region, including as a Crisis Intervention Case Worker that provides psychological first aid, practical assistance, and emotional support to victims and witnesses of crime, this experience provided Aliya Rahiman insights to how a victim or witness of crime may find the criminal justice system challenging to navigate and the types of assistance and resources that are available to lessen the impacts of trauma.

Apr 28, 2023

Fired by twin passions

Susan Shacter is driven by a hunger for knowledge and a desire to advocate for her community.

Apr 25, 2023

From economics to public policy

In many ways, the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy (JSGS) brought Yuzhu (Kyle) Liu to Canada.

Apr 21, 2023

Building a global community in a new country

Moving to a new country to pursue further education poses many challenges, whether that’s academically, adjusting to different norms or just being away from home. Haroon Chaudhry has first-hand experience when it comes to moving away to pursue your education and career.

Apr 3, 2023

From laboratory medicine to public policy: on a mission to improve long-term care quality

Jae Yon Jones spent more than 20 years as a clinical laboratory technologist at a small hospital in Comox. For almost 10 of those years Jones was in charge of the microbiology department, leading her team while continuing to do clinical work. During the planning phase of a new hospital build in the community, Jones began exploring further education.

Sep 13, 2022

Advancing health equity in Saskatchewan

Adel Panahi is currently the Director of Health at Métis Nation-Saskatchewan, the governing body representing the approximately 80,000 Métis people living in the province, where he oversees healthcare project management, community relations, and health policy research.

Sep 13, 2022

Creating value through his work

Kwame Neba is currently the Vice President of Nunavut Operations at the Workers’ Safety & Compensation Commission of the NWT & Nunavut, the government body administering safety and compensation acts and regulations to pre-emptively and responsively protect workers in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

Jan 4, 2021

Mentoring the next generation of public servants

Jeff Bassendowski is currently the Director of the Planning, Reporting and Accountability Branch in the Ministry of Immigration and Career Training with the Government of Saskatchewan (GoS). He has ten years of experience in four different ministries with experience in corporate services, policy, strategic planning, legislation and continuous improvement.

Jun 7, 2016

Helping move public policy forward

When Joe Muldoon stepped onto the stage to accept a Doctor of Philosophy in Public Policy from the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School in June 2015, it was the culmination of a long journey.

Feb 17, 2016

From waste management to a more sustainable future

As manager of Waste Stewardship and Recycling at the Ministry of Environment, Che-Wei Chung, MPA'13, is using skills honed in the Johnson Shoyama Master of Public Administration program to ensure a more sustainable future for the province.

Oct 9, 2015

Exploring his career options

Even as a University of Saskatchewan undergrad, Kristopher Schmaltz, MPP’14, knew he wanted to work in public policy. He wanted to ‘be part of the change’—words many in his generation have adopted as a career mantra. When he graduated with his BA (Political Studies), he looked at the world and saw a lot of issues he cared about—economic empowerment, education, environment, science and technology, social services.

Oct 9, 2015

Finding inspiration from abroad

When it comes to JSGS alumni, Andrea Geisbauer is something of an insider—she’s the manager of the school’s Executive Education unit. It is a position she’s held since 2002, when the unit was still a separate entity known as the Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy (SIPP). It became part of the newly formed Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy (JSGS) in 2008.

Jul 2, 2015

From Halifax to Geneva

Craig Atkinson’s undergraduate degrees in business and economics took him across Canada—his Master of International Trade (MIT) from the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy has taken him around the world.

Jul 2, 2015

A Difference-Maker: Changing how we think about accessibility and inclusion

Jennifer Gabrysh, MPA’13, grew up in Melfort, Saskatchewan an outdoorsy, sports-loving teen. She went on to play varsity soccer at the University of Lethbridge and to teach yoga and pilates while earning a bachelor’s degree at Lakehead University in Ontario. She spent summers studying French immersion in Quebec, tree planting in northern British Columbia and managing a fly-in fishing lodge in northern Manitoba.

Apr 30, 2015

Seeing policy development in action

Laura Willcocks has a distinct advantage in life—she’s not afraid of change. “We moved around a lot when I was growing up, so change isn’t scary for me. I’m not afraid to try something totally new.”

Mar 20, 2015

Sparking innovation for growth

Ata-Ul Munim is fascinated by innovation—not so much the act of innovating, but the development of the innovation policies that play such a crucial role in economic and social growth.

Mar 20, 2015

A career in politics

In 2008, Jeremy Harrison was in the first cohort of students at the newly minted Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy—just what you would expect from someone who had, by the age of 30, obtained an undergraduate degree, a law degree and become the youngest Canadian ever to have been elected to both the House of Commons and a provincial Legislative Assembly.

Dec 16, 2014

Making the most of opportunity

For JSGS alumnus Alyssa Daku, MPA, CIPP, the investment in grad school is paying dividends in an exciting new career path.

Dec 16, 2014

Creating a future she's proud of

Kristin Ward Diaz describes her pre-JSGS work history as a “career jungle gym”—she explored a variety of career paths. Today, the 2012 MPA graduate is thriving as a Community Development Officer with Alberta Culture and Tourism.