About Janelle
Living and Working
in Chestermere
Volunteerism
Janelle moved to Chestermere with her family in 2014. In 2014 she was appointed by City Council to the Streetscape Committee, where she served for four years, including two years as the committee’s first Treasurer. In 2016 Janelle was referred to the Chestermere Library Board, where she was again appointed by City Council as a Board Trustee. There, Janelle served as a Trustee, Vice-Chair and ultimately Chair of the Board for a total of 4.5 years. She had the honour and misfortune of being Chair when the Library had to conduct its first shutdown due to COVID-19.
Janelle’s local volunteer experience also includes 3.5 years on the Board of the CRCA (as member and Treasurer of the Board), 5 years coordinating volunteers for the Rocky View Chestermere Agricultural Society, membership with the Rotary Club of Chestermere, 100 Women Who Care – Chestermere, Chestermere Fine Art Guild and Chestermere Historical Foundation as well as countless other events, casinos and fundraisers.
These experiences have afforded Janelle a personal understanding of how the City of Chestermere and Province of Alberta operate, as well as a decade of experience in policy design, policy implementation, financial stewardship for public bodies and other essential governance skills.
Janelle currently sits on the following Boards and committees:
City of Chestermere:
Mayor’s Task Force for Recreation
Chestermere Municipal Heritage Committee
Other Boards and Committees:
Alberta Municipalities, Director – Cities up to 500,000 (provincial advocacy association)
Chestermere and Area Pride Society (local society)
Rocky View Chestermere Agricultural Society (Event Volunteer Coordinator)
Community Futures Wild Rose (economic development nonprofit)
Past Boards & Committees:
Airport Community Consultative Committee (regional collaborative)
City of Chestermere Library Board
Chestermere Regional Community Association
Chestermere Streetscape Committee
Sustainability & Environment Committee (Alberta Municipalities, provincial group)
Grant Adjudication Committee (City)
Working Locally
In 2021 Janelle campaigned for a seat on Chestermere’s City Council and was first runner up.
In 2023 Janelle and her husband opened a business called The Sandbox – a board game lounge located inside the Chestermere Recreation Center. The Sandbox served the community as a hub for curlers, hockey families and other athletes while also running low cost and free programs for kids, teens and adults, a vibrant community who play and grow together. Rising space costs forced the Sandbox to wind down as a business in 2025, but it continues to run as a club for weekly, all-ages TTRPG meetups.
In 2024 Janelle campaigned for City Council a second time and won. She was successfully re-elected in the 2025 regular municipal election. She has been a relentless advocate for community spaces and recreation, smarter growth, economic development and more.
Executive Experience
Janelle is a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) whose career began in the for-profit sector. Her grit, energy and relationship building skills afforded her the opportunity to design, pitch, win and manage tens of millions of dollars in projects since 2014. These included notable projects with Alberta Health Services, Calgary Public Libraries (new Central Library), ATCO Park and others.
Janelle’s shift to fundraising in 2021 reflected her interest in deepening her service to the public. From 2021 to 2023 she managed a $9M fundraising program that serves millions of people in over 100 different countries. In anticipation of being elected to Chestermere City Council, Janelle left full-time fundraising in 2023 in favour of consulting and has since supported not-for-profit clients in the food security/food bank, animal rescue, mental health and related sectors.
As of Spring 2025, Janelle has accepted a part-time, permanent contract as the Executive Director of the Canada WaterPortal Society, an open-source data repository that believes an educated public makes better decisions.
Education
Janelle graduated from the University of Calgary’s Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics with a 3.8 GPA. With an invitation to the school’s Scholar’s Academy, winning several awards and bursaries, and a spot on the Dean’s list two years in a row, Janelle graduated with the prestigious “with distinction” descriptor. During this time, Janelle also had opportunity to work extensively with Indigenous elders to study the sound systems of the Blackfoot language. She also completed a minor in Communications Studies, focusing on journalism ethics, with two years of education through the Haskayne School of Business.
