Energy, optimism and gratitude: 2026 honorary Bachelor of Technology in Management recipient Catherine Vu

Catherine Vu didn’t succeed in business and community building by refusing to take “no” for an answer. She succeeded by not taking “no” personally.

In the late-1990s, Vu started building an IT firm in Edmonton. She’d previously earned an accounting degree and a job at another tech business. The boss essentially let her run it, inadvertently preparing her to light out on her own with one of the salespeople. That person taught her how to cold call.

Armed with the Yellow Pages, Vu would make 20 calls an hour. “It's like a law of averages,” she says. “Maybe after 15 ‘no's, you get a yes.” She’d follow up regularly with each new contact, eventually turning them into clients.“I just talked to them and learned about their life,” Vu says.

More than two decades later, that approach has her solely at the head of Pro-Active IT Management. She makes her living in technology solutions but is arguably more interested in the relationships underlying them. It’s habitual, a product of Vu’s passion for understanding and helping others.

In a way, she’s still cold calling to this day – constantly reaching out to others in support of causes she holds dear in her tireless quest to build community.

“My philosophy is that if you don't ask, the answer is always no,” Vu says. “But if you ask, you'll be pleasantly surprised a lot of time.”

Being the change

Vu does more than just asks; she acts. Among her favourite quotes is one derived from the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi: “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

“I know that it has to start with me,” she says.

That has involved pushing herself beyond her comfort zone, which once was more than 30 storeys up.

In the late 2000s, despite her fear of heights, Vu rappelled down a downtown Edmonton hotel for an annual fundraiser for Easter Seals Canada. The organization supports those with developmental disabilities, a cause close to Vu’s heart; her brother Daniel, whom she adores, is a person with Down syndrome.

She did it four times. In the second year, “the wind kept blowing so I couldn't get traction on the wall,” Vu says. At first, she panicked. “And then I realized that I have no control over this, so I might as well just enjoy it. And once I let that go, it blew me [across the wall] and I knew I was going to come back.”

That resilience, and optimism, may have roots in her immigration experience. While the family ultimately made it Canada in 1981, their first attempt to leave Vietnam was harrowing. After trying to escape, Vu, her siblings and mother were captured by communist forces and returned to a camp in Vietnam that was far from home.

When they were eventually released, they had no money or transportation. As they made their way through the country, Vu’s mother begged for help and food from villagers.

“People were poor but they had no problem helping us,” she says.

Looking back, Vu sees that as evidence that you don’t need to be well off to give. It continues to give her hope and optimism, enabling her to see her adopted city in a similar light, as a place where helping happens naturally and easily.

“What I love about Edmonton is how community-focused we are,” says Vu. “If you need help, all you have to do is [ask].”

Combined with her energy and enthusiasm, the city and the network Vu has formed in it enables her to support myriad other charities and organizations, no climbing rope required.

Also dedicated to fitness, Vu has raised tens of thousands of dollars through fun runs held to help those with cancer. She has supported people with developmental disabilities as a board member with the Winnifred Stewart Association, and served on the Stollery Women’s Network committee to help advance care for children.

More recently, Vu chaired 1000 Women, a women-led philanthropic movement that has raised several million dollars to remove barriers for women pursuing STEM education at Norquest College. Before that, she advanced her own efforts to support diversity and inclusion by creating the VU Impact Fund to help people with disabilities, children and women.

“Rather than taking from the community, [Vu] invests,” says Sean Price, who has worked with her in his capacity as chief development officer at the University Hospital Foundation. “She has a natural energy to make time for so many.”

An influence beyond business

Of all that Vu has to offer, that energy is among her greatest – and seemingly limitless – assets.

"If you need me to give you my energy, I can do that because it doesn't drain me.” Vu will just replenish it, she adds, during her next workout.

Since 2013, she has also channelled that power into the University of Alberta’s ThresholdImpact Venture Mentoring Service. The program matches applicants with teams of mentors, Vu among them, and welcomes participants from all walks of life and business. 

When Vu was asked to join, she joked that she’d rather be a mentee. Had he been there at the time, Dennis Sheppard may have laughed at the idea, knowing her success and impact.

“Catherine is a trailblazer in Alberta’s technology sector and a passionate advocate for entrepreneurship and innovation,” says the dean of the JR Shaw School of Business. Noting that “her influence extends far beyond her business achievements,” Sheppard would likely also acknowledge her uniqueness among business mentors.

Year-over-year growth isn’t the metric by which Vu measures her success. Though Pro-Active has the capacity to grow, she’s fine with its size; it meets her clients’ needs, and hers too. “My business feeds my life in terms of giving me balance for all the volunteering that I do.”

Given her ongoing impact, upsetting that balance could mean compromising on the contribution she makes to the communities she serves. Vu has plenty of energy to do much more. She knows she’ll encounter “no”s along the way, but a few “yes”s will always be enough for her to make a difference.