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Edify, 2025

Top 40 Under 40

The opening spread, This Is What Our Future Looks Like, the whole class as a grid of faces
The opening spread, This Is What Our Future Looks Like, the whole class as a grid of faces

Ryan Parker photographed eleven of the 40 honourees in Edify’s 2025 Top 40 Under 40, each given a page of their own after the opening spread, This Is What Our Future Looks Like.

The story

This Is What Our Future Looks Like

Top 40 Under 40 is Edify’s yearly class of 40 industry and community leaders, now in its 17th year. The opening essay calls this class largely Millennial, people taking on extreme poverty, the drug poisoning crisis and the strain a growing population puts on affordability.

The eleven here: Dr. Blaire Anderson, transplant surgeon and assistant professor at the University of Alberta; Jade Connors, denturist and founder of Pearl Denture and Implant Centre; Dunia Nur, who co-founded and leads the African Canadian Civic Engagement Council; Laura Swain, chief administrative officer of Parkland County; Angelo Talamayan, MNP’s provincial leader for technology, media and telecommunications; Tracy F. Barry, founder and CEO of Grow Women Leaders; Jaanek Grewal, team lead and clinical pharmacist at Mint Communities; Elise Usunier, chief commercialization officer at Zero Point Cryogenics; Sandra Stabel, CEO and founder of Grey Cube Innovations; Scott Downey, owner of The Butternut Tree and co-owner of The Marc; and Sukhwinder Johal, CEO of Sapphira Developments.

Magazine
Edify
Issue
2025
Ran as
The opening spread, and eleven single pages, one per honouree
Words
Zachary Ayotte, Lizzie Rhys Derksen, Caitlin Hart, Brooklyn Hollinger, Breanna Mroczek, Alyssa Noel, Cory Schachtel, Alana Willerton
Art direction
Kim Larson
Photographs
Ryan Parker

As printed

The cover, and the pages.

  1. 01Edify, 2025

    The opening spread, This Is What Our Future Looks Like, the whole class as a grid of faces
    Dr. Blaire Anderson’s page
    Jade Connors’ page
    Dunia Nur’s page
    Laura Swain’s page
    Angelo Talamayan’s page
    Tracy F. Barry’s page
    Jaanek Grewal’s page
    Elise Usunier’s page
    Sandra Stabel’s page
    Scott Downey’s page
    Sukhwinder Johal’s page

The frames

The photographs, before the type.

  1. 01The photographs

    Dr. Blaire Anderson in a blue suit against teal, hands in her pockets
    Dr. Blaire Anderson, turned, against the same teal
    Jade Connors in a wide-brimmed hat and black lace against violet
    Dunia Nur in a dark floral top against deep red, chin up
    Laura Swain in a dark jumpsuit against blue
    Laura Swain again, lit warmer against the same blue
    Angelo Talamayan in a pale suit at a lilac table, hands folded
    Tracy F. Barry in red against magenta, looking off frame
    Jaanek Grewal in a pale sleeveless top against violet
    Elise Usunier in a mint jacket, seated at a pale green table
    Sandra Stabel in a dark jacket and red top against crimson, a hand on her hip
    Sandra Stabel turned to the light, against the same crimson
    Scott Downey in a navy jacket and patterned shirt against deep blue
    Sukhwinder Johal in a pale green sweatshirt against teal, mid laugh

How it got made

The brief, the room, the frame.

Kim sent a Fast Company photo as her reference, asked for a mix of tight and three-quarter shots, and wanted to know if we could change the light and colour for the second day. The colours came in the moment, from what each person was wearing. I’d bought a couple of new lights for this shoot that run off an app on my phone, so I could colour-pick straight from their clothes, and we played around with it. I photographed my share of the class over two mornings, with Emily Phung on hair and makeup, and came away with six to twelve options for everyone.

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