Living Your Best Encore: Jayne Galanka

What was your previous job/career, and how many years did you dedicate to it? Would you be open to sharing your age?

I’m a young 65-year-old who retired at 62 after a rewarding 43-year career. After earning a Business Administration Diploma, I began my professional journey in the financial and corporate tax sector, where I worked for seven years. During that time, I also volunteered with the Edmonton Police Victim Services Unit—an experience that inspired a career shift into emergency training, planning, and response. This led me to first, Alberta Public Safety Services (now the Alberta Emergency Management Agency) as a Disaster Services Training Officer. I later joined the City of Edmonton as the Emergency Planning Officer and finally to Alberta Environment, where I spent the last 16 years of my career – first as part of the Emergency Response Team, and later as the Business Continuity Officer within the Risk Management team.

What sparked your current journey - whether you’re still working, enjoying retirement, or embracing a “second act? What was the defining moment that led you here?

I chose to retire early, believing that my time would be better spent on meaningful projects and adventures rather than endless meetings.

In retirement, I try to find joy in each day. While I still do some consulting, most of my time is devoted to the things I love—like staying active with my running group, which I joined over 30 years ago, and once a week I participate in Orienteering – which is an outdoor navigation sport using a map and sometimes a compass to find predetermined checkpoints in various locations throughout the city.

About a year ago, I started the Breakfast Club, a monthly gathering of friends and family at local, non-chain cafés where we enjoy coffee, conversation, and the occasional breakfast. I have a sense of curiosity and often seek out local and off-the-beaten-path travel spots.

What is one powerful lesson you learned later in life that you wish you could have whispered to your younger self?

What I’d tell my younger self: Be mindful of how your actions affect others, but don’t let yourself be consumed by what others think of you. And one more thing—most meetings are only about 5% productive.

Please complete this sentence: The thing I value most about where I am in life right now is…

What I value most at this stage of life is my health. I’m quite active and want to continue living that way. Having lost several close relatives far too soon, I carry a deep awareness of how precious good health is. As I move further into my senior years, my greatest hope is to enjoy life with the freedom to move, explore, and live independently.

Jayne Galanka completed her career with over 30 years of experience in emergency planning, response, and business continuity across municipal, provincial, and private sector settings.

For 16 years she served as the Business Continuity Officer for Alberta Environment and Parks, where she led the coordination of responses to more than 85 departmental business disruptions. Among the most challenging events were the 2011 Slave Lake Wildfire, the 2016 Wood Buffalo Wildfire, and the recent Forestry Building fire and staff displacement.

In recognition of her significant contributions to business continuity and emergency management in the province, Jayne was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Medal (Alberta) in January 2023.

You can read more about Jayne and her Breakfast Club here.

Interested in reading other's experiences of Living Their Best Encore? Check them all out here.