Published on January 31, 2019
Nolan Crouse, St. Albert’s second-term mayor, owes much of his success to a healthy appetite for knowledge and risk. Take his transition to the big city and NAIT as a 17-year-old farm boy looking for life skills and a technical education.
“I knew nothing about anything,” he says, but eventually an MBA followed his diploma, as well as a lengthy career, split between industrial management, entrepreneurship and coaching hockey. But when politics occurred to him as a way to build on his love of community service, he decided to take another chance on a learning curve.
“I didn’t have any knowledge of politics per se,” Crouse admits, but he had what he needed. “You end up using all the skills you have but … in an entirely different realm.”
Today, he sees the job as a way to make a positive impact – and, judging by his experience, as achievable for others. “People who want to contribute in a broader sense can get involved, make change and build their community.”
— Scott Messenger