Johnathan Drozdowski

Interim Chair of Bear Clan Patrol
Nominated by: Melissa Robinson, Kirstin Witwicki

My name is Johnathan Drozdowski and I am running for the Bear Clan board of directors. I first got involved with Bearclan in October of 2018. I was born and raised in Winnipeg, specifically in the North End, and it is where I still reside today, so I have a good grasp of some of the struggles residents in the area experience. During my youth, my mom and I started to explore our Métis roots after the passing of my great-grandmother. While exploring part of my heritage, I got involved more and more with the community, and even served as Co-Chair of the Defense Aboriginal Advisory Group in Winnipeg, while working with the Department of National Defense. This time was a rewarding experience, as I was able to learn more about my culture, assist in a great cause, and spread awareness of issues facing indigenous people serving our country. To continue supporting the community, I joined the Bear Clan in October of 2018, only a few weeks after coming back from a year-long deployment in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

After joining, I realized that there were several areas where I could start assisting. Within the first month of joining, I set up a donation page through GoFundMe, helping raise a total of $40,366. I have also continually helped both the executive directors, and members of the board with various requirements, including setting up the new Bearclan domain, bearclanpatrol.org, and setting up laptops for community and patrol leader use. I have also helped with getting a charity account set up through the Microsoft non-profit portal to help Directors, Leaders, and Volunteers get access to Bear Clan patrol E-mails, Office applications, and other technology requirements to make their job easier. I have also helped streamline hamper deliveries by working with one of the world’s top providers of delivery optimization software to help plan the most optimized routes for hamper deliveries.

Since joining the board in October 2022, I’ve helped with expanding the technology used by Bear Clan, including Teams for meetings, and setting up internal email accounts for Employees and Directors. I’ve also had the pleasure of taking over as the interim board chair to help Bear Clan continue operations during the month leading up to the AGM. Taking what I’ve learned over the past year as a director, and the last couple of weeks, I’ve noticed a lot of room for improvements regarding policies, along with areas where we can find efficiencies for improvement, and hope to bring these up, and implement them within the next year.

Miigwetch,

Johnathan Drozdowski