2026 Laureate Announcement
Kara Angus
Kara Angus turned an entrepreneur’s instinct into a province-wide network of early learning and youth programs.
Kara has spent two decades expanding early learning and youth programming in New Brunswick. She founded Go-Go Group Inc. in 2006, growing it into an organization with 36 licensed childcare centres, plus gymnastics, camps, and special events, serving more than 1,350 children daily.
In 2024, she opened East Coast Leadership Academy in Fredericton, a private school for students in Kindergarten to Grade 7, focused on character, citizenship, and personalized learning. Kara also teaches marketing and entrepreneurship as a part-time instructor at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) and leads Sunset Hill Management.
Her work has been recognized with honours, including the New Brunswick Association of Community Business Development Corporations Woman Entrepreneur of the Year award and the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce Large Business award. She is an alumna of the Wallace McCain Institute’s Entrepreneur Leaders Program (ELP1) and a proud supporter and volunteer with the Chalmers Foundation.
A Junior Achievement alumna, Kara has supported JA New Brunswick for more than 20 years as a Company Program Advisor, local council member, and board member. She lives in Upper Kingsclear with her husband, Greg, and their four daughters, and she enjoys time on her hobby farm and on the Mactaquac Head Pond.
Mike Whittaker
Michael Roy Whittaker has helped shape what Canadians ordered, shared, and remembered.
Raised in Moncton, Mike got an early start in business on a paper route before studying journalism and public relations at Durham College. He began his career in advertising sales at the Times and Transcript, then moved into agency work and restaurant marketing. In 1981, he joined Greco as marketing director, helping grow the business from a small chain into a household name, known for campaigns like “Do You Live in Grecoville,” the 310-3030 jingle, and the “30-minute or free” delivery promise.
As president of Trucorp Investments, Mike helped guide Greco Pizza, Captain Submarine, and Bonté Foods. Alongside his late business partner Bill Hay, he led Bonté Foods and Chris Brothers as their products expanded across Canada, before selling the business in 2020 and retiring.
His leadership earned national recognition, including the Canada’s Best Managed Companies designation. He was also named EY Entrepreneur of the Year Atlantic in the Business-to-Consumer category and is a Top 50 CEO Hall of Fame inductee.
He lives in Moncton with his wife, Cindy, and is the proud father of Zachary and Lindsay Marr.
Andy Zildjan
From Meductic to the world’s biggest stages, Andy Zildjian leads a New Brunswick company with global reach.
Andy has spent his career building SABIAN Cymbals into one of New Brunswick’s best-known global brands. From its Meductic headquarters, SABIAN’s instruments are heard in studios, arenas, and at festivals worldwide.
Andy began working alongside his father, founder Robert Zildjian, when SABIAN launched in the early 1980s. He became president in 2006 and, after his father’s death in 2013, took full responsibility for the company. He has steered SABIAN through shifting technology and global markets while keeping the focus on craftsmanship, customer care, and the skilled people who make every cymbal.
His leadership has been recognized with the Percussive Arts Society President’s Industry Award, Music and Sound Awards for Manufacturer of the Year and Best Cymbals, and induction into the Hall of Heavy Metal History in 2017.
Andy also backs music education in New Brunswick, committing $100,000 to the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra’s Sistema NB program.