Jonathan Dewar, PhD

Jonathan Dewar, PhD, has spent most of his career directing research and knowledge translation initiatives for national Indigenous-led organizations. During that time, his work has focused on governance; strategic planning; health and wellbeing; research; ethics; data sovereignty; and truth, healing, and reconciliation and he is a sought-after speaker and advisor on these topics.

Jonathan previously served as the Director General and Vice President, Collections, Research, Exhibitions, and Repatriation at the Canadian Museum of History; Director of the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre and Special Advisor to the President at Algoma University; and Director of Research at the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, among other leadership roles.

He also serves in many volunteer capacities, including as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the Queensway Carleton Hospital and a member of the Board of Governors for Trent University. He has served on many expert advisory bodies, including the Expert Advisory Group on the pan-Canadian Health Data Strategy and Mila/CIFAR’s Indigenous AI Advisory Circle, and serves as a member of the National Killam Program Selection Committee and as a Mentor with Action Canada.

In 2025, he was appointed to the inaugural Board of Directors of the National Council for Reconciliation and currently serves as Vice Chair of the board and Chair of its Governance Committee.

Jonathan received a doctorate from the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies at Carleton University, where his studies focused on truth and reconciliation, and he holds an appointment as Adjunct Research Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology.

Born and raised in the unceded and unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation (Ottawa), Jonathan is a member of the Wendat Nation.