SAIT Alumni Awards

An excited audience listens to Distinguished Alumna Connie DeSousa at the 2018 SAIT Alumni Awards

Nominations for SAIT's 2019 Alumni Awards are now closed. Winners will be announced September 2019!

SAIT's Alumni Awards celebrate graduates of distinction — trailblazers in industry who invest in their community and continue to support SAIT. Alumni are honoured in two categories: the Distinguished Alumni Award (DA) and the Outstanding Young Alumni Award (OYA). View award criteria below.

Thank you to all who nominated one of our incredible alumni for an Outstanding Young Alumni Award or Distinguished Alumni Award. Follow @SAITAlumni on Twitter for the latest SAIT alumni news.

Distinguished Alumni Award nomination criteria

Established in 1988, the Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes a SAIT graduate who demonstrates: proven leadership skills exceptional achievements in business or industry outstanding contributions to the community a history of support for SAIT Distinguished Alumni

Outstanding Young Alumni Award nomination criteria

Established in 2009, the Outstanding Young Alumni Award recognizes a SAIT graduate who: has graduated from SAIT in the last 10 years and is 35 years or younger has proven leadership skills exhibits exceptional achievements in their field of endeavour demonstrates outstanding contributions to the community Outstanding Young Alumni

2018 Alumni Awards recipients

A radio star, a ballerina butcher and guru of green homebuilding — the three recipients of SAIT's 2018 Alumni Awards share a creative spirit, an innovative streak and a commitment to giving back. Although they all live and work in Alberta, each has made an impact far beyond its borders.

2018 Distinguished Alumni Award

Connie DeSousa

Professional Cooking ′00
Co-owner and co-chef at CHARCUT Roast House, Charbar, Alley Burger and Rooftop Bar @ Simmons

As much as she enjoys being in the kitchen, award-winning chef Connie DeSousa also loves connecting with the people enjoying her food. She makes a habit of spending time at their tables, hearing their stories and sharing stories of her own — including how she earned her nickname "ballerina butcher."

Ryan Scott

Business Administration ′01
President and CEO, Avalon Master Builder; past president, Canadian Home Builders' Association of Alberta; founding member of the CHBA Net Zero Energy Housing Council.

Ryan Scott's entrepreneurial spirit is helping Avalon Master Builder meet growing consumer demand for sustainable homes. As his mid-size company thrives in a competitive industry dominated by larger players, SAIT talks with Scott, who graduated from SAIT's Business Administration program in 2001, about hard lessons, entrepreneurship and the value of keeping it simple.

Jennifer Dalen

Radio, Television and Broadcast News ′12
Program Director, Real Country 95.5 (Red Deer)

Jennifer Dalen's award-winning career in radio started in a statistics class. She remembers "not enjoying" learning about probability — and she remembers starting to think maybe her mom was right. Maybe instead of business school, she should pursue a career in communications. So Dalen switched studies. That was 10 years and almost as many radio stations ago.