Behind the Scenes with the Mentors

In January 2019, YMM Parent Magazine partnered with the General Assembly (GA) of Mayor’s Advisory Council on Youth (MACOY) to launch the Top 20 Under 20 pilot project which stems from YMM Parent’s sister publication Your McMurray Magazine’s Top 50 Under 50.

The inaugural Top 20 Under 20 was selected by MACOY’s GA based on nominations from community ambassadors and faculty within the region’s school districts.

The pilot project’s purpose was to highlight and honour the most influential youth in the Wood Buffalo region and it will continue as an annual listicle. Going forward, the project will have a public call of nominations promoted through the Balsom Communication channels and its partners’ networks.

The behind-the-scenes portion of the project aimed to mentor students of MACOY’s GA by providing them with opportunities to engage with various professionals in the local media, business and entertainment industries.

If you would like to nominate someone for the Top 20 Under 20 – Class of 2020, please send an email to Dawn Booth at dawn@balsom.ca. While the MACOY’s General Assembly selects the nominees, the nominations are all given consideration.

MACOY Members of the General Assembly:

• Saakshi Arvikar
• Kaylun Gomez
• Alisha Goosney
• Brehanna Gour
• Tanisha Kadia
• Devshri Lala
• Aneri Mavani
• Kendra Mercer
• Esther Oguntuase
• Devki Patel
• Heet Shah
• Ved Varshney

Media & Marketing Mentors:

• Dawn Booth – YMM Parent
• Mike Jones – Country 93.3
• Matthew Lorenz – Shaw Spotlight
• Francine Ransome – Foto Source

MACOY Mentors:

• Jamal-e-Fatima Rafat
• Jennifer Kennett
• Nicole Martyn-Dickinson

Thank you to MACOY’s General Assembly for demonstrating and achieving professionalism through each assignment and task. A special thanks to the MACOY leads and volunteers Nicole Martyn-Dickinson, Jennifer Kennett, and Jamal-e-Fatima Rafat, as well as our professional mentors; Dawn Booth of YMM Parent, Matthew Lorenz of Shaw Spotlight, Francine Ransome of Foto Source and Mike Jones of Country 93.3.

Photos: MACOY hosted one of their Interview Sessions for the Top 20 Under 20 at the Fort McMurray International Airport in May 2019. Photos by Dawn Booth

About the author

YMM Parent Team

YMM Parent Team is a collaboration of authors and contributors from in and around Fort McMurray.