As executive director of Fredericton-based Planet Hatch/Accelr8, Sally Ng’s focus is on growing startups into successful companies. But Ng is a globe-trotting dynamo who isn’t always at her desk. As a volunteer facilitator for Startup Weekend, Ng may be found gleaning tips for entrepreneurs at an event in Shanghai or clearing her mind by soaring in her glider over New Brunswick’s wide rivers.

Her work around the world allows Ng to bring international experience and ideas back to her fledgling organization. At Planet Hatch, she works with regional partners to improve resources for entrepreneurs, but as the group is only four months old there is a lot to do and inspiration from elsewhere is welcome. Ng has been a volunteer facilitator for Seattle-based Startup Weekend for the last 18 months and has already worked in nine different cities.

The 54-hour Startup events take place over one weekend and allow people from many backgrounds — from developers to designers — to grow an idea to a point that allows them to act on it. Attendees arrive on a Friday night, some then pitch a cherished idea, and the others vote on the ideas and assemble into teams to further develop them.

 “People come on Friday night who had an idea but didn’t know what to do with it. Later, they do customer validation and work on business plans and prototypes. By Sunday, they’ve had people rallying around them saying, ‘What you’re trying to solve matters.’ The experience makes the startup world contagious.”

Ng admits to sometimes “feeling jealous” of what’s going on in other places, but on the whole she is optimistic about the startup scene in Atlantic Canada and committed to helping it grow.

Ng first became involved with the local scene in 2009 when she was a member of the ChemGreen Innovation Team that won the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation BreakThru Business Plan Competition. “There was no support structure then,” she said. “Now there are new startups popping up, as well as workshops, support systems and organizations. … The scene has completely changed over the last few years. We can hold our own now.

“I’m a proud New Brunswicker and I love Atlantic Canada,” she continued. “I want to help make the region more integrated and help create opportunities for change.”

Her ambitions and heart are laudable, but Ng admits to feeling the stress.

She enjoys the challenges of her new role, but finds it a huge learning curve. “Everything is a blank slate. … There are so many things I want to do.”

Still, her previous experience working with entrepreneur Dan Martell, founder of tech company Clarity, as well as Moncton-based Tech South East, is proving invaluable.

Other experience also helps: Ng has completed the 21Inc Leaders 10-month program and was named an Emerging Leader at the 4Front Atlantic Conference 2012, as well as one of the Top 50 emerging leaders in Atlantic Canada by 21inc in 2010. She is also an alumna of Canada World Youth, Youth Leaders in Action Program.

Ng initially planned to be a commercial pilot and gained her licence from Moncton Flight College, but when she realized that entrepreneurship requires “thinking outside the box,” she decided to study for a bachelor of commerce at Mount Allison University.

These days, flying is for fun. She has flown with the Snowbirds, Canada’s military aerobatics flight demonstration team (as shown in the above photo), and, as a lieutenant with the Canadian Forces reserves, she relaxes by teaching gliding to cadets. She is also a black belt in taekwondo and plays Ultimate Frisbee with a Fredericton group. “I’m the kind of person who needs to join something,” she said with a smile.

These activities help her in her new role. “The startup mindset says you can do whatever you want and you can make it happen. Atlantic Canadians need to understand that mindset because it allows us to control our own development.”