John-Henry Henkendornis is the managing partner of the Anchorage-based political consulting firm Ship Creek Group. He has worked on over 100 Alaska political campaigns and initiatives in the last 12 years, helping launch Ship Creek Group in 2015 and working as Policy Director to Governor Bill Walker (I-AK) and Aide to Airbnb founder and CEO Brian Chesky. John-Henry graduated from Whitman College with degrees in politics and economics and as an All-American in intercollegiate debate. He has served on the Board of the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust and as a commercial fishing deckhand in Bristol Bay.

Burke Croft is the Deputy Data Director for Ship Creek Group. Born and raised in Anchorage, Burke has always been drawn to the curiosity of science and the kindness of community action. Since starting at Ship Creek Group in 2019, he’s been working to combine those passions. He studied Chemistry and Data Science at the University of Chicago and was also a Fellows Ambassador Team Leader at the Institute of Politics. Burke served as Digital Communications Director for U.S. Representative Mary Peltola and managed the elections legislation portfolio for Alaska’s lone Congressional office. He’s also a co-founder of Mental Health Advocacy Through Storytelling (MHATS) in Anchorage. You'll usually find him biking in the summer, ice skating in the winter, and making themed playlists whenever the weather shifts.

Ship Creek Group website - https://www.shipcreekgroup.com

Bridget Jochum is the Development and Operations Support Coordinator at the Alaska Literacy Program. She supports the fundraising and communications arm of ALP’s programming. Bridget previously worked in refugee resettlement services for the State of Alaska, with many of those same resettled refugees now attending classes at ALP. She was a Jesuit Volunteer AmeriCorps with Catholic Social Services in Anchorage after graduating from John Carroll University with a degree in Digital Media Communications.

Bridget's slides - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/aq2xwi7hg1w9d5t28nva0/AUU-Alaska-Literacy-Program.pdf?rlkey=6919w0dgiuym30vk7184jjikm&dl=0

Bridget's first and second slides contain links to the Alaska Literacy Program's website (http://www.alaskaliteracyprogram.org), where you can find the video Gretchen used at the beginning of her presentation.

Bretwood "Hig" Higman is a geologist who lives in Seldovia. After graduating from high school there, he spent 13 years in college and grad school, studying glass art and walking from Seattle to the Aleutians before moving back to Seldovia. He earned his bachelor’s degree in geology at Carleton College in Minnesota. Then, in 2007, he earned his PhD in geology at the University of Washington, studying the onshore effects of tsunamis while also studying physics and computer science. He has spent his career as a geologist studying tsunamis, earthquakes, and landslides. In addition to natural hazards, Hig has a passion for wilderness adventure, collaboration between stakeholder communities and scientists, trail building, natural resource policy, science communication, and chainsaw milling. Hig has also studied Yoshokai Aikido and invented the jewelry manufacturing method behind Sundrop Jewelry. He is the Executive Director of Ground Truth Alaska. This educational nonprofit seeks to advance public understanding and engagement in climate change, wilderness, energy, hazards, and natural resource issues in Alaska. He co-founded this organization, named initially Ground Truth Trekking, with Erin McKittrick. He and Erin now live in a yurt, near family, where they’ve raised their children.

https://groundtruthalaska.org/

Note that Hig's presentation included a LOT of computer graphics that are not easy to capture in a PDF slide show. We've decided to include a link to the video of Hig's presentation and all of the questions and his answers, along with the regular audio podcast. If you can view the video (it's in .mp4 format), I highly recommend that you do just that. While the audio format is very useable, the video is MUCH more helpful. The video starts after a 2-second tone, following John's introduction.

Link to presentation video -

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/xddkkvsb28oate2t8ds47/Presentation.mp4?rlkey=3negusa8fgifq7dowh0034gac&dl=0

Bob Loeffler is a Research Professor of Public Policy at the UAA Institute of Social and Economic Research, where he teaches and completes research on Alaska's economy, fiscal issues, and natural resources. Along with Dr. Matt Berman, he teaches Econ 300, The Economy of Alaska, at UAA. It is an excerpt from this course that he is presenting at AUUF. He is also a partner in Jade North, a small Alaskan consulting firm, and specializes in working with mining and other natural resource issues. Bob Loeffler has a Master's degree in Civil Engineering from Stanford University and a Master's in Regional Planning from Harvard University. For seven years, ending in 2005, he was Director of the DNR Division of Mining, Land, and Water.

Slides - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/6wpfp0ilauccedj6l4put/AUUF.pdf?rlkey=0ugktfhuq86glmh7dvjxqrlpb&dl=0

This morning's scheduled speaker was unable to make it to the Forum and is looking forward to being rescheduled. John McKay (our regular host) miraculously rescued the Forum and turned it into an "open forum," allowing folks to participate physically or virtually (via the marvels of modern science—Zoom). We took the opportunity to discuss what was on people's minds.

Early on, John stated that this was the Forum for 6 October. It is indeed the 13 October Forum.

Corey Aist is president of the Anchorage Education Association. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he graduated from the University of California, Davis, with a Bachelor of Science in Child Development in 1992. In 1993, Corey and his then-girlfriend, now wife, drove up the AlCan with their two young puppies, and ever since, have called Alaska home, along with their four children, all students and graduates of Anchorage School District. Corey began working for the Anchorage School District in 1996, after earning a Bachelor of Education degree with Honors from UAA. He taught at Muldoon Elementary School for ten years, then at Polaris K-12 for 14 years. Corey joined AEAs Bargaining Team and Rights Committee in 2004. Always an advocate for teachers, he helped negotiate nine contracts for AEA members before becoming AEA President in July 2020.

Corey's slides - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/npyypnqk3vrd6rrn0ewls/20241006ASD_Presentation_4_AUUf.pdf?rlkey=1f9ekxrwlkpfun2t1m1r2ibtj&dl=0

Joe Josephson has a long political and public service history in Alaska, beginning in 1957 when he served as legislative assistant to Alaska Delegate in Congress, E. L. (Bob) Bartlett. In 1959, When Bartlett became Alaska's first United States Senator in 1959, Josephson continued as his legislative assistant until 1960. Josephson earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Chicago in 1953 and attended Columbia University Law School from 1953 to 1955, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army. He finished his law degree at the Catholic University of America in 1960. He was appointed that year by President John F. Kennedy as the Chair of the Alaska Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. He was admitted to the Alaska Bar Association in 1961 and 1962 and was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives. He held that position until 1966, when he became a member of the Anchorage City Council, later of the Borough Assembly. Following the passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, Josephson also served as State Co-Chair of the Joint Federal-State Land Use Planning Commission, appointed by Alaska Governor Bill Egan. Josephson served his first term in the Alaska State Senate from 1968 to 1972. In 1975, he was vice-chair of the Anchorage Charter Commission, which unified the Anchorage Borough and City of Anchorage. Between 1982 and 1988, he served again in the Alaska State Senate. He has served as president of the boards of Southcentral Alaska Red Cross, Congregation Beth Sholom, and Out North Theatre, and as a board member for Alaska Civil Liberties Union, Child Care Connection, Cook Inlet Historical Society, and Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship was also an adjunct instructor at UAA. Josephson, a husband and father of five, continues to practice law in Anchorage.

After a career as a teacher and prosecutor, Andy Josephson was elected to the Alaska State House of Representatives in 2013 and has continued to serve there since. His father came to Alaska in the 50s to work for Bob Bartlett in his quest to achieve statehood, and his grandfather founded the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) in the 1930s. Andy is a West High graduate with a BA in History from Whitman College, a Master’s in Teaching from UAA, and a law degree from Penn State, and has lived and worked in six communities across Alaska. He has worked as an intern with U.S. Senator Ted Stevens, a legislative aide, a public school teacher, an assistant district attorney, a lawyer in private practice, and an adjunct professor at UAA. Andy and his wife, Donna, live in Anchorage and enjoy kayaking, backpacking, tennis, swimming, and baseball.

The podcast has been edited to eliminate “dead spots” and maintain a semblance of order. Each "dead spot" is filled with two seconds of static.

Rev. Matt Schultz graduated from Westminster College with a BA in Art in 1995. He is married to Rev. Elizabeth Schultz. Together, they attended Princeton Theological Seminary and are ordained as pastors in the Presbyterian Church (USA). They live in Anchorage, Alaska, where they go on wild adventures with their three beautiful children, two awesome dogs, and one average cat. Since 2013, Matt has been the pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Anchorage and also serves with Christians for Equality, the Homelessness Leadership Council, and other city and statewide service and advocacy groups.

Matt Gray's East Anchorage Book Club podcast with Rev. Matt Schultz - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/east-anchorage-book-club-with-andrew-gray/id1592614366?i=1000670170928