Governance & Board of Directors
Acting President
My name is Dave Robinson and I am Algonquin from the Timiskaming First Nation in North Western Quebec. I am currently attending the Native Indian Teacher Education Program (NITEP) at UBC. During my first year at NITEP, I initiated a carving project with the alternative education program “Take a Hike Vancouver.” The project was a twelve-foot red cedar carving that took two years to complete and was finished in April 2015. I gave the name “Many Beings” to reflect both the animal beings present in the body of the sculpture and the human beings that participated in the sculpture’s development. The youth and I connected as teacher, student and human to human with a common understanding of our purpose together. Our purpose we came to understand was no greater or less than doing our part and doing it well. This project was a great challenge for the students and myself, I watched and worked as the process developed, my faith and the students’ faith were tested, but our efforts were rewarded in completion. Once “Many Beings” was completed it was featured in the Vancouver Sun and will be installed at John Oliver Secondary’s library. I taught the youth to do now what will exist forever. I would like to share how carving “Many Beings” was a physical, emotional, spiritual and intellectual experience that should be available to youth as a choice of action.
Treasurer/Secretary
Maddison (Maddi) Chow is a member of the Métis Nation of British Columbia. She grew up and continues to live on the shared, unceded, traditional territories of the Katzie, Semiahmoo, Kwantlen, and other Coast Salish Peoples. She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Physical Therapy at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in the Fraser Valley cohort. In 2022, she completed a Master’s degree in Experimental Medicine at UBC. Her thesis focused on exploring the wholistic health and wellness of Indigenous peoples living in rural and remote communities across Canada. This research was co-created by Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers and highlighted the resilience, strengths, and aspirations of Indigenous peoples and communities across Canada. Maddi is very passionate about lifelong learning and is looking forward to giving back to my community by advocating for equity in health care settings. Her family plays a huge part of her life, and she feels privileged and honoured to have been raised by such strong and resilient people.
Director at Large
Dano Thorne’s dedication to all levels of sport, as an elite athlete, coach and administrator, has provided him a thorough understanding of the Aboriginal, Canadian, North American, and International sport systems. From beginning to end as the Cowichan 2008 Bid Coordinator and the Community Sport Development Officer he worked diligently at the best ever Cowichan 2008 North American Indigenous Games. During his sport career he has held numerous positions with boards and committees for the wholistic development of aboriginal youth, athletes and coaches; including Coaches Association of B.C. Canada, Athletes Can, NAIG Council, Team BC Chef de Mission, Canadian Parks Recreation Association, Special Olympics North America, First Nations Health Council, The Secretary of State National Working Group and the acclaimed Esteem Team Role Model Program. He has received numerous provincial and national coaching awards and was the first recipient of the National Aboriginal Coach of the Year Award in 1999.
Dano attended the National Coaching Institute in 1994-95. He continues to be head coach of the renowned NIFA Women’s Select team program that competes internationally around the world. Dano is currently preparing the ladies for their upcoming participation at the World Indigenous Games in Brazil September 2015. Dano is the head coach and developed the NIFA Elite youth soccer program where U11, U13, U15 and U19 boys and girls can participate and develop on community-based teams on Vancouver Island, and the teams travelled to Hawaii in August 2014 to compete. Dano’s role as a sport leader is taken seriously with integrity and humility and he is always looking at the best interests of all athletes and coaches across Canada North America. He shares the universal dream with past, present and future aboriginal sport leaders to see our youth athletes participate for Canada and to reach the highest levels of personal choice and commitment. In his role as a successful Team BC Chef De Mission he realized that when the communities are given the opportunity, respect, community spirit, and teamwork it ensures success in programs and sport development. Dano believes that traditional protocol and culture ensure community input and participation. These are keys to starting and building relationships respectfully to work with first nation and aboriginal communities. Dano as a leader has been an advocate for aboriginal sport, from the grassroot to international levels for 20 years and has mentored many aboriginal youth in Canada. Working with the spirit of the people, “dreams can become reality”. Dano is currently working as a sport development facilitator and consultant and is enrolled in the Canadian Sport Centre for the ‘Advanced Coaching Diploma,’ the first aboriginal to attend in Canada. He is tasked to develop and design wholistic development programs for aboriginal youth.
Director at Large
As Chief of the Ermineskin Cree Nation in a second term, and as a former Treaty Six Grand Chief, Randy has led with a plan to advance the tribe toward building strong and healthy relations. He feels that it critical to build healthy relationships with all levels of government. Currently a Ph. D. student in Leadership Studies his goal has been to encourage leaders to see the ‘bigger picture’ and to define what being a leader is. Our responsibility includes thinking ahead for the next seven generations.
As a former competitive athlete, Randy competed in golf, fastball, baseball, football, hockey and track events throughout North America. He was one of the first aboriginal hockey players to play junior and semi-professional hockey from the Maskwacis (Hobbema) area. Since putting sport aside, Randy committed a good portion of his time coaching sports and mentoring the next generation of coaches and athletes. Today, Randy does a lot of public and motivational speaking for youth and others to get involved in sport activities and to also encourage the younger generation to take on leadership roles. More importantly, think and plan for the future.
Currently, Randy advises and mentors other Chiefs with long-term community and business planning. This involves a process of setting up Trust Funds for future generations in areas of Education. He also continues to encourage others to life a health wellness way of life. Both Randy and his wife Fran have built leadership skills into their own children and are proud to see them grow as leaders. They also enjoy travelling and watching their grandchildren compete in their sporting activities. They are both working on building a Legacy program to promote and advocate for athletes.