AUUF Podcasts

Julie Decker has served as the Director of the Anchorage Museum since January 2013. Before that, she had served as the Chief Curator of the Museum. She holds a Ph.D. in Contemporary Art History from Union Institute and University, and a Master’s Degree from Golden Gate University.

Gary is the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship's c=Called Minister

Natalie Landreth is a Senior Staff Attorney at the Native American Rights Fund, based in Anchorage. She has been at the forefront of the development of tribal jurisdiction in Alaska through her involvement in a series of cases beginning with Kaltag v. Hogan, a case that established Alaska tribes have original jurisdiction to adjudicate children’s cases. She is a graduate of Harvard University (magna cum laude) and Harvard Law School. She served as a law clerk to Dana Fabe, Chief Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court. She is an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma.

This Service includes the Speach that Malala Yousafzai gave in her acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prise in 2014. You can find the original video here:

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2014/yousafzai-lecture_en.html

Faith Gemmill-Fredson of Arctic Village, Alaska is the founder and current Executive Director of REDOIL (Resisting Environmental Destruction On Indigenous Lands) REDOIL is a grassroots network that was created by Alaska Natives to share knowledge, experience and strategies to address the detrimental impacts of fossil fuel, mining and climate change in Alaska. Prior to the work with REDOIL, Faith served as the Program Director of the Gwich'in Steering Committee, working on issues of oil development, human rights, and defense of Gwich’in ancestral homelands. She attended the Climate COP 21 (Conference of the Parties) in Paris.Sören Wuerth is a teacher, activist, and writer living in Girdwood, Alaska. As a traveler on Spaceship Earth, he works to keep fellow passengers aware of systemic problems that threaten the engines of our biosphere. He maintains a blog at glacierwatch.wordpress.com.

Gary is the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship's Called Minister.

Polly Carr is the Executive Director of the Alaska Center for the Environment. 

In 1997, Polly drove her Toyota pickup truck to Alaska to guide for ACE’s Trailside Discovery program. The truck is still running, and Polly is still working to make Alaska a great place to live. She has been lucky to be a part of some exciting innovations in Alaska — from helping found the Alaska Youth for Environmental Action (AYEA) program in 1998 (now a part of ACE), to helping establish the first women’s flat track roller derby league, to launching one of Anchorage’s first wine bistros. When she is not at work for ACE, she is on the trails with her toddler, drinking coffee, or perusing restaurant menus.

Before returning to ACE as our Executive Director, Polly worked for the Alaska Conservation Foundation, supporting collaborations among conservation nonprofits and strategies to advance the environmental priorities of Alaska Native communities. She is excited to apply her skills and background in fundraising, community organizing, leadership development, organizational management, and political perspective to ACE. 

Gary Holthaus is a poet, author and minister. For the past three years he's served as the called minister of the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

Originally ordained as a Methodist minister, Holthaus has also made a living as an educator and non-profit administrator. 

He's the author -- most recently -- of "Learning Native Wisdom: What Traditional Cultures Teach Us about Subsistence, Sustainability, and Spirituality" and "From the Farm to the Table: What All Americans Need to Know about Agriculture." In this latter work, through interviews with men and women who try to make a living farming in southeastern Minnesota, Holthaus examined the stark downside of international free-trade agreements that maximize multinational corporate profits at the expense of American farmers, wage-earners and the environment.

Cliff Groh is a lifelong Alaskan, lawyer, and writer who is Chair of Alaska Common Ground and has served on the board of that organization for two decades. He has authored or co-authored four chapters in academic books about Alaska fiscal policy.

Gunnar Knapp is Director and Professor of Economics at the University of Alaska Anchorage Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER). He has been researching Alaska’s economy for the past 34 years, and his analysis over the past two years has included a focus on the state’s revenues, expenditures, savings, and options for addressing the fiscal challenges.

William R. (Bill) Clontz brings over forty years in leadership development and coaching, organizational effectiveness, and strategic planning to his work as a stewardship consultant serving UUs, from congregations to the UUA. He has over 25 years of active participation in UU church leadership and stewardship and 15 years of business development and portfolio management as a corporate officer, including working with nonprofits and nongovernmental organizations. His focus as a stewardship consultant over the last five years has been empowering congregations to have successful stewardship environments, leadership development, and the growth of our movement.