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Charlene has served in many spaces as an advocate for Indigenous Womxn, Indigenous Sovereignty, climate justice, and Indigenous rights to health and wellbeing. Charlene is a lifelong learner in both her cultural traditions and decolonizing academia. She is a mother to Evan Lukluan. She earned her B.A. in American Ethnic Studies with a minor in Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies, an M.A. in Alaska Native Studies and Rural Development, and a PhD from the Indigenous Studies program at UAF. Charlene gratefully resides in Anchorage on the territories of the Dena'ina peoples. Here she has taught the Iñupiaq language and is part of the Kingikmiut dance group with her son.

Slides - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ywzvx9wrnldx783jdj7h0/DIJ_AUUF_FEB2026.pdf?rlkey=w7sipisxn20bkcraz4cv5d0b3&dl=0

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Asa Hohman earned his law degree and an M.B.A. from the University of Montana and an LL.M. from the University of Washington. Shortly after his admission to the bar, Asa began focusing his practice on immigration and small-business formation for immigrant-owned businesses (as well as other small businesses). He practices in the full breadth of immigration, including asylum and removal defense, but focuses his practice on family-based immigration and business/employment immigration. He is an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the Alaska Bar Immigration Section, and the Ukraine Immigration Task Force.

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Mayor Suzanne LaFrance grew up in Palmer, Alaska, and is a proud graduate of Alaska’s public schools. She lives in South Anchorage with her husband Dave Hemstreet, their three kids, and their puppy. Mayor LaFrance served two terms on the Anchorage Assembly, including two years as Chair. She brings over 25 years of private sector experience, managing budgets, projects, and people. Mayor LaFrance received a bachelor's degree from the University of Portland and a master's degree from Purdue University. She has volunteered for Great Alaska Schools and has led local scout troops. Mayor LaFrance has lived in Anchorage for over 25 years. She and her husband, Dave Hemstreet, have three children.

Slides - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/b5q9c5te5pomm1yukf4zs/Unitarians02012026.pdf?rlkey=s2yi0y0x0atrmdd5hei2bp2a6&dl=0

Muni Web site - https://www.muni.org/Departments/Mayor/Pages/default.aspx

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From 1991-2024, Tlingit Joaqlin Estus spent her career primarily as a reporter for public radio and television, and for the national online news platform ICT (formerly Indian Country Today). She has a degree in history from UAA and first worked as a historian for the National Park Service, then moved into coastal management. She began volunteering at KTOO, the public radio station in Juneau, working on a half-hour talk show on Native issues, then did an internship with Alaska Public Radio Network. This experience turned into jobs at KTOO, Minnesota Public Radio, and KNBA in Anchorage. She covered a range of topics, specializing in Alaska Native history, culture, and issues. She also worked in public communications for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. In addition to awards from the Indigenous Journalists Association and Alaska Press Club, Joaqlin was inducted into the Alaska Women’s Hall of Fame in October 2025 in recognition of her work as a cultural liaison. She continues to find interesting projects to work on during her retirement.

Slides - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ywpbc2n6qwm5a3uexryji/Subsistence.pdf?rlkey=8yyglkjmldvjvxkd0on51ntqz&dl=0

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Senator Bill Wielechowski has been representing East Anchorage in the State Legislature since 2007. He has served as the President and Executive Board member of the East Anchorage Northeast Community Council, the Anchorage Planning and Zoning Commission, and the Anchorage School District Budget Review Team. He has held positions on the Alaska Workers’ Compensation Board and the Muldoon Town Center Committee. Since 2023, Senator Wielechowski has served on the Senate Leadership team as the Senate Rules Committee Chair and Vice Chair of the Senate Resources Committee. Bill earned his B.S. in business management and finance from Seton Hall University in 1989 and his J.D. from the Seton Hall University School of Law in 1992. He was an attorney for IBEW 1547, among others. His contributions have been recognized in numerous ways, from being named Legislator of the Year for the United States by the Vietnam Veterans of America and a Legislative Champion by the Public Safety Employees Association, to being named Hometown Hero in Muldoon. He enjoys fishing, skiing, and mountain biking. A more complete list of his committee assignments and honors can be found at https://www.akleg.gov/basis/Member/Detail/34?code=wie#tab7_1

Slides - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/q884xymr4pfs3plpdzp9k/2026-January-AUUF-presentation.pdf?rlkey=ovdynpkrnn4oxna2zuh2hxc3s&dl=0

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Caroline Storm was born in Canada to immigrant parents, one from South Africa and one from Czechoslovakia. Education and learning were central to her home environment, and she was pushed to pursue a professional degree. Educated and licensed as an architect, she left the profession after 25 years in practice to serve as Executive Director of the Coalition for Education Equity in Alaska. Caroline sits on the board(s) of: Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center; Alaska Eating Disorders Alliance and the Alaska Literacy Program (where she volunteer taught Civics for Citizenship). She also sits on the MOA Budget Advisory Commission. An avid road cyclist, she finally completed the Fireweed 200 in 2025 after crashing out of the race in 2018. In all her other spare time, she’s a haphazard gardener, optimistic DIYer, and doting dog mom.

Coroline's email - caroline@ceequity.org

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• Dr. Robert Alexander is the CEO and Co-Founder of AuraLab, whose Breathscape app supports deep meditative states by transforming breath into music through biofeedback. Before launching AuraLab, he worked as a NASA fellow at the Goddard Space Flight Center, served as the Chief Innovation Officer at the University of Michigan, and lectured on Sound Design and Psychology at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Design. Origin Magazine named him a top creative leader, and his work has been featured in Scientific American, National Geographic, VICE, Science Friday, and the BBC World News Service.

These links from Robert -

• Breathscape
  • YouTube: Guided Breathing Experiences
  • Breathscape iPhone App
• Poem: Rumi - Some Kiss We Want
• Jon Young
  • Wiping Off Road Dust Audio Recording
  • TEDx talk: Repairing Emotional Isolation by Reawakening Deep Nature Connection
• Recommended Books:
  • James Nestor - Breath
  • Andy Caponigro - The Miracle of the Breath
  • Donna Farhi - The Breathing Book
  • There are many others available!
• Practices:
  • Box Breathing
  • Ujjayi
  • Breath of Fire
  • The Buteyko Method

Members of the fellowship can follow up with me at robert@auralab.io.

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Jory Knott is the Executive Director of the Alaska Innocence Project. A lifelong Alaskan, he earned an interdisciplinary degree in art and music at UAA, then moved to Oregon, where he composed music, wrote grants for creative projects, and apprenticed in stone masonry. He became operations manager for a masonry company with stone cutting operations and rock quarries across the Pacific Northwest. In 2009, he moved back to Alaska. He changed his career trajectory, teaching music and art to adults with special needs while attending UAA, pursuing legal studies with a minor in civil engagement. He interned with the Alaska Innocence Project in the fall of 2015. He helped manage the office for months while the Executive Director, Bill Oberly, attended the trial of the Fairbanks Four, who were exonerated that December. Hooked on innocence work, Jory went to law school at the University of Montana, volunteering with the Montana Innocence Project. He returned to extern with AKIP during his last year of law school and has been working there full-time since graduating.

Slides - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/0oh6fju7ip2kadle46g0j/AKIP-AUUF-Powerpoint.pdf?rlkey=nc8et9o3ckchksnk50xzi8uzo&dl=0

Alaska Innocence Project "One Sheet" - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/0bvslcxq3s21xbphhhr3p/AKIP-One-Sheet.pdf?rlkey=z5oz32gdp6hdeghzmc8s1qg9n&dl=0

AK Innocence Project website - https://www.alaskainnocenceproject.org

Fairbanks-Four drumming video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx5vvUTEhtk