A space to be
exactly who you are.
YYC WILD exists to create a space. One where women who work in and around land development in Calgary can sit down together, talk honestly about the work and the life around it, and leave with people in their corner.
No agenda, no pitch, no performance. Come as you are.
Upcoming events ›Founded by E2 + Associates · In cooperation with YEG WILD · Calgary, Alberta
The industry is demanding. The room shouldn't be.
Land development asks a lot of the people in it, and women in this industry are often the only one at the table. YYC WILD is a standing invitation to put the many hats down for a couple of hours a month and be in good company with people who understand the work without needing it explained.
Community
A group of women across every corner of the industry who show up for each other, month after month. Not a one-off event; a room that keeps meeting.
Connection
Meet new people in the industry, or keep the relationships you already have alive. The conversations are real: the wins, the hard days, and the things you can't say in a project meeting.
Belonging
No judgement and no hierarchy at the table. Whatever your role or how long you've been in the industry, you belong here as you are.
Any role. Any level. Anywhere near land.
YYC WILD is for women who work in and around land development. We define that broadly, because the industry is broad: it takes every one of these roles to get from raw land to a street where families and businesses live.
- Developers
- Builders
- Consultants
- Planners and designers
- Engineers and surveyors
- Contractors
- Financing and lending
- Legal
- Realtors
- Marketing and sales
- Human resources
- Administration of every kind
If you're not sure whether you count, you do. If you know someone who should be here, bring her.
It started with six women and a lunch in Edmonton.
In 2020, Leanne Ure gathered a handful of women from Edmonton's land development industry for lunch at a small Italian restaurant. There was no organization and no plan, just an honest conversation between people who did the same work and rarely got to talk about it.
They kept meeting. The lunches became monthly, the table got longer, and within a year a non-profit society had formed around it: YEG WILD, Edmonton Women in Land Development. Its mission is to give women across the industry opportunities for education, mentorship, networking and advocacy. It still meets every month, and it still bursts at the seams.
YYC WILD is Calgary continuing that momentum, in the same grassroots way: one lunch, then the next.
- 2020
YEG WILD begins as a monthly lunch for women in Edmonton's land development industry, founded by Leanne Ure.
- 2021
A society is formed. After a year of lunches, YEG WILD incorporates as a non-profit with support from across the industry.
- 2026
YYC WILD launches in Calgary, founded by E2 + Associates in cooperation with YEG WILD. First lunch: August 21.
Forty years in, a way to honour where it started.
E2 + Associates was founded in Calgary in 1986 by Kathy Evans. When she retired, Sean Young, who had spent sixteen years with the practice, became its CEO in February 2025.
Taking over a practice built by a woman who helped shape an industry, in the year that practice turned forty, Sean wanted to do something that honoured her legacy in a way that would outlast a plaque or a party. Edmonton had shown what a room of women in land could become. Calgary had nothing like it. So he decided it needed to exist.
The launch of YYC WILD celebrates E2's 40th anniversary and honours the pioneering spirit of our founder. E2 founded it and hosts it; the room belongs to the women in it.
She was there as the industry became an industry.
In 1986, architectural controls in Alberta were applied inconsistently, if at all, and rarely with any understanding of what a developer or builder was actually trying to achieve. Kathy Evans founded KR Evans 2 Design Group on a different idea: if you truly understood the design intent behind a community, controls could protect that vision instead of creating conflict around it.
From that idea she helped pioneer formalized architectural review in Canada, starting with Genstar Development Company and growing across Calgary's new communities through the 1990s and 2000s. She built Seebase in 2003, one of the industry's first digital architectural-controls platforms, and Streetscape in 2011. Communities like Walden carry her fingerprints. Randy Evans later joined as Director and partner, and both remain advisors and ambassadors to the practice today.
Design guidelines should build trust, not friction.
Kathy Evans, Founder, E2 + Associates
- 1986 Founds KR Evans 2 Design Group in Calgary; first partnership with Genstar Development Company.
- 1990s Formalized architectural review expands across Calgary's growth corridors.
- 2003 Launches Seebase, an early digital platform for architectural controls.
- 2007 Supports the approval of Walden and pioneers contemporary design themes in a Calgary community.
- 2010 Co-founds the GingerCane campaign, E2's philanthropic fundraiser.
- 2011 Introduces the Streetscape platform for lot management.
- 2026 E2 marks forty years. YYC WILD launches in her honour.
In Kathy's words
“For years women have been an integral part of the housing and land development industry in Calgary. The establishment of YYC WILD to support, develop and applaud their accomplishments will ensure women continue to lead in this field.”
Kathy Evans
Lunch, every month. That's the whole program.
This is how Edmonton started and it's how Calgary is starting: a standing lunch, the same Friday every month, at a venue that rotates between hosts across the industry. Come once or come every time. Bring someone. Leave when you need to.
The first YYC WILD lunch was August 21, 2026 at the Deane House. The second, in September, was hosted by Brookfield Residential. The list grows every month.
When
Third Friday of every month
11:30 am to 2:00 pm. Arrive when you can, stay as long as you can.
Where
A rotating host venue
A different company across the industry hosts each month. Details come with the calendar invitation.
Who
Women in and around land
Any role, any level, any company. If you're new to the industry, this is a good first room.
YYC WILD · Calgary Women in Land Development
Founded by E2 + Associates
In cooperation with YEG WILD
Questions, or want to be on the lunch list?
abbyy@e2.associates
E2 + Associates, 1043 19 Avenue SE, Calgary, AB T2G 1M1