The Alaska Humanities Forum is pleased to introduce the Leadership Anchorage 2011-2012 cohort:
Dana Applebee – Dana has more than a decade of experience in fundraising and volunteer work for non-profit organizations such as AWAIC (Abused Women’s Aid in Crisis) and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Alaska. Dana has also been active in political campaign work since her freshman year of college. She moved to Alaska seven years ago, and has lived in Anchorage for four. Dana recently left her job as development coordinator for the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation to work as marketing manager for Kendall Auto Alaska. She is on the board of directors of Anchorage’s Promise, a non-profit organization that works to build the character of Anchorage youth.
Rhonda Easley – Rhonda works as an Independent Living Advocate with Access Alaska, a private, non-profit organization that provides independent living services to aging Alaskans and those who experience a disability. Rhonda recently earned a Master’s Degree in Human Service from the University of Alaska Anchorage, where she was involved in leadership activities with the UAA Human Service Club, American Sign Language Club and Diversity Council. She currently is a member of the Alaska Deaf Council, which empowers deaf community members. Rhonda hopes her LA experience helps her to bridge gaps between hearing and deaf communities and promote greater insight among hearing individuals into the lives of deaf people.
Josephine Edwards-Vollertsen – Josephine is program manager for the Anchorage School District, Title VII Indian Education program. Her community volunteer experience began in high school when she single-handedly organized an annual canned food drive. Since then she has volunteered for many organizations, including the United Way Review Committee, the Alaska Native Professional Association, the Alaska Native Heritage Month Committee, Bean’s Café and the Alaska CASA program, which trains volunteer legal advocates for abused and neglected children. Josephine is a lifelong Alaskan.
Hope Finkelstein—Hope has been a community activist and organizer for more than 20 years. She founded and directed a national community foods system organization based in Milwaukee, WI before moving with her family moved to Homer 11 years ago. In Homer she became Executive Director of the Homer Council on the Arts. Since moving to Anchorage two years ago Hope has been active as a volunteer with the Alaska State Council on the Arts, Alaska Youth for Environmental Action and the Renewable Resources Coalition.
Michelle Fletcher – Michelle is a benefits specialist for the Bristol Bay Native Corp. She was born and raised in Anchorage, where has lived all her life. A wife and mother, Michelle recently earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Alaska Anchorage. She began volunteering as a youth by working with elders in senior housing. Since then Michelle has volunteered with the Cub Scouts of America, Chugiak Youth Soccer Association and The Crossing at Birchwood, among other organizations. She is also a volunteer gardener for the City of Anchorage.
Chelsea Gulling – Chelsea began her Alaska residency four years ago in Bethel as a Jesuit volunteer, working as a full-time Children’s Advocate at the domestic violence shelter. While in Bethel she immersed herself in the community, volunteering for the Tundra Women’s Coalition, Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Alaska, the K300 Dog Sled Race and the Bethel Council of the Arts. She moved to Anchorage earlier this year and is currently a community organizing intern with AFACT: Anchorage Faith & Action- Congregations Together, which mobilizes local faith communities to address quality of life issues such as education, youth recreation, public safety and healthcare.
Jennifer Howell – Jennifer is Director of Community Engagement for United Way of Anchorage. A self-professed “Army brat” whose family moved frequently, Jennifer says she first began feeling an actual sense of community in Anchorage while working alongside Habitat for Humanity volunteers helping to build her own home. She now serves on the Habitat for Humanity board as well as the Mountain View Community Council and is a lifetime member of Girl Scouts of Alaska. Jennifer envisions creating holistic neighborhood centers in low and middle-income neighborhoods that would offer childcare and early education services along with access to social services.
Katherine Jernstrom – Katherine is volunteer and event coordinator at Bean’s Café, where she also works in fund development. Her volunteerism keeps her active with Homeless Project Connect, the Mountain View Street Fair and Camp Fire Alaska. She is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, United Way Emerging Leaders and the Abbott Loop Community Council. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in public administration at the University of Alaska Anchorage, where she works part-time as a graduate student assistant in the MPA program.
Olympia Lewis – Olympia is Marketing Manager for Credit Union 1. She has extensive volunteer experience, including regular shifts at Bean’s Café. She’s also become immersed in the Mountain View community, helping stage the first Mountain View Street Fair in 2009. Olympia was responsible for all aspects of the major event, including organizing committees, preparing budgets, publicity, outreach, coordinating volunteers and finding sponsors. Under her leadership, Mountain View Street Fair attendance grew from 1,500 to 4,000 in the span of a year.
Dean Marshall – As superintendent of the Hiland Mountain Correctional Center near Eagle River, Dean has instituted a number of landmark rehabilitation programs for inmates, including a service dog training program to provide service animals for wounded military veterans, and a unique inmate woman’s string orchestra, for which Hiland received a Harvard Bright Ideas award last year. Dean is also involved with the Alaska Native Justice Center, the Southcentral Foundation and the National Association of Women Judges.
Jenifer Samuelson Nelson – Jenifer is Social Enterprise Operations Manager for Cook Inlet Tribal Council, where she manages the Chanlyut program, a two-year residential, vocational, and educational program based in Anchorage that offers a new beginning for men facing the challenges of addiction, homelessness, and/or reentering society after incarceration. Jenifer is on the board of directors of Aleut Corporation. She would like to create Native entrepreneurial centers offering financial literacy courses and temporary office space to Alaska Native entrepreneurs.
Greg Schmidt – A former Air Force officer, Greg is currently Deputy Chief, Engineering Division, US Army Corps of Engineers. Greg has expressed a passion for coaching and mentoring youngsters through programs like Boy Scouts of America, American Heritage Girls, Changepoint Church Youth Ministry and Alaska Family Council. In 2008, he led the formation of the first American Heritage Girls Troop in Alaska. Greg wants to work to establish an Executive Service Corps within the Anchorage area that would encourage retired executives and senior leaders to lend their expertise to non-profit organizations to define and achieve their goals.
Barbara Soule – After raising a family, Barbara became deeply involved in volunteerism, especially advocating for gay, lesbian and transgender rights. She has served on the board of directors of Alaska Woman’s Resource Center, the Gay Pride Picnic and Identity Inc. Barbara currently volunteers for the GLBT Community Center, the Gay and Lesbian helpline and The NorthView, a quarterly news magazine for Anchorage’s LGBT community. Barbara formerly supervised 12 disabled employees at ASSETS, Inc., guiding them to develop skills well beyond their assessed capabilities. She has lived in Alaska for 55 years, 40 of them in Anchorage.
Brit Szymoniak – Brit is a survey operations manager and research analyst with the state Division of Public Health, Maternal and Child Health Epidemiology Unit. She recently graduated from the Honors College at the University of Alaska Anchorage with a degree in sociology. She was a student representative to the UAA Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Task Force, a policy research intern at the Institute of Social and Economic Research, member of Commonwealth North and participant in the Institute’s Alaska Dialogues and Emerging Leaders Dialogues. She is also a member of the program steering committee for the Alaska chapter of March of Dimes.
Leadership Anchorage class of 2012, from left: Katherine Jernstrom, Dean Marshall, Brit Szymonia, Dana Applebee, Josephine Edwards-Vollertsen, Jennifer Howell, Hope Finkelstein, Jennifer Samuelson Nelson, Olympia Lewis, Rhonda Easley, Michelle Fletcher, Chelsea Gulling, (Leadership Anchorage director) Larry Campbell, and Barbara Soule. Not pictured: Greg Schmidt.
