For making a succession plan for society

Tim Coates believes that strong leadership is critical to Atlantic Canada’s future, and that effective leaders come from committed communities. The 30-year-old is the executive director of 21inc, a Fredericton-based “action tank” dedicated to inspiring and developing Atlantic Canada’s emerging leaders. “We try to give people the opportunities to become the best leaders in Canada,” says Coates. “Society leaves a lot of development to chance, especially in Atlantic Canada.”

Coates knows the challenges firsthand. After graduating with an economics degree from St. Thomas University in Fredericton in 2003, he spent a year in India evaluating micro-finance projects with the International Development Research Centre and later earned a master’s degree in public policy in advocacy and leadership from the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Mass. In between he took part in a University of New Brunswick initiative called NextNB: 21 Leaders for the 21st Century, learning about the problems facing New Brunswick, including out-migration, economic development, regionalism, and poverty.

With his co-participants, Coates helped found 21inc to develop entrepreneurial leaders, believing this is the most effective and systemic way to tackle these problems. Each year 21 new leaders aged 20 to 35 participate in a 10-month leadership experience, where they attend a series of workshops, network, receive mentors, and take a week-long bus trip to meet leaders in business, the arts, medicine, and other fields.

New Brunswick’s future is meshed with the future of Atlantic Canada, says Coates, who is working to spread 21inc across the region, starting with Nova Scotia. “What’s being created is a hothouse that works to make sure young people are doing the best possible work to pursue their goals,” he says.

Danny Graham, the former Liberal leader of Nova Scotia, says Coates embodies those ideals. “He’s a dynamic, thoughtful innovator who is deeply committed to the future of Atlantic Canada,” he says. “Tim’s view is that we’re able to punch up to the weight of anyone else in North America if we believe in ourselves and harness the best of our skills.”