AUUF Podcasts

Kameron Perdez-Verdia is one of the eleven members of the Anchorage Assembly, representing District 3 (West Anchorage). He serves on the Assembly’s Committee on Housing and Homelessness, and is the chair of its Health Policy Committee and Co-Chair of its Public Safety Committee. Many of you know him as a longtime member of the Fellowship, or as CEO of the Alaska Humanities Forum, a local non-profit that brings Alaskans together to think critically to build and strengthen communities. Kameron was born and raised in Alaska. He earned his Bachelor’s in Communications from University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, and his Masters in Business Administration from the University of Denver. He is an avid runner and outdoor enthusiast and enjoys exploring Alaska with his wife and two young daughters. In 2013, Kameron was appointed to the Anchorage School Board, and then elected to a four-year term, serving year-long terms as Vice President and then President.

Kelley Hartlieb & her spouse are both near-life-long Alaskans. They joined AUUF when their daughters were in kindergarten, roughly 2007. Kelley is a long-time OWL facilitator (aka Our Whole Lives), the UU comprehensive sex ed program. She has served on the Religious Exploration Committee, as the Board secretary, and currently chairs AUUF's Program Council. Kelley works as a Project Coordinator at UAA's Center for Human Development. Her work focuses on initiatives to prevent abuse and promote healthy relationships for people with disabilities. She likes bluegrass music.

Ann Larabee has been attending the fellowship since the late 1990's. She has a master's degrees in education and clinical psychology, worked as a therapist with families and children, and spent the last 17 years of my career working for the Alaska court system with families involved in high conflict child custody disputes. Ann is interested in Buddhism and Eastern thought, and enjoy learning about daily practices that can expand awareness, including looking closely at feelings, thoughts and relationships. She says the Healthy Congregation(s) Team has provided a good opportunity for considering these issues in our community with great companionship along the way.

Robin Hill moved here nearly 40 years ago when her soon-to-be husband Erik accepted a job as a photographer at The Anchorage Daily News. During their time here, Robin has worked as a freelance journalist and for nearly 20 years as a classroom teacher at Rogers Park Elementary, where she mediated many a conflict. She helped start the Anchorage affiliate of Habitat for Humanity, taught reading at Cook Inlet Pre-Trial Facility, and is regular volunteer with FISH, The Food Bank of Alaska and other organizations. She and Erik have served on several AUUF committees and Robin now serves as vice chair of the Board.

PDF of the slides used in the presentation - https://www.dropbox.com/s/v3u29cojta3ascx/Covenants%20%E2%80%98R%E2%80%99%20Us%20-.pdf?dl=0

Covenant of Right Relations - draft 4 - https://www.dropbox.com/s/yyy3nj9v0mgjqe0/AUUFCovenant_of_RightRelations_Draft4.pdf?dl=0

Felisa Wilson retired as a Major from the US Air Force in 2019 with over 20 years of active military service. She earned her Master of Public Administration in Healthcare Administration from Troy State University in 2001. Major Wilson earned her MD from Texas Tech University School of Medicine in 2009 and attended Family Medicine Residency program at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. She was served in Kyrgyzstan in 2010 and from 2012-2013 she was deployed to Forward Operating Base. ​

See her full military bio, including decorations and awards, https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UVmFTQo3NCwEjRvItNnOmLV4PfRB02kX/edit.

For redacted slides of Major Wilson's presentation go here, https://www.akwebguy.com/AUUF/%5bRedacted%5dMY_AFGHANISTAN_STORY_MajorFelisaWilson_12Sep2021

Joelle Hall is the President of the Alaska AFL-CIO, elected in 2020. She is the first woman to hold the role. Prior to her election, she served as the Alaska AFL-CIO Political Director for 11 years. Joelle has worked in Alaska politics for nearly 30 years with emphasis on electoral campaigns and advocacy work. She has built and managed large campaigns and community coalitions. Prior to coming to the AFL-CIO, Joelle was Executive Director of the Alaska Democratic Party and had her own consulting business for 10 years. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Foreign Language from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and in a previous life, Joelle was an interrogator/paratrooper in the US Army and an AFS exchange student to Honduras. Joelle and her husband Mallie have two grown children and live in Peters Creek

For slides used by Joelle in her presentation, go here, https://www.dropbox.com/s/bm0774cv7p99ljh/Unions%3F%20What%20happened%3F.pdf?dl=0

Justin Dickens is a curious soul, a seeker of collective liberation, and someone who invests deeply in healing. A Social Justice educator at local, regional, and national conferences, they cultivate their passion for social justice at Identity, an LGBTQ advocacy organization, where they serve as Youth Program Manager. They are a trans non-binary athlete, and also a climbing Instructor at Alaska Rock Gym. Justin earned their B.A. from Alaska Pacific University and their M.A. from Seattle University, and they were the Creator and are a Sustainer of the APU Adventure Gap Scholarship. They are tenacious and whole-hearted, with an undeniable fashion sense, and they exude just as much joy as their adorable corgi husky.

Alaska Public Radio story on Justin’s 2021 Mayor’s Marathon in Heels https://www.alaskapublic.org/2021/06/21/im-choosing-to-be-visible-anchorage-trans-athlete-runs-marathon-in-heels-to-raise-awareness/

Recommended book: Sonya Renee Taylor, "The Body is Not an Apology"

Recommended podcast: Episode on Brené Brown’s Unlocking Us podcast series, interviewing Sonya Renee Taylor about "The Body is Not an Apology"

• Unlocking Us with Brené Brown - https://open.spotify.com/episode/6K5ytRMH1tMPldejD5TbKK

Recommended book: Alok Vaid-Menon, “Beyond The Gender Binary”

Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink talked with us about the “other” epidemic in Alaska, in a presentation called “Fighting the Opioid Crisis While Seeing the Person Behind the Addiction.” As there was some time and the Covid epidemic is not over, she also took some questions about Covid. ​ Slides - https://akwebguy.com/AUUF/Zink_OpioidEpidemicAndCovidUpdate/#0

State Senator Tom Begich, the Minority Leader of the Alaska Senate, gave us a preview of the what to expect from the upcoming Special Session of the Alaska Legislature. It’s hard to understate the importance of the issues the Legislature will be dealing with in this session.

links - https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2021/08/13/alaska-legislature-set-convene-monday-debate-long-term-future-pfd/

Here is the White House Fact Sheet regarding the Senate version of Infrastructure Bill and its specific carve-outs for Alaska: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/ALASKA_The-Infrastructure-Investment-and-Jobs-Act-State-Fact-Sheet.pdf

Additionally, here is Senator Murkowski’s breakdown of the specific benefits this legislation will have on Alaska: https://www.murkowski.senate.gov/press/release/alaska-to-receive-big-benefits-from-infrastructure-package

Here is the entirety of the legislatio: https://www.epw.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/e/a/ea1eb2e4-56bd-45f1-a260-9d6ee951bc96/F8A7C77D69BE09151F210EB4DFE872CD.edw21a09.pdf.

Use the “Find” feature in Adobe Acrobat to search for instances where “Alaska” is specifically referenced. That way you can easily find specific call-outs for our state. These "call-outs" include:

• Rural barge landing, dock, and waterfront infrastructure projects in rural communities or Alaska Native villages
• Alaska Highway and Alaska Marine Highway
• Reduce Wildlife collisions – eligible entities include Alaska Native tribe
• Healthy Streets Program (reduce temperature of pavement, expand tree coverage, and improve air quality) – eligible entities include local and tribal governments, and nonprofit organizations
• Assist Indian tribes, Alaska Native villages, and state DOTs in compiling vehicle crash data that occurs in tribal communities.
• Money to connect isolated microgrids to existing transmission, transportation, or telecommunications infrastructure corridors located in Alaska.
• Loan guarantees for natural gas pipeline
• Expansion of energy consumption surveys (energy burden mapping)
• In two years - Competitive grant program for small water and ground water storage in Alaska including grants to improve sanitation
• Education - Improve digital equity in rural communities (broadband)
• Reduce lead exposure in schools (safe drinking water initiative
• Electrifying school buses

Abraham Bonowitz has been one of the leading organizers in the death penalty abolition movement since the late 1980’s. He has had a hand in each of the legislative repeal victories thus far throughout the nation, and has been active in numerous states where there’s work yet to be done. Abe has served on the boards of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, the Journey of Hope…From Violence to Healing, and Amnesty International USA. He has helped produce numerous direct action and non-violent civil resistance events, and has been arrested nine times protesting the death penalty. In a brief departure from anti-death penalty work, Abe was one of the original staff members of the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation, participating in many Farm Worker movement activities in California from 1994 to 1997. He lives in Columbus, Ohio with his wife, son, and dog.

• Link to the home page of Alaskans Against the Death Penalty, which has info on the 25th Anniversary “Fry Fish Not People” AADF fundraiser, and also a tribute to Shirley Dickens:

http://www.aadp.info/

• Link to Death Penalty Action, the group our speaker is currently involved with:

https://deathpenaltyaction.org/

• Link to the short film shown at the end of the presentation, called Call to Action on the Federal Death Penalty:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR2A8BMo7SQ&t=19s

Jim Gottstein grew up in Anchorage, graduating from West High in 1971, the University of Oregon in 1974, and Harvard Law School in 1978. In 1982, he experienced a psychotic break and was told he would be permanently mentally ill and never practice law again. Luckily, neither proved true. He became an advocate for people diagnosed with mental illness, and in 2002, Jim founded the Law Project for Psychiatric Rights (PsychRights) to mount strategic litigation against forced psychiatric drugging and electroshock, and educate the public about these problems. He has won five Alaska Supreme Court cases about psychiatric patients' rights being violated. In 2006, on behalf of his client Bill Bigley, Jim subpoenaed secret documents showing drug maker Eli Lilly hid that Zyprexa caused diabetes and massive weight gain. His release of these documents resulted in a multi-day exposé in The New York Times. The Zyprexa Papers, his book about that and his representation of Bill Bigley, was published in 2020.

Slides - https://www.dropbox.com/s/glly506851731od/210801AncUnitarianGuardianshipAbuse.pdf?dl=0