LUANA BUSSIERES
LUANA BUSSIERES
Profession: Executive Director, St. Aidan’s Society
Age: 49 • Years in Wood Buffalo: 49
The theme of Luana’s life is that she is blessed to always be surrounded by amazing people who love her, care about her, care about this community, and share her values and passions.
49-year-old Luana Bussieres was born and raised in Fort McMurray. Swimming in the Hangingstone or the Snye, boating on the Clearwater, riding her bike everywhere, and playing outside from morning until night were what contributed to her idyllic life growing up here coupled with being surrounded by family.
She received her Social Work degree from the University of Calgary, and returned to a job with the Government of Alberta as a Child and Youth Counsellor at the Youth Assessment Centre. Within the government Luana worked in different roles, from Child & Youth Worker and Outreach Worker, to Probation Officer, and finally as a Child Welfare Investigator with Children’s Services.
After taking some time off to stay at home with her two boys for a few years, Luana was asked to assist St. Aidan’s with their Foster Care Program. She eventually moved into the Executive Director role, and has been with St. Aidan’s for the past 15 years. Luana has the joy of leading the agency into the area of service delivery for seniors...work that she calls rewarding beyond explanation. She credits the strong troupe of women who work beside her at St. Aidan’s as the reason the agency delivers on outcomes, and gives them the credit for making her look good.
In her free time, Luana is passionate...maybe even obsessed...with slo-pitch. From May to September she can be found at the ball diamonds, and has been the President of the Re/Max-BP Slo-Pitch league for 16 years. Even throughout the events of the wildfire and evacuation, Luana and the Executive were able to ensure there was a season, playoffs and tournaments.
Luana’s passion and dedication to our community, its seniors, and the game of slow-pitch are all reasons she has been named one of YMM’s Top 50 Under 50.
IN HER OWN WORDS: “My grandparents and my parents instilled in my brother and me the importance of giving of yourself and your time to the community because your community is your family.”
