Age: 37
Job Title: Stakeholder Engagement Manager for Western Canada, Janssen
Why She’s Top 40: She’s working hard to make Edmonton – and Alberta as a whole – a safer, healthier place for kids.
If you could change one thing about Edmonton, what would it be? “I want for more people to understand what a gem Edmonton is. People say that Toronto and Vancouver are the amazing cities in Canada, and that’s not true. I think Edmonton is a city with such culture and community and I want everyone to know that.”
A dedicated volunteer since her teenage years growing up in Old Glenora, Carri Boulton has become affectionately known as “Pitbull” among her friends. She gets fired up when it comes to standing up for the little guys – literally, kids – and proudly recalls a recent incident where she calmly confronted a stranger who commented on her four-year-old son’s sparkled hair.
“I thought, ‘Thank you so much on providing me the opportunity to educate my children on gender bias,'” she says.
“I won’t sit by and let people be silenced or the wrong things happen. That’s just who I am. That’s why I’ve been so driven to be involved in our community.”
By day, as western Canada stakeholder engagement manager for Janssen, the pharmaceutical arm of Johnson & Johnson, Boulton works with patient organizations to partner on programs in areas like oncology, diabetes and mental health. She plays a role in health policy across the western provinces, and works to raise awareness on care options.
Before that, though, Boulton worked for the Alberta government’s human services department developing a bullying prevention strategy – a role created because of the tragic school shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado and at W.R. Myers High School in Taber, Alta. Those efforts helped earn her three Premier’s Awards of Excellence – along with her role as a youth advocate, a carryover from her days as a volunteer at Atonement Home.
“It was really eye-opening as a 14-year-old to work with kids who had cigarette burns up and down their bodies. … For someone who I would say grew up quite privileged, it was a lesson.”
Last year, she was a founding member of the organizing committee for the first Ladies on the Green fundraiser, which rallied businesses like spas and restaurants to provide an afternoon of pampering and philanthropy for 100-plus women in support of the Zebra Child Protection Centre.
After about 350 hours of planning, Boulton boasts that the second annual event this past summer doubled numbers from the inaugural year; the event has now raised over $70,000 since its inception.
