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Jen is a data analyst in energy intelligence at Geologic, where she tracks oilsands projects and commodity pricing. She has volunteered at many FIRST Tech Challenge events in Calgary, with Decode being her first full season. Her focus has been on volunteer care and coordination.
Jen’s FIRST journey began when her son Aiden joined a team in junior high. Supporting him quickly turned into helping in the pits, even hand‑feeding him while he repaired robots. After his high‑school team folded, Aiden jumped into volunteering and was welcomed by Calgary Program Delivery Partner Josh, who mentored him into scoring roles. Seeing his enthusiasm, Jen decided to get involved as well.
Her first event was Alberta Provincials last season, where she helped in volunteer care and discovered how much she enjoyed the community. Aiden even admitted she was “not too annoying.” Both volunteered at the 10‑day KDays premier event in Edmonton, which deepened Jen’s appreciation for FIRST and its global impact.
Jen loves supporting students as they discover their skills and passions, and she values the friendships built through volunteering. A favourite memory from this season was encouraging students to try game announcing at league meets, an opportunity that helped many come out of their shells.
Looking ahead, Jen hopes to inspire more parents and adults to volunteer and to create pathways for graduating students who want to stay involved in robotics as adults.
