AUUF Podcasts

Willie Hensley was instrumental in the creation of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, which became law 50 years ago this month. He is currently the Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Department of Business and Public Policy at UAA. He also helped found and headed, both the Alaska Federation of Natives and the Northwest Alaskan Natives Association (NANA), an ANCSA regional corporation encompassing his home community of Kotzebue. Willie received his high school diploma from a boarding school in Tennessee, attended the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, and then graduated with a degree in Political Science from George Washington University. Months after he graduated, he was elected to the Alaska State House of Representatives, where he served from 1967-1970. He also served twice in the Alaska Senate. His book Fifty Miles from Tomorrow: A Memoir of Alaska and the Real People recounts his childhood growing up in rural Alaska and his journey as an Alaskan politician and native rights activist. Willie and his wife Abbe have six children and fourteen grandchildren.

For more,

https://business.uaa.alaska.edu/directory/profile?id=26

and see CV at

https://business.uaa.alaska.edu/directory/documents/cv/hensley_w-141500.pdf

Note: There are several "dropouts" due to bad internet connection.

Willie Hensley was instrumental in the creation of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, which became law 50 years ago this month. He is currently the Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Department of Business and Public Policy at UAA. He also helped found and headed, both the Alaska Federation of Natives and the Northwest Alaskan Natives Association (NANA), an ANCSA regional corporation encompassing his home community of Kotzebue. Willie received his high school diploma from a boarding school in Tennessee, attended the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, and then graduated with a degree in Political Science from George Washington University. Months after he graduated, he was elected to the Alaska State House of Representatives, where he served from 1967-1970. He also served twice in the Alaska Senate. His book Fifty Miles from Tomorrow: A Memoir of Alaska and the Real People recounts his childhood growing up in rural Alaska and his journey as an Alaskan politician and native rights activist. Willie and his wife Abbe have six children and fourteen grandchildren.

For more,

https://business.uaa.alaska.edu/directory/profile?id=26

and see CV at

https://business.uaa.alaska.edu/directory/documents/cv/hensley_w-141500.pdf

Note: There are several "dropouts" due to bad internet connection.

Amanda Metivier, an alumna of Alaskas foster care system, has dedicated her career and personal life to child welfare reform. She earned a Bachelors Degree in Social Work in 2008 and a Masters in Social Work in 2012. Both from the University of Alaska Anchorage. She spent 13 years as a foster parent to teens along with her husband, and recently adopted. Amanda along with a dedicated group of foster youth and alumni, co-founded the non-profit Facing Foster Care in Alaska (FFCA) in 2003, where she currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors. Through her advocacy with FFCA, Amanda has led efforts to expand services and supports for foster youth across Alaska. She is the Interim Director of the Child Welfare Academy and oversees the Office of Youth Empowerment (OYE), a partnership of the Child Welfare Academy and Facing Foster Care in Alaska, offering opportunities for foster youth to pursue higher education and training, provides training for child welfare staff and allies, and to engage in leadership and empowerment activities. Amanda has received state and national recognition for her work. She received the Casey Excellence for Children Award in 2013, was named one of Alaskas Top 40 Under 40 in 2014, was recognized by Alaska Childrens Trust as a Champion for Kids in 2016, and by the YWCA as a Woman of Achievement in 2017.

Sarah Redmon is the Project Coordinator for the Office of Youth Empowerment, a partnership of the Child Welfare Academy and Facing Foster Care in Alaska. Sarah is a former foster youth and is currently a foster parent to her younger siblings. Sarah joined Facing Foster Care in Alaska as a youth advocate and member and was elected to the Youth Leadership Board, before joining the Board of Directors as the Deputy Treasurer. She also served as an All Star, with the national non-profit Fosterclub, training child welfare staff and allies across the country and giving input into federal legislation. In her current role, Sarah works with foster youth across the state to draw on their own lived-expertise to participate in advocacy, training, and peer support activities.

Amanda Metivier, an alumna of Alaskas foster care system, has dedicated her career and personal life to child welfare reform. She earned a Bachelors Degree in Social Work in 2008 and a Masters in Social Work in 2012. Both from the University of Alaska Anchorage. She spent 13 years as a foster parent to teens along with her husband, and recently adopted. Amanda along with a dedicated group of foster youth and alumni, co-founded the non-profit Facing Foster Care in Alaska (FFCA) in 2003, where she currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors. Through her advocacy with FFCA, Amanda has led efforts to expand services and supports for foster youth across Alaska. She is the Interim Director of the Child Welfare Academy and oversees the Office of Youth Empowerment (OYE), a partnership of the Child Welfare Academy and Facing Foster Care in Alaska, offering opportunities for foster youth to pursue higher education and training, provides training for child welfare staff and allies, and to engage in leadership and empowerment activities. Amanda has received state and national recognition for her work. She received the Casey Excellence for Children Award in 2013, was named one of Alaskas Top 40 Under 40 in 2014, was recognized by Alaska Childrens Trust as a Champion for Kids in 2016, and by the YWCA as a Woman of Achievement in 2017.

Sarah Redmon is the Project Coordinator for the Office of Youth Empowerment, a partnership of the Child Welfare Academy and Facing Foster Care in Alaska. Sarah is a former foster youth and is currently a foster parent to her younger siblings. Sarah joined Facing Foster Care in Alaska as a youth advocate and member and was elected to the Youth Leadership Board, before joining the Board of Directors as the Deputy Treasurer. She also served as an All Star, with the national non-profit Fosterclub, training child welfare staff and allies across the country and giving input into federal legislation. In her current role, Sarah works with foster youth across the state to draw on their own lived-expertise to participate in advocacy, training, and peer support activities.

Bruce M. Botelho retired in October 2012, after completing four terms as mayor of Juneau, the longest-serving mayor in Juneau’s history. Mayor Botelho also served as the Deputy Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Revenue and later as Deputy Attorney General of the Alaska Department of Law until his appointment as Attorney General in December 1994, serving until December 2002, thus achieving the distinction as the longest-serving attorney general since statehood.

In his capacity as mayor, he served as a commissioner on the Alaska Rural Justice and Law Enforcement Commission and as a director of the Alaska Municipal League. He is a past president of the Alaska Conference of Mayors. He recently completed service as the public policy chair of the Foraker Group and as a board member of the Alaska Humanities Forum.

He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Alaska State Bar Association’s 2005 Pro Bono Award, its 2007 Jay Rabinowitz Public Service Award, and the Alaska Municipal League’s 2011 Vic Fischer Local Government Leadership Award. In 2018, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in laws from the University of Alaska Southeast. He is married to Lupita Alvarez and they have two children: Alejandro and Adriana.

Slides - https://www.dropbox.com/s/4uwwyfyfiyhxe3h/BB_forAUUF_12-5-21.pdf?dl=0

Bruce M. Botelho retired in October 2012, after completing four terms as mayor of Juneau, the longest-serving mayor in Juneau’s history. Mayor Botelho also served as the Deputy Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Revenue and later as Deputy Attorney General of the Alaska Department of Law until his appointment as Attorney General in December 1994, serving until December 2002, thus achieving the distinction as the longest-serving attorney general since statehood.

In his capacity as mayor, he served as a commissioner on the Alaska Rural Justice and Law Enforcement Commission and as a director of the Alaska Municipal League. He is a past president of the Alaska Conference of Mayors. He recently completed service as the public policy chair of the Foraker Group and as a board member of the Alaska Humanities Forum.

He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Alaska State Bar Association’s 2005 Pro Bono Award, its 2007 Jay Rabinowitz Public Service Award, and the Alaska Municipal League’s 2011 Vic Fischer Local Government Leadership Award. In 2018, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in laws from the University of Alaska Southeast. He is married to Lupita Alvarez and they have two children: Alejandro and Adriana.

Slides - https://www.dropbox.com/s/4uwwyfyfiyhxe3h/BB_forAUUF_12-5-21.pdf?dl=0

Attorney Abigail O’Connor, O’Connor Law, LLC Abigail O’Connor is an accomplished attorney with over a decade of experience dedicated to trusts and narrative, The Wake of the Unseen Object, now re-issued in the Alaska classics series of the University of Alaska Press. His latest book, Cold Mountain Path, The ghost town decades of McCarthy-Kennecott, Alaska 1938-1983, was published last month by Porphory Press. Tom’s journalism has appeared in The New Yorker, the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, the Columbia Journalism Review, and in Best American Science and Nature Writing 2017. He received an Artist Fellowship from the Rasmuson Foundation and was a Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University. A graduate of Hampshire College, he lives in Homer. www.tomkizzia.com">www.tomkizzia.com