28. Kathy Kinloch

President, BCIT

First AppearanceSay “post-secondary education” in Vancouver and people think UBC and SFU. The B.C. Institute of Technology may not get the same recognition, but the B.C. Liberal government’s jobs plan—which helped get them re-elected in 2013—is built around the innovation and resource economies, and LNG in particular. Those sectors need skilled workers, not young people with degrees in art history, English literature, or women’s studies. Which is why Kathy Kinloch’s role as president of BCIT is so important to the future of the city and the province.A former nurse who moved into health care and then into education, she took the reins at BCIT after a stint as president of Vancouver Community College. Her mandate is clear: satisfy what she calls the “insatiable demand” created by the government’s message that we need more people in the economy who have technical skills. To that end, as competition for government funding intensifies, she’s seeking to develop alternative sources of revenue. One approach is to bring educators, businesses, and students together by collaborating with startups in need of applied research. Her success to date became clear in September, when BCIT opened a new campus—its fifth—on Annacis Island.

To see who else made 2015’s Power 50, click here >>