Katie Davey
Special Advisor for Stakeholder Engagement, Government of New Brunswick
What are you most proud of professionally? And who or why?
For me, being actively and deeply engaged in positive change in my community, city, province, or country is what guides me. I feel so lucky and privileged that I’ve spent my entire professional / adult life being restless for change and contributing to that change in some way. Whether it was in my role as president of the UNB Student Union, or my current role in the Premier’s Office, I’ve got to spend much of my time working to affect positive and progressive change.
What was your greatest stage of growth? What made it a shift for you?
Being elected president of the UNB Student Union in 2015 absolutely kick-started my biggest growth stage. It’s kind of insane to go from being a full-time student to being a full-time president and CEO of a medium sized not-for-profit. Most people don’t realize that at UNB the student union president is a full-time position with a full-time salary and manager of a full-time staff - in hindsight it’s pretty crazy to take on a role like that. But it was such an incredible learning experience that has had tremendous impact on my professional career.
What's your favourite or most read book or podcast? Now or at each of your greatest stages of growth?
I’m currently really into non-fiction and autobiographies (which sometimes bothers my #bookclub) and have been for a few years now; however, I always appreciate a good fiction. I’m also a big fan and promoter of podcasts - I currently really love The Minimalists, The West Wing Weekly, and the CBC Pollcast.
What's your deepest learning from this past year? how did/will you apply it?
I don’t think my biggest learning this year comes from a particular event or skill, but I really feel like this year I learned how important it is to believe in yourself and your skills and that if you work hard and deliver, people will notice. We hear about both millennials and women suffering from “imposter syndrome,” I can tell you that I have definitely had to work hard to cope with that over the last few years.
Who's inspired you, directly or indirectly? How have they inspired you?
People working their tails of to make positive change in their communities will never stop inspiring me. Barack Obama once talked about “a more perfect union” and that really speaks to me. I wholeheartedly believe that step-by-step people can make their world a better place and I love hearing about the people fighting those fights everyday.
What motivated you to make the choices you've made? / What are the principles you live by?
I think in 2015 (maybe 2014?) my new year’s resolution was “Be Bold.” I coupled that with a bit of a ‘say yes’ mantra and let myself be guided by those two factors and the law of attraction seemed to work. I realized that the worst thing that can happen is that somebody will say no, but the reality is, by not initially saying yes or jumping into a decision or an opportunity, you’re saying no to yourself. I definitely encountered my fair share of ‘no’s’ over the past few years, but shockingly enough I realized somebody else’s ‘no’ is much better than my ‘what if’s.’
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Feminist, Activist, New Brunswicker, Politico, Changemaker, Community Engagement, Progressive Policy Lover
