ALASKA FEDERATION OF NATIVES - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Special Assistant to the President
Job Titles:
- Co - Chair
- Member of the AFN Leadership Team
Andrew Guy is currently serving as Calista Corporation's President/CEO. He first came to Calista as an intern in 1984 and in 1986 began working at Calista Professional Services in the planning department doing research and financial analyses. Mr. Guy served six years as a Director on the Calista Board including as Chairman. In '96 Andrew accepted a position as VP and General Counsel and held that position until his promotion in 2010.
Mr. Guy has a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks and a Juris Doctor from the University of Colorado School of Law Boulder, Colorado. He was born and raised in the village of Napaskiak, Alaska, the location of his family home. His extended family continues to reside there and in the region. He speaks the Yupik language fluently.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Native Village of Eagle
Brian Ridley is Han Gwich'in and a tribal member of the Native Village of Eagle. Ridley grew up in Eagle on banks of the Yukon River. He received a bachelor's degree in business finance from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and has more than 20 years of experience in the finance industry. Ridley previously served as Chief Finance Officer of Tanana Chiefs Conference from 2008-2021. He also worked as a branch manager and business banker for 11 years for National Bank of Alaska and Wells Fargo Bank.
Ridley currently serves as vice president of Hungwitchin Corporation. He previously served on the Doyon, Limited Board of Directors, as treasurer for the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center and Dillingham Chamber of Commerce and the Copper Valley Economic Development Council.
In his free time he enjoys hunting, golfing and spending time with his family including his wife Alexandra Swenson-Ridley and four sons, Gabe, Adam, Jacob and Fritz.
As the interim President of Tanana Chiefs Conference, President Ridley has the responsibility to ensure the 42 tribal entities and 20,000 tribal members are provided quality health care, social services and tribal government technical assistance.
Brian Ridley is Han Gwich'in and a tribal member of the Native Village of Eagle. Ridley grew up in Eagle on banks of the Yukon River. He received a bachelor's degree in business finance from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and has more than 20 years of experience in the finance industry. Ridley previously served as Chief Finance Officer of Tanana Chiefs Conference from 2008-2021. He also worked as a branch manager and business banker for 11 years for National Bank of Alaska and Wells Fargo Bank.
Ridley currently serves as vice president of Hungwitchin Corporation. He previously served on the Doyon, Limited Board of Directors, as treasurer for the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center and Dillingham Chamber of Commerce and the Copper Valley Economic Development Council.
In his free time he enjoys hunting, golfing and spending time with his family including his wife Alexandra Swenson-Ridley and four sons, Gabe, Adam, Jacob and Fritz.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Chugachmiut Board of Directors
Francis Norman is the daughter of the late Walter and Luba Maganack of Port Graham, Alaska. She is Aleut and a tribal member of Port Graham and a shareholder of Port Graham Corporation and Chugach Alaska Corporation. Francis is married to Patrick Norman, and they have two daughters and a son. They also have four grandchildren, and await the birth of another. Francis loves to subsistence fish and makes smoked salmon, dried fish, sikyuk, as well as kippered fish and fresh frozen fish.
Francis is the Chairman of the Chugachmiut Board of Directors and has served on the AFN Board for six years. She is also the Vice Chair on ANTHC Service Unit and is an alternate on the ANTHC Board of Directors. Francis also sits on the Chugachmiut Scholarship/Education Committee. Before she was the Chairman of the Chugachmiut Board of Directors, Francis was the Treasurer for Chugachmiut for 18 years. She also served on the Port Graham Site Base Committee for 2o years.
On serving on the AFN Board and working on behalf of the Native community, Francis states: "I want to serve in order to make sure that our traditional and subsistence way of life is always protected. Maintaining and developing services for our people is always at the forefront of what we do. I have worked for the Port Graham Village Council as Tribal Administrator since 1976 and enjoy serving our village."
Job Titles:
- Treasurer
- President and CEO of the Bering Straits Native Corporation
Gail "Anagick" Schubert serves as the President and CEO of the Bering Straits Native Corporation (BSNC). She is Treasurer of the AFN Board, Vice Chair of the Akeela Treatment Services Board, Vice Chair of the Alaska Native Justice Center, Vice Chair of the ANCSA Regional Association, and Chair of the Alaska Retirement Management Board. Schubert is the Immediate past chair of the Alaska Native Heritage Center, which she served on for nearly 15 years. She is a member of the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce ATHENA Society, a program that recognizes women's leadership. She has served on the BSNC Board of Directors since 1992. Schubert is the 2014 recipient of the Northwest Indian Bar Association's Unsung Hero Award. The annual award honors an attorney for his or her outstanding contributions toward improving the legal and political landscape of Pacific Northwest Indian Country.
Prior to joining BSNC, Schubert practiced law in Anchorage after a successful career on Wall Street, where she worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and two Wall Street law firms. She earned an undergraduate degree from Stanford University, a MBA from Cornell University's Johnson School of Management with an emphasis in accounting and finance, and a JD from the Cornell University School of Law. Schubert was born and raised in Unalakleet, Alaska.
Gloria O'Neill was appointment in 2013 by Governor Parnell. Serving as President and CEO of Cook Inlet Tribal Council (CITC) since 1998, she has led the organization's growth in becoming one of the major social service providers in Alaska. Through rigorous attention to community-based results, she has established CITC's national reputation as a leading innovator of effective and replicable approaches to overcoming disparities in education, employment, family preservation and substance dependency. CITC provides nearly 50 essential programs serving more than 12,000 Alaska Native and American Indian people each year.
She also serves as a member of the Alaskan Command Civilian Advisory Board and Founder of Upper One Games, LLC. In her role of President and CEO of CITC Enterprises Inc. (CEI), Ms. O'Neill serves as Executive Chair and board member of E-Line Ventures, LLC.
At the national level, she was appointed by former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius to serve on the Secretary's Tribal Advisory Committee (STAC), and is a former member of the Department of the Interior Tribal/Interior Budget Council and the Race and Ethnicity Advisory Committee of the U.S. Census Bureau. She also served as a Board member of the National CASA Association, and is a Fellow of the Annie E. Casey Foundation Children and Family Fellowship Program.
Regent O'Neill earned her Master of Business Administration degree from Alaska Pacific University, and received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology, with a minor in Business Administration from the University of Alaska Anchorage.
Originally from Soldotna, Alaska, Ms. O'Neill is of Yup'ik and Irish descent.
Jodi Mitchell earned a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the University of Oregon in 1988, and earned the Certified Management Accountant designation in 1996. She is the Chief Executive Officer of Inside Passage Electric Cooperative, and has been with the utility since 1993. Jodi is a 2007 graduate of the Management Intern Program of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. Jodi serves on the Sealaska board of directors as vice chair, and as chair of the audit committee. Jodi recently began serving as Sealaska's representative to the Alaska Federation of Natives board of directors, and as chair of the resolutions committee. She is the vice-president of Kwaan Electric Intertie Cooperative, a member of the Southeast Conference energy committee, the Alaska Power Association board of directors, and former member of the Governor's Renewable Energy Fund Advisory Committee. Jodi was born and raised in Juneau, and raised her three daughters there. She is Tlingit, a member of the Deisheetaan ("Raven-Beaver") clan of Angoon, Alaska.
Job Titles:
- Co - Chair
- Member of the AFN Leadership Team
Job Titles:
- Member of the AFN Leadership Team
- President
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer ( CLO ) at NANA
Kimberly Panitchiaq Sigvaun Jorgensen serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer (CLO) at NANA. Jorgensen serves as the General Counsel of the corporation, providing counsel to the executive leadership of NANA, with a focus on compliance and regulatory issues for NANA and its subsidiary businesses. She also provides counsel and support to the Board of Directors on corporate governance, fiduciary duties, ethics and compliance and strategic transactions.
Jorgensen joined NANA in 2017. She is a NANA shareholder from Kotzebue and has extensive legal experience. Most recently, she served as Senior Director of Government Affairs and Corporate Strategic Counsel for Ukpeagvik Iñupiat Corporation (UIC) in Washington, DC, where she oversaw a wide array of legal issues including federal contracts, commercial matters, general counsel responsibilities in addition to being the government affairs representative for this village corporation. Prior to her tenure with UIC, she served as an Assistant District Attorney in Santa Fe, New Mexico for the State of New Mexico and later in Anchorage for the State of Alaska. Prior to that, she was an Associate Attorney at a law firm in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Jorgensen holds a Bachelor's degree in Native American Studies from Dartmouth College, a Master's degree in American Indian Studies/Federal Indian Law and History from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and a Juris Doctorate degree from the UCLA School of Law. She was awarded the national Native American 40 Under 40 Award in 2014.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Native Village of Port Lions and of the Native Village of Afognak
Loretta Nelson is the daughter of Willis and Martha Nelson from Afognak and Port Lions. Born in Kodiak, Loretta was raised in Afognak until the 1964 tsunami, when she relocated to Port Lions with her family. She developed a strong drive to serve her community at an early age, and worked with the Kodiak Area Native Association (KANA) as a Community Health Aide in Port Lions. After the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Loretta relocated to Kodiak and began working for Afognak Native Corporation, where she worked for twenty years as the Shareholder Relations Manager.
Loretta is an enrolled member of the Native Village of Port Lions and of the Native Village of Afognak. She has served on the KANA Board of Directors since 2004, and has held office as Chairperson of the Board for more than a decade. In 2021, she became KANA's representative on the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium Board of Directors. Additionally, Loretta has served on the Afognak Native Corporation Board of Directors since 2011, and also on the Native Village of Afognak Tribal Council where she holds the office of Tribal Council Vice Chairperson.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Udzisyu
- President of Ahtna, Incorporated
Michelle Anderson is the President of Ahtna, Incorporated. As an Ahtna shareholder, Michelle is a member of the Udzisyu (Caribou) clan. Raised in the Ahtna Region, Michelle graduated from Glennallen High School. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Alaska Anchorage and a Master of Arts in Rural Development from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Michelle is currently volunteering with the Alaska Native Sisterhood Camp 31 and the Blood Bank of America. Previously, Michelle held Board positions on the Indian Dispute Resolution Services, Inc.; Council of Advisors for Alaska Native Studies Program at UAA; T-Birds Booster Club; and City View Little League. Michelle is also a "Top 40 Under 40" Alaska recipient.
Michelle is the mother of two sons, Alexander and Austin, who are attending college. She is personally interested in learning Ahtna protocols, clan histories, Ahtna land use history, and Ahtna traditional stories, as well as Alaska Native political history, reading, genealogy, and writing.
Michelle has served as the Ahtna, Incorporated Representative on the AFN Board for two years. From 1997 to 2000, she served as the Ahtna Village Representative. On serving on the AFN Board, Michelle states: "It's an honor to serve with men and women who work hard for their people and all Alaska Native peoples. There is careful decision-making, there is respect for one another, and we back each other up. There is no competition, only a passionate determination to protect those we serve."
Job Titles:
- Executive Vice President
- General Counsel
Job Titles:
- Executive Assistant
- Secretary of the Board
Job Titles:
- Special Assistant to the President
Job Titles:
- CIRI 's Chief Strategy Officer
As CIRI's chief strategy officer, Sarah Lukin plays a key role in identifying long- and short-term business strategies for CIRI while ensuring the organization maintains strategy at the forefront of decision making and management of its resources. She also oversees the corporate affairs and shareholder programs departments and is responsible for CIRI's government relations.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Board for the Chugach Alaska Corporation
Sheri Buretta serves as the Chairman of the Board for the Chugach Alaska Corporation and has served on the AFN Board since 1998. She is also the director for Alaskans Standing Together and the Foraker Group Governance Board. Sheri is the Board Treasurer for the Tatitlek Corporation Board and is the President of the Russian Orthodox Sacred Sites in Alaska, Inc. (ROSSIA). Previously, Sheri has been the Co-Chair for the Mayor Mark Begich Transition Team and has served on the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Advisory Group. She was also the Director for Prince William Sound Regional Citizens Advisory Council. From 1999 to 2012, Sheri was the Director for the ANCSA Regional Association, and she was President from 2004 to 2008.
Born and raised in Anchorage, Sheri is Alutiiq from Tatitlek. She loves to ski and travel to Hawai'i with her husband, Gary, daughter Anastasia, and son Bo. Sheri also enjoys teaching skin sewing during Tatitlek Cultural Heritage week.
On serving on the AFN Board Sheri states: "I am honored to have served on the AFN Board since 1998. I have tremendous respect for the history and reason the organization was formed and work to preserve its important role in advocating for all Alaska Native people."
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer of AVCP
Vivian Anginran Korthuis became the Chief Executive Officer of AVCP in October of 2016. In her first year as CEO, Vivian launched an organization-wide Quality Improvement Process (QIP), to improve service delivery at the expressed request of the AVCP Executive Board and tribal delegates of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (YK Delta). The Association of Village Council Presidents is the regional native non-profit tribal consortium serving 56 Tribes on the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta in Western Alaska.