From ICU Nurse to Education Entrepreneur - Calgary - Canada's Entrepreneur

A dedicated community leader, educator, and entrepreneur, Shauna Ockey has spent decades empowering women, youth, and families across Calgary and beyond.

A registered nurse by training — graduating from Mount Royal University in 1985 — she built her early career in the Intensive Care Unit at Alberta Children's Hospital, where her passion for supporting vulnerable individuals took root. That same commitment to service has guided every chapter of her life since.

Recognized as Mrs. Calgary in 1999, she has served in numerous leadership roles across the city's nonprofit and educational landscape, including the Board of Calgary Academy and as Board Chair for the Flourish Foundation, the Flourish Centre, and Tanbridge Academy.

For over two decades, from 1995 to 2017, she served as a Faculty Instructor for the Hal and Barbara Barrington Jones Foundation, where she empowered women through the Be the Best You program — a signature initiative focused on self-esteem and personal development for youth — as well as the A New You program for adults. Locally she taught visual poise and etiquette, through the Patti Falkner Modelling Agency.

Her entrepreneurial spirit led her to found both Tanbridge Academy and Flourish Foundation, enterprises rooted in the belief that all should have access to good education and opportunities for sport.

Shauna is a founding member of the President's Leadership Council at BYU Hawaii and she and her husband Ryan are proud sponsors of the Great Ideas Competition at BYU-Hawaii, an entrepreneurship program cultivating the next generation of innovators. Through the Great Ideas Competition, they have supported community building initiatives in Tuvalu, Ivory Coast, Guatemala, Fiji, Mongolia, Costa Rica, and Papua New Guinea.

Shauna has unwavering belief in the potential of every person. She is a devoted mother of three and a grandmother — a role she considers her greatest privilege.

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