McKenzie Dern
McKenzie joined the team in January 2020 as the Central California Regional Manager. Her journey with the foundation started many years prior to her coming onboard fulltime. She became part of AARBF seven years ago as a Champ Camp Counselor. McKenzie has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing from the California State University, Fresno. In 2023, she transitioned roles into our Camps and Recreation Manager where she is thriving.
McKenzie brings a unique perspective to our team by being the daughter of a burn survivor. Her experiences as family member of a survivor allow her to be able to connect to not just the survivor but their family members and friends as well. She understands just how much a burn injury can impact a family. She is also well versed in the ways of her local fire departments and considers them to be a big part of her family.
McKenzie believes that a burn survivor is a symbol of strength, perseverance, and motivation. She wholeheartedly believes that family members, friends, and first responders associated with that patient are survivors too. For McKenzie it is important to her to make sure that no survivor or their family feels alone through the process of healing, surviving and ultimately thriving.
Through her involvement with AARBF and her experiences, McKenzie has developed a passion for helping others. She has the ability to empathize with burn survivors and their families. McKenzie hopes that her story and experiences can be used to help empower other burn survivors and their communities. She strives to fully embrace the foundation’s mission by helping to reduce the number of burn injuries through prevention education and to enhance the quality of life of those affected by burn injuries. McKenzie wants to serve our survivors and to make their healing and reclamation process as easy and fearless as possible. She desires to be someone’s sunshine during and after a traumatizing time. She loves to be a part of her hometown community and sits on the Executive Board for Safe Kids California, Central Valley Chapter and on the Board for the California 9/11 Memorial.
Her favorite part of her job is sharing about the foundation to community members and partners, firefighters, hospitals, friends and family, as well as survivors and their supporters. She loves the connections she is able to make with the survivors and their families. AARBF is her second family!
