Ashley Makey

She is the Communications Coordinator for the Multicultural Association of Wood Buffalo, and is an avid volunteer in the theatre and arts community. YMM: What is the most rewarding part of your career? AM: Meeting people from all different walks of life and hearing their stories, as well as working for an organization that helps people feel welcome and included in the community. It is very rewarding to hear when people stay in town because of the support, connections, and representation they have in the community! YMM: Tell us about your volunteer experience in the community. AM: I volunteer in the theatre and arts community, through performances, running workshops, as well as volunteering my time in cultural groups. I am on the Swamp Rat Experience Executive Committee, as well as the Canadian Mental Health Association Board of Directors. I sit on the ADFA North Zone Engagement Committee, Arts Council Wood Buffalo’s Inclusion, Equity and Diversity Committee and Alberta Health Services Health Advisory Committee (Wood Buffalo region). YMM: What do you consider to be the best things about our community? AM: Fort McMurray has a nice small-town feel that you don’t get in metropolitan centers like Edmonton or Calgary. And yet even with that feeling, there is still access to many resources. The theatre and arts scene has skyrocketed since I moved away and then back in 2008-2018, which was one of the reasons I went to the greater Edmonton area. Seeing how much it has thrived, along with seeing extracurricular places like the Uptown and Downtown Alley and an updated cinema has created a very comfortable place to stay in town – I don’t feel the need to go to the city as much as I used to because of it all since everything I love to do is right here. YMM: In what areas do you feel Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo could improve? AM: Personally, I believe that the downtown area needs to be improved. It’s heartbreaking as I was a downtown kid growing up here to see all of the empty buildings around town. I know efforts are being made, such as with the Kiyām Community Park and the work that has been done along the river valley – I remember when all that was trees! – but with the amount of unused, empty spaces, I feel like we could bring so much more life and opportunity to the downtown areas. YMM: What is the best advice that you ever received? AM: “Trust the process” – I was told this regarding my art, but honestly it can work into so many facets of life. A masterpiece of any kind always goes through what some may consider “an ugly phase” but if you keep working at it, even if you feel like it’s not what you want, you’d be surprised at how well things turn out in the end. Trust the process, keep working at it, and you’ll find something beautiful in the end. And it’s something I remind myself of when I go through some rocky moments in my life, career, art, and more, and has helped me through nearly every time. YMM: Who is your hero, and why? AM: This answer stems back to whenever I got this question as a kid in elementary school, and it has never changed. My Grandpa Freimark. For as long as I remember he has been the most supportive, caring, and loving person in my life. I have never seen him irrationally mad at anyone or anything – he has the patience of a saint and is a big reason I have been able to build self-confidence as a person. He’s taught me what true compassion and loyalty are, and that it’s sometimes okay to laugh at yourself and be a goofball – cause life is too short to worry about everything.