Creating a municipal government work culture by the people, for the people
Age: 37
Job Title: Chief Administrative Officer of Parkland County
When Laura Swain started as a corporate planner at Parkland County, she was new to Edmonton, fresh out of grad school, and had no idea she was on a path that would lead her within five short years to chief administrative officer (CAO). “I was only planning to stay here for a couple of years,” she remembers. “I don’t think I even knew what a CAO was.”
Swain was initially asked to take on the role in 2020, when Parkland County’s previous CAO suddenly went on leave. “He just called me on the weekend,” she says. She started the following Monday.
A self-described “Type B” person, Swain found that leadership came naturally. She loves finding compromises, going with the flow and working closely with people of differing beliefs and ideologies to make a practical, immediate impact in Parkland’s communities.
“In local government you are the closest to the people. I could do something today and it could literally change someone’s life.”
For Swain, making change at the local level starts in her own office, where she leads a team of 300. Her efforts to create a work culture that empowers employees in both their personal and professional lives have paid off: In 2024, Parkland County was recognized for its leadership development, retirement planning, onsite mental-health support and paid internships by being named one of Alberta’s Top 80 Employers, as well as the Chartered Professionals in Human Resources of Alberta Team of the Year.
More than anything, Swain is proud of the freedom and agency her team enjoys. She notes that parents and caregivers — including herself — benefit enormously from the county’s flexible leave and work-from-home policies: “I like to build my team with people I can trust and that I have confidence in, and then I just want to let them do their thing. That’s where I see people thrive.”
This article appears in the November/December 2025 issue of Edify
