Future 40: CBC Manitoba unveils 10 more finalists
From a chef who put Winnipeg on the map by bringing fine dining to a frozen river to a Manitoba researcher making a major splash in plant development -- another 10 rising stars have been revealed.
CBC Manitoba and Metro called on Manitobans to nominate people under 40 making a big impact on their community.
More than 195 nominations came in, and CBC Manitoba is unveiling 10 new finalists a day between Monday and Thursday. Here’s the second set of 10:
Abdikheir Ahmed
Ahmed is a major advocate for newcomers to the province.
He is the former executive director of the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba where he helped support and advocate for newcomers.
Now, he's part of the Social Planning Council's Local Immigration Partnership, which brings together different levels of government to plan and research the best strategies to help newcomers.
He came to Canada as a refugee 10 years ago, and now regularly opens his home to newcomer youth who need extra support or mentorship.
He’s an active member of Winnipeg’s Somalia and Muslim community, and recently got a Citizen’s Appreciation Award from the Winnipeg Police Service for building relationships between the newcomer community and police.
He also helped found Humankind International, an NGO that recently opened the first ever kindergarten for Somali refugees and Kenyan locals in Daadab Refugee Camp in Kenya.
Ahmed also won the United Nations Fellowship as a People of African Descent Fellow at the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva.
Andi Sharma
Sharma helps Manitobans deal with food security issues including getting families get access to culturally appropriate, affordable and healthy foods.
She recently started the process to get her pilot’s license so she could fly food up to the north herself.
She is also an established researcher who works on new funding models for advancing food security.
Sharma will share that work at the World Food System conference in Switzerland later this year.
Finally, she’s a strong advocate for environmental protection and has spent six years volunteering with the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.
Kreesta Doucette
Doucette founded Food Matters Manitoba when she was just 30 years old. The organization was Canada’s first registered charity focused solely on food security.
Doucette has worked in Kenya with women’s farming groups, community farm initiatives and addressing the food needs of people living with HIV.
She also has spent 10 years volunteering in the inner city, growing and harvesting food.
She also launched the Spence Neighbourhood Association’s community garden program in 2001.
Kyler Harper
Harper has spent the last three years at FortWhyte Farms stewarding all of their animals (including 300 chickens, six heritage pigs and 20 rabbits.)
He’s also an ambassador for the organization, teaching students about local food, nutrition and healthy lifestyle choices.
He’s helping lead young people to healthier eating and sustainable living while studying in the University of Manitoba’s faculty of social work and human ecology.
Harper has been involved in a number of initiatives, including a localvore cook off, Habitat for Humanity and bringing farm-to-fork education to inner city kids.
Maggie Henderson
Henderson helped develop a music program for at-risk youth at the Magnus Eliason Recreation Centre that has now helped more than 1,000 students.
She began volunteering at the centre six years ago when she was 19, and applied for grants to start the program that serves students age four to 17.
Now, she’s a full-time music teacher and spends her off-time fundraising, recruiting music teachers, teaching voice and organizing recitals so the students can showcase their talents.
She also volunteers with EcoKids on Campus with her dad, who suffers from a traumatic brain injury. Together they teach young people about brain injuries.
Chris Loewen
Loewen is a venture developer at Protegra and founded the site ourbutterfly.com, an online service that connects youth, volunteers, mentors and donors to see youth ideas developed in the community.
He’s also done a lot of community volunteer work including the CEO Sleep Out, Resource Assistance for Youth’s coldest night of the year campaign and is the director of the C.P. Loewen Family Foundation.
Johnny Fukumoto
Fukumoto founded Fukumoto Fitness in 2009.
The gym uses group workouts to help people get fit, and Fukumoto connects members with local farmers to get free-range chickens and veggie boxes to promote local food and better nutrition.
He has represented Manitoba at fitness events across Canada and the United States including the World’s Toughest Mudder in Las Vegas.
He’s also organized workouts for charity in support of Mood Disorders Association of Manitoba.
Fukumoto has raised thousands of dollars to send Romanian orphans to a healthy summer camp. He has visited three times to help lead the work in Romania.
Dr. Mark Belmonte
Belmonte is a researcher and professor at the University of Manitoba who is working to bolster the province’s agricultural economy.
Belmonte works with next generation molecular and plant laser microdissection techniques and has helped put Manitoba on the world stage when it comes to agricultural research.
He has published 39 publications in academic journals, and teaches in the biological sciences department at the U of M.
Mandel Hitzer
Hitzer co-founded RAW: Almond, a pop-up restaurant on ice that has put Winnipeg on the international stage for its culinary industry.
Chefs from all over the world come to contribute to the pop-up, and Hitzer has used the event as a way to raise money for charity by sleeping in the pop-up restaurant in freezing temperatures.
In 2007, Hitzer opened Deer + Almond in the Exchange District.
Bathelemy Bolivar
Bolivar is a teacher and author with degrees in arts, science, education and business.
He launched the Haitian school Without Borders in 2011 and has authored four books of French poetry.
Bolivar is on the Board of Société Franco-Manitobaine, the Peer Review Committee for Creative Writing (Canada Council of the Arts), Amicale Francophone du Manitoba and Regroupement des Haitiens du Manitoba .
