John Donovan

Maj. John G. Donovan, M.Ed., C.P.R.S., U.S. Army, Ret.

Maj. John G. Donovan is a person in long-term recovery with over 44 years of recovery time.  He is passionate about recovery and lectures frequently to audiences on substance use disorder and recovery therefrom.  He blogs on recovery; he is a certified peer recovery specialist; and he serves as an advisor to St. Cloud State University’s Recovery Community.  Additionally, John co-founded the Recovery Community Network (RCN) in St. Cloud, MN and now serves as their Board Chair.  The RCN is a Recovery Community Organization devoted to advocacy, education and providing peer to peer recovery services in Central Minnesota free-of-charge.

John holds a Master of Education degree from Boston University and a bachelor’s degree from St. Cloud State University.  He is also a graduate of the Wilder Foundation’s Shannon Institute on Leadership.  His military service included two tours to Iraq and a Peace Keeping tour to Bosnia-Herzegovina.  Prior to his retirement, he served as the Equal Employment Opportunity Officer for the Minnesota National Guard.  John draws heavily on his military training, tactics, and techniques to help others build recovery capitol.  His book on recovery was published in the spring of 2021 and is entitled: “A Soldier’s Recovery Journey”.

Some of Maj. Donovan’s awards and decorations include:

Meritorious Service Medal, Army Accommodation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Outstanding Military Volunteer Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, NATO Medal, the Minnesota Medal of Merit, the Minnesota Humanities Veterans Voices Award, and the St. Cloud State University Alumni Service Award.