RRU Alum’s work supports Afghan and Ukrainian Refugees

Learn more about the Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies program.

Jon Feltham, Master of Arts Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies (MAIS) graduate, is currently incorporating what he learned from Royal Roads University and his military background into his work supporting Afghan and Ukrainian refugees.  

“Royal Roads had a deep impact on who I am today,” Feltham says. He served in with the Canadian Forces for 25 years with Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. He now serves as the Executive Director of Aman Lara, a non-profit dedicated to the evacuation of eligible at-risk people from nations in crises to safe resettlement jurisdictions. 

In 2015 Feltham was notified by the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) that he was being medically released, “I wasn’t too happy about it.” Feltham hadn’t been notified through the typical medical release process – soldiers usually have a year to two years of advance notice, Feltham had six months.  

“At the time, I didn't have any education. I had literally joined the military at the age of 17. I had finished grade 10, I think I was partway through grade 11… I didn't even have a high school diploma. I went into panic mode thinking ‘what am I going to do to be able to support my wife and my two young daughters?’”  

Fortunately, Feltham was well-liked, and senior management offered him a three-year contract - creating a job for him - helping the CAF in supporting veterans facing medical release to make sure what happened to him didn’t happen to others. 

Over the three years, Feltham worked on contract, he also pursued education upgrades. He was able to get a high-school diploma from his original high-school in Pembroke, Ontario, a Certificate in Project Management from the University of British Columbia and a Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety from the University of New Brunswick.  

He didn’t feel satisfied.  

“I was kind of second guessing myself going: ‘oh, I don't know if I have much to do outside of military because it's all I've done since I was a young age.”  

While attending an education fair at the Edmonton Garrison, he went up to several university tables, asking about getting a bachelor’s degree. 

Frustrated about admissions processes of the schools he spoke to, Feltham chatted with a Royal Roads advisor explaining he was looking to get a bachelor’s degree. “And she says: ‘Royal Roads can do better than that. You can skip the bachelor program and you can do your master's program because you, Jon are more than qualified to do this,’” Feltham recalls.  

Feltham graduated from the MAIS program in 2020 – his original focus being on Emergency and Disaster Management. During the program, however, he realized that a lot of the courses he was leaning into were on the topics of organizational change, leadership, and humanitarianism.  

During his studies, Feltham began to reflect on how he had been causing humanitarian problems during some of his work in Afghanistan, Croatia, and Bosnia, remembering seeing displacement camps. Independently, he started communicating with people who came through immigration, some of them being from those same camps he had seen years before. “That was the start of it,” he recalls. 

In 2021 when many Afghans became instantly at risk when Western operations in the country ended and the government collapsed, Feltham was asked by several people to help. From there he worked on creating an intelligence program and began working and writing to all levels of government to enact change. 

Shortly after, Aman Lara reached out. 

“I joined Aman Lara in January 2022 as a volunteer, initially supporting the movement of vulnerable Afghans. I developed a comprehensive network with a fantastic team to move vulnerable populations. Over time, I progressed within the organization, implementing operations and developing programs as the Program Director. Eventually, I became the Executive Director, turning Aman Lara into a well-rounded, strong, and leading force in the humanitarian community supporting vulnerable populations worldwide.

“[Aman Lara] was founded based on a veteran concept to help support Afghans who had an enduring relationship with the Canadian Armed Forces, as well as those who served with Global Affairs Canada or any nonprofit agency that had funding from Global Affairs Canada in Afghanistan during our twenty-one-year tenure, in supporting democracy in that country,” Feltham explains.  

Now, four years after concluding his master's, “I am now, one of the key leaders in Canada on humanitarian programs and relief.” 

Learn more about the Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies program.