Defining Rural Innovation
The rural mindset is often innovative. As we learned in our 2023-2024 Thought Exchange series, rural innovation was highlighted as a major theme across many of our discussions. Finding solutions to problems unique to the rural context has its challenges, but it can be a key strength of rural communities and becomes a crucial skill set to overcome challenges and seize new opportunities.
Building Rural Innovation Ecosystems
As part of our wrap up session for the innovation series, this Thought Exchange will draw from the previous seven sessions and the varied experiences of participants to discuss the best pathways for rural communities to develop and support innovation ecosystems in their communities.
April 16, 2025 - 10 am -12 pm MST
Yuliia Marcinkoski
Yuliia Marcinkoski is a Strategic Growth Executive with over a decade of experience in international business and economic development. She has successfully led initiatives across sectors such as manufacturing, energy, life sciences, defence, aerospace, and agriculture, fostering foreign direct investment for Alberta and market entry strategies.
As a Business Development professional at Invest Alberta, Yuliia was instrumental in attracting high-value, high-impact investments to Alberta. Her role focused on identifying and qualifying potential investors and opportunities aligned with regional growth strategies. As a connector and integrator, Yuliia worked closely with diverse stakeholders, including government agencies and private companies, ensuring seamless collaboration between investors and local communities. Her work in this role contributed to generating new jobs, driving business innovation, and promoting sustainability across sectors.
Jesse Cole
Jesse Cole was born on a farm near Clive, Alberta in 1983. Washing a manure spreader out one day in the winter of 2003, a piece of manure made its way into his mouth and changed his path. He filled out application forms for the U of A that night and ended up with a BSc. In Agricultural Business and an MSc. in Agricultural Economics. That led to a stint in the private sector in herbicide research and eventually to the public sector as the Production Crops Economist at Alberta Agriculture.
He started with AFSC (Agriculture Financial Services Corporation) designing crop insurance products in 2011 and has not looked back. He now leads a team of some of the brightest individuals in the industry who look at where AFSC insurance products and delivery should be in the next ten years as the Manager of Insurance Products and Product Innovation. The current role allows him to exercise creativity and a passion for changing organizational structures and to contribute to the sustainability of the age-old industry of Agriculture.
Resources
The following are resources that you may find useful on the issue of rural food systems
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