When she was a city council at Vancouver City Hall, Colleen Hardwick wanted to assemble a team that had academic and professional backgrounds, to lead the city in the direction that she felt it should be going. To her, the key to success is to have a team of people who have the experience and background knowledge that can affect the change that the city needs.

Rebecca Bligh is the party leader of Vote Vancouver, but she is aiming higher – she wants to be mayor of the entire city of Vancouver. “We are the ultimate political startup,” she says of the parallels between starting a political party and business. She saw a need for a centrist party in the city, which was not being filled. With the right team that believes in Vancouver, she is hoping to govern in a way that benefits everyone who has a stake in the city.