Kent Bretzlaff, Executive Director
Kent Bretzlaff grew up near the banks of the Kitche Zibi (Ottawa River) on the un-ceded territory of the Anishinabe Algonquin Nation, born to parents of settler origin. After completing a Diploma in Culinary Arts from the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts and a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Guelph, he moved to Yellowknife in 2014.
As a consultant with Golder, Kent specialized in Surface Water Engineering and Contaminated Site Remediation across the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. In 2017, he relocated to Whitehorse. Since then, he has lived on the traditional territories of the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council and the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and has worked as a Contaminated Sites Analyst for the Government of Yukon and a Technical Advisor for the Yukon Water Board.
In 2022, he completed a joint master’s degree in Governance and Entrepreneurship in Northern and Indigenous Areas through The Arctic University of Norway and the University of Saskatchewan. His thesis, completed in partnership with the Carcross/Tagish First Nation, supported treaty negotiations and the development of a land and water governance model rooted in Carcross/Tagish First Nation members’ worldviews, knowledge, and practices.