Donna Coombs-Montrose is the 9th Historian Laureate of the City of Edmonton. She is a History and Community Activist and Advocate. A recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Medal in 2022, she has served as President of the CARIWEST – Western Carnival Development Association for ten years and on the Board from 1999-2017.

She has served as a Founding Member of the Alberta Labour History Institute (ALHI) from 1999/2000 and as a Director for the past seven years. She is a Founding Member of the Caribbean Women Network, an Elder to CCACH (Council of Canadians of African and Caribbean Heritage), an active member of the Congress of Black Women (Edmonton Chapter), WAWT (When African Women Talk) and CURC (Council of Union Retirees) Donna is also contributing to these and several other organizations. She has also served as a juror for many different grant streams and written many anecdotes.

With a passion for storytelling as an essential platform for documenting a community’s history, Donna has recorded with online access, many interviews of community members in labour, culture, health, education, entrepreneurship, in various trades and professional occupations, on the ground of transforming our society. Current projects include Caribbean Oil Workers Contribution to Alberta’s economy, and Jasper Place – The Black Community. Donna is an avid painter, and she plays in the music band iLand. Energized by a visionary agenda and nurtured by a community with high expectations, the coming period will be pivotal in her role as City of Edmonton Historian Laureate, 2024-2026.