Max Chan, BA’01

When Max Chan, BA'01, reflects on his years as a University of Calgary student, he doesn't describe himself as someone destined for one of the university's highest alumni honours. 

“I was an unremarkable undergraduate,” he says humbly.  

For Chan, there was no student government involvement, no long list of extracurriculars and no standout academic record. He attended classes, completed his economics degree and graduated, much like thousands of other students before and after him. Looking back, he believes he got exactly what he put into the experience. 

“I didn't have a very good GPA. I didn’t do any extracurriculars,” he says. “I went through the motions.”  

For many graduates, that might have been the end of the story, but, for Chan, it was just the beginning. 

A few years into his career in banking at BMO, he found himself looking back on university with a different perspective. It wasn't that he regretted earning his degree;  he regretted not becoming more involved while he had the chance. Rather than dwelling on it, he decided to reconnect with the university in a different way. In 2004, he volunteered as one of the first mentors in Haskayne's BMO mentorship program. Unsure whether someone only a few years removed from graduation could really make much of a difference. His first mentee, Cindy Luu, BA’06, BComm’06, was just a few years younger than he was. 

“I remember thinking, 'What am I going to tell her?'” Chan says with a laugh.  

The answer revealed itself almost immediately, his mentee wasn't looking for decades of executive wisdom. She wanted to know how to prepare for interviews, what the first year at a large company was really like and how to navigate the uncertainty that comes with starting a career. Those were experiences Chan had recently lived himself, and he realized they were exactly what made his perspective valuable. 

“Holy cow,” he remembers thinking. “I actually have the ability to make a difference.”  

More than two decades later, that first mentoring relationship is still going strong, Luu and Chan remain good friends and Chan remains one of the program's longest-serving mentors. His career has advanced, as well, as he is a member of the Executive Leadership Team and is senior vice-president, operations and engineering for liquids pipelines, at Enbridge.  

The conversations have changed over the years, but the purpose has not. While he enjoys helping students navigate the transition into professional life, he believes the relationships have shaped him just as much. Every new mentee offers a window into a different generation, their aspirations, their challenges and the changing world they are preparing to enter. Staying connected has become one of the ways he continues learning himself.  

Around the same time that he began mentoring in the early 2000s, another opportunity caught his attention. The Westside Recreation Centre was looking for volunteer board members, and Chan decided to put his name forward. At just 25 years old, he found himself sitting around a boardroom table with seasoned community leaders, wondering if he belonged. 

“I had classic imposter syndrome,” he says.  

Within a few years, Chan was elected chair of the board. Leading that organization through a major expansion taught him lessons he still carries today. Working with community partners, donors, all three levels of government and fellow volunteers required a different kind of leadership than he experienced in his professional career. It demanded listening, collaboration and earning trust, rather than relying on authority. 

“I learned more about leadership doing that than I ever did professionally at any stage of my life” he says.  

Looking back, Chan sees those early volunteer experiences as formative. They reinforced something he hadn't fully appreciated as a student: Meaningful leadership doesn't begin with a title. It begins by always being willing to contribute and take on a challenge.  

When his term ended with the Westside board, a friend had reached out and introduced him to Inn From the Cold, an organization that provides shelter for families experiencing homelessness. Chan immediately felt a connection to the compelling mission of the Inn and joined the board. 

“I am really proud of being part of that organization, working through the challenges of operating a shelter during COVID and then helping lead the organization through a transformative time to build an innovative solution for families experiencing homelessness”. 

But nothing could have prepared Chan for his next challenge. In February 2020, a routine medical scan revealed a mass on his kidney. He got a call that asked him to come into the doctor’s office as it was a conversation they wanted to have in person. At the behest of his physician, Max brought his wife along for the life-changing news.  

The diagnosis was kidney cancer. Weeks later, as he prepared for surgery, the world shut down with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recovery became intertwined with lockdowns, uncertainty and the challenge of helping his young family navigate a moment unlike anything they had experienced before. The experience didn't change his commitment to community, but it gave it new urgency. 

“You adopt a (you only live once) mentality pretty fast when you go through something like that,” Chan says. “You really have no idea how much time you've got.”  

As he recovered, Chan was looking for a challenge that would push him physically while giving something back. He found it through the Enbridge Tour Alberta for Cancer. Although he wasn't a road cyclist, he signed up for the event's virtual ride in 2021 and challenged himself to complete an ambitious mountain bike route while raising money for cancer research and care. Sharing his story publicly for the first time, he was overwhelmed by the response from friends, colleagues and members of his professional network. His fundraising quickly grew from a personal challenge into a province-wide commitment that eventually led to his involvement with the Alberta Cancer Foundation. 

Today, as Chair of the Alberta Cancer Foundation's Board of Trustees and executive chair of the Enbridge Tour Alberta for Cancer, Chan has become one of the event's most recognizable champions. Yet the moments that stay with him aren't the fundraising totals (a record-breaking $12.5 million in 2026) or the growing participation numbers (more than 2,300 in 2026). They're the stories shared by patients and families, and the quiet traditions that remind everyone why they're there. Each year before the ride begins, a white bicycle is carried through the crowd in memory of someone lost to cancer. It is a simple ceremony that never fails to bring thousands of riders to silence before they begin pedalling in hope for those still fighting.  

Despite his many leadership roles, Chan is reluctant to define success by titles or accomplishments. He speaks more often about showing up than standing out. People frequently tell him they don't have time to volunteer, an explanation he has heard throughout his career. He understands how busy life can become, but he also believes that community service is an obligation we all have to ensure our communities, where we live and work continue to thrive. He is the first to admit that his own schedule can sometimes be daunting. 

“Finding that balance in life is very difficult to achieve and sustain.” He says “there are never ending competing priorities between your family, career, health, etc. I tend to think of things more as trade offs, sometimes it will be more of one thing and less of another and then vice-versa later. But its not a zero-sum equation,” he says. 

Those trade-offs have allowed him to build a meaningful career, raise a family and devote thousands of hours to organizations that have strengthened communities across Alberta. Asked what he is most proud of, Chan doesn't point to a particular board appointment or fundraising milestone. Instead, he hopes his life demonstrates that professional success and community service are not mutually exclusive. They can grow together. 

Looking back, there is one lesson he wishes he had understood much earlier. 

“No matter where you are in your stage of life, you actually have more to offer than you think,” he says. 

It is advice he would give his younger self, but it also captures the philosophy that has guided his life ever since graduation. From mentoring a student just a few years behind him to leading one of Alberta's largest volunteer fundraising efforts, Chan has never waited until he felt completely ready. He simply kept saying yes to opportunities to serve.  

In doing so, he discovered that lasting impact is rarely built through a single achievement. More often, it grows one relationship, one act of service, and one decision to give back at a time. 

Community Commitment Award

The Community Commitment Award recognizes a graduate who has made outstanding and significant contributions to their community. This award is intended to honour alumni whose service and community contributions are driven by personal commitment rather than professional obligation. Nominees whose impact arises outside of their paid career — through volunteerism, advocacy, mentorship or grassroots leadership — are encouraged.