Community Board Members

Photograph of Al Bromling

Al Bromling, Board Chair (Grande Prairie)
Contact: abromling@gmail.com

Al Bromling of Grande Prairie has been a member of the PDD Northwest Community Board since August, 2002 and board vice-chair from 2002 to 2004. He has also been the chair of the board's Audit Committee since 2004. Prior to his experience with PDD Northwest, Bromling served as vice-president, academic, at Grande Prairie Regional College, retiring from the position in 2001. He was also a founding member of an association for persons with developmental disabilities in High Prairie and the surrounding area.

The PDD Northwest Region includes the communities of Grande Prairie, Peace River, Slave Lake, High Level and Valleyview.

Photograph of Wil Porat

Wil Porat (Slave Lake)
Contact: wjbporat@snipercom.net

A resident of Slave Lake, Wil Porat has experience operating several businesses, including a jewellery and floral shop, a private counselling service, and a general contracting operation. He worked with the Mental Health Advisory Committee for several years, and most recently served as a board member of the Edmonton Social Planning Council.

Photograph of Carmen Ewing

Carmen Ewing

Carmen Ewing previously owned and operated a retail grocery outlet but her focus has been on her contributions to numerous boards and councils in her community. Carmen is currently the Mayor of the Village of Girouxville, a member of Smokey River Doctor Recruitment & Retention and the Northern Lakes College Community Education Committee. She has served on the Community Health Council, Smokey River Regional Water Commission, Tourism Smokey River Tourism Association and Northern Alberta Development Council, as well as numerous other boards, foundations and commissions since the 1980s. Carmen is well known in her community for her commitment to making it a better place to live.

Photograph of Jane Manning

Jane Manning

Ms. Manning is a Registered Nurse and a board member of the Wapiti Community Dorm Society, that manages the Rotary House emergency shelter in Grande Prairie. She is also a member of the College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta Continuing Competence Committee, Alberta Secretariat for Action on Homelessness and the Seniors Advisory Council for Alberta. Until she retired in 2007, she held the position of Vice-President of Regional Health Services for the Peace Country Health Region.

Photograph of Norma Llewellyn

Norma Llewellyn

Norma Llewellyn has lived in the Peace Region for 31 years. She has been a member of the PDD Northwest Region Community Board since August 2011 and is currently serving her second year on the Citizens Appeal Board. She spends time working and volunteering with seniors and people with developmental disabilities. She volunteers doing crafts at the Accredited Supportive Living Services (ASLS) office in Grimshaw, as well as the Long Term Care Facility in Grimshaw, the Autumn Lodge in Berwyn, and the Friends are Us Ministry in Grimshaw. She also volunteers time helping seniors in their homes and driving them when needed. Norma worked as a Special Needs Assistant for 19 years in the Catholic School System. She also raised 12 foster children over a 19 year period.

Photograph of Dianne Wearden

Dianne Wearden

Dianne Wearden is from Brownvale. She has a background in business and financial planning. Dianne currently works with students who have special needs. She is also a Board Member of the Citizens Appeal Panel for Peace River/High Level. Volunteer work consists of chairing a community club along with library and bingo committees, and auditing books for various non-profit organizations. Dianne enjoys coaching the Allycat’z Skipping Club. Dianne believes, "you get out of your community what you are willing to put in."

Photograph of Lois Johnson

Lois Johnson

Lois Johnson was born and raised in Lacombe, Alberta. She has lived in the northwest for almost twenty years and has resided in Grande Prairie for the past eleven.

Upon achieving a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Alberta and completing post- graduate work in Human Resource Management, she embarked on a career encompassing the financial, newspaper, land use planning, forestry, oil and gas, not for profit and retail sectors. Additionally, Lois operated her own management consulting business for several years and gained valuable experience with the Alberta Government as a Human Resources Consultant in Edmonton.

A lifelong avid reader and a “news junkie”, she has travelled extensively and raised a son and daughter who both graduated from college and continue to live and work in this great province.

Lois is delighted to have the opportunity to be involved in her grandson’s life in Grande Prairie and looks forward to making a worthwhile contribution to the PDD Northwest Region Community Board while continuing to explore her many fields of interest.