The Top 7 Over 70 Awards is a dream-turned-reality for founder Jim Gray, a renowned Calgarian, oil patch pioneer and philanthropist. Over the years, Jim noticed award programs sprouting up for people in a myriad of demographic groups, except for those who were older in years. At the same time, he seemed to be meeting an increasing number of people who were starting new ventures and initiatives even after they reached traditional retirement age.
The vibrant contributions these people were making to the community seemed to be getting a bit overlooked by society and Jim decided he was going to do something about that. He began dreaming — and talking — about an awards program that would recognize the contributions of community members after age 70.
“I am struck by the dynamic contributions I see Calgary seniors making in every facet of life, adding to the richness of our community,” says Jim. “That’s why I thought it is time to celebrate the unique achievements of seniors by recognizing the Top 7 Over 70.”
Jim and fellow philanthropist Brian Felesky began rounding up a coalition of acquaintances and business professionals to help turn this idea into a solid project. They also partnered with the Calgary Seniors’ Resource Society, an innovative non-profit organization that assists thousands of seniors each year through its numerous programs.
The result was the formation of a volunteer committee that includes Linda McNally, who serves as co-patron with Jim Gray, and Bonnie DuPont and Steve Allan, who serve as co-chairs with Brian Felesky.
The committee held the first Top 7 Over 70 awards gala in 2017 and is now planning the next instalment of this biennial event (occurring every two years) for Oct. 17, 2019. (For details on the gala, please click here.)
Any senior who is over 70 — and lives in Calgary or its surrounding communities — is eligible to be nominated. Ideal nominees are those who have started something different or new, or implemented a new venture or idea, after age 70. The focus of the awards isn’t on past accomplishments or lifetime achievements. Rather, individuals should be nominated for new accomplishments. These achievements may be based or built on previous work or commitments, but they should have a “current” flavour or different twist, or perhaps be occurring in a completely new arena.
Nominees’ accomplishments can be occurring in fields such as: health and recreation; arts and culture; science; business; volunteerism; environment; overcoming adversity; and making a difference. To get more information on these categories and on the nomination process, please see the “nominate” tab on the menu of this website’s homepage or click here.
Another goal of the awards is to promote and encourage achievement of others, in addition to the nominees. To that end, the awards raise funds to initiate programming to foster engagement between seniors and younger people. The exchange of ideas, advice, experience and mentoring is key to this venture, called InterGen — a unique talent development program and matching platform. This helps re-energize our economy by partnering transitioning or retiring individuals with young entrepreneurs, thus creating multigenerational teams that can rapidly scale growth. The founders of four young companies have already been matched with experienced Calgarians, producing positive results in areas including networking, board leadership, financing direction and strategic planning.
Top 7 Over 70 2019 Committees
Executive committee: Jim Gray (founder and patron), Linda McNally (co-patron), Bonnie DuPont (chair), Brian Felesky (past co-chair), Steve Allan (past co-chair), Emily Wuori (event co-ordinator), Elizabeth Carson (gala chair), Cameron McDonald (nominations chair), Monica Zurowski (media and marketing chair), Bev Foy (budget chair), Cheryl Hamelin, Kim McConnell, Mary Rozsa de Coquet (chair of announcement event), and Sandi Gilbert (InterGen.)
Steering committee: Kim McConnell (chair), Ann McCaig, Alice Reimer, Bev Longstaff, Bob Hamilton, Bruce McLennan, Catherine Brownlee, Chris Arthur, David Chalack, Denise Froese, Emma May, Eric Axford, Eva Friesen, George Brookman, Heather Domzal, Lori Paine, Kari Gordon, Krystyna Ng, My-Linh Walker, Nirmala Naidoo, Susan Church, Terry Bullick and Tim Tamashiro.