Born into a farming family just outside of Drumheller, Norma Lang is one of 13 children and she managed to carve out a niche over the course of her lifetime.
Farming wasn’t her path and she branched out into the business world. She earned a bachelor’s of commerce from the University of Calgary in 1996 and moved into magazine work shortly after.
She eventually gave up the magazine lifestyle and found herself working for a web-based company before moving into a City of Calgary business analyst position in 2000.
While working for the City, she realized how different mandates could alter a workplace. When she began, former businessman Al Duerr was mayor and by the time she left, it was a more politically-driven Dave Bronconnier in charge.
“I really saw the impact in terms of providing service to the public,” said Lang, who has lived in Crossfield since 2002. “Being on both sides of being a public servant… definitely provides perspective, but also empathy for what it’s like to be on the receiving end of policy as the worker bee charged with putting policy in action,” she said.
While working at the City, Lang and husband Mark began a family and it was time to move onto something else.
A friend in Crossfield planted the seed that Lang should run as councillor; it didn’t take long to blossom.
“I came out here, intrigued to see the impact the politicians have,” she said. “To me, that was the perfect fit for my life. I like an unconventional lifestyle.”
Lang was successful in her bid to serve and put in two terms for the Town of Crossfield until 2010. Two years ago she had a one-year stint as a community building coordinator with the Golden Hills School Division. For Lang, it was a dream come true.
She used her “healthy budget” to host community events, seeking sponsors and partnerships, helping independent students develop new skills and working with parent councils.
“You can move forward and make something great when you have organic collaboration happening between different services groups and organizations in the community,” she said. “It was amazing how open the schools were to that.”
And now, as a trustee for Rocky View Schools, Lang sees her contribution as two-fold.
“I’m going to add value at the board table and add value at community level,” she said. “It was a lot quicker turn around serving the community. From the perspective of serving the community, I’ve taken sail.”
At Christmastime, Lang was invited to a Hutterite school’s holiday production. Instead of going by herself, she brought along a number of elementary school students from Crossfield and made it a field trip. Months later, she helped Beiseker Community School and W.G. Murdoch get in touch when Beiseker students couldn’t get enough support for ski trips.
“I’ve hit my stride in terms of my ability,” said Lang. “Serving the community and being part of the community is an important part of who I am.”
Being an RVS trustee means Lang is also exposed to a myriad of digital possibilities, something she’s cautiously optimistic about.
“Today, in a Grade 1 classroom, kids are saying ‘can we turn on Skype and Skype with our friends form Massachusetts?’ They’re critically thinking and asking questions,” she said, insisting she’s slightly behind the curve.
“I consciously choose to be right behind the front,” she said. “I need to know it adds value and it’s not just a gimmick.”
Whether it’s digital communities or face-to-face interaction, Lang has a clear message to get the most out of the people you surround yourself with.
“I guess the message is… it doesn’t matter if you are going to be in a community for five years,” she said. “That’s your community, dig in.”
