Heather Thomson

Heather Thomson is the Executive Director of the Alberta School of Business – Centre for Cities and Communities. As one of the founders of the centre, Heather is mentoring the next generation of business innovators while working with leaders in the business community with an emphasis on education, consulting, academic & applied research and industry outreach.

Heather also works as a consultant with 13 Ways Inc. a Community Development Firm. Heather delivers business and community assessments, and builds community plans that specialize in economic development, local businesses prosperity and beautification. Heather has worked with hundreds of communities and has delivered dozens of keynote presentations across North America.

Prior to her work with the University of Alberta and 13 Ways, Heather worked at lululemon Athletica, ATB Financial and started her career with McDonalds Restaurants. She is passionate about business success and growing the pool of talent to work in this fascinating industry. Heather is a business advocate and strategist.

A few highlights include:

• Employed hundreds of business students who have worked with more than 2500 organizations in the Edmonton region
• Has secured 1.3 million dollars in funding to support the local business community recover from the effects of the pandemic
• Helped create the new Centre for Cities and Communities
• Works with national media networks to deliver consumer behaviour research to the country
• Serves on the Edmonton Business Association and is a past member of the Old Strathcona Business Association Economic Recovery Task Force
• She is working on her master’s in behavioural economics

A forward-thinker in every sense, Heather believes that even the most challenging of situations can be resolved from an angle of compassion, understanding and collaboration. Heather is a proud mom of two boys, an avid snowboarder, and an advocate for gender parity and equity in the workforce — especially for working parents.