AlexAnna Salmon is President of the Igiugig Village Council. She is of Yup’ik and Aleut descent and was raised in the village of Igiugig, Alaska.

In 2008, AlexAnna graduated from Dartmouth College with a dual Bachelor of Arts degree in Native American Studies and Anthropology. After graduating, she returned to work for the Igiugig Tribal Village Council where she was elected President and, until 2016, also held the role of Administrator. AlexAnna serves as a member of the Igiugig Native Corporation board, which is responsible for the stewardship of 66,000 tribal acres. She also serves on the Nilavena Tribal Health Consortium and is a member of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History’s Advisory Board. She received her Master’s Degree in Rural Development from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 2021.

In her work as President of the Igiugig Village Council, AlexAnna has been a driving force behind the community’s efforts to generate its own energy from renewable sources. In 2015, she was invited to President Obama’s roundtable discussion with Alaska Native leaders and was praised by Sen. Dan Sullivan in 2017 on the Senate floor for helping strengthen her community and making it an incredible place to live. AlexAnna loves raising her kids in the subsistence way of life, revitalizing Indigenous languages, and traveling.  Less

Erin is the Managing Partner at Alaska Venture Fund. Before starting Alaska Venture Fund, Erin was the program officer for the Alaska portfolio of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s Wild Salmon Ecosystems Initiative.

Prior to the foundation, Erin was the associate state director of The Nature Conservancy in Alaska where she led the conservation team’s efforts to protect polar marine, arctic wetland, temperate rainforest and wild salmon systems in Alaska. She and her husband Paul Andrews are long-time residents of Chugiak, Alaska, and are avid outdoors people, spending their free time exploring Alaska by foot, kayak, ski, packraft, paraglider and small plane.  Less

For more than two decades, Erin has brought her energy and commitment to Alaska’s future through her work in policy, politics, and social change, balancing that work through non-profit, for-profit and political lenses. As a founder and the executive director of The Salmon Project, Erin built a statewide social change initiative. She worked for preeminent Alaska consulting firm, McKinley Research Group (formerly McDowell Group), and served as chief of staff to the majority leader of the Alaska House of Representatives. Erin has an undergraduate degree from Middlebury College and a masters from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Erin has spent much of her life living between the ancestral home of the Sugpiaq people in the Kodiak Archipelago, and Lingít Aaní in Southeast Alaska. She is descended from ancestors who earned their living at sea and has engaged in Alaska’s commercial fisheries since her childhood. Currently based in Juneau, Erin and her partner are raising their son to be at home on the lands and waters of coastal Alaska.  Less

Helena, Koyukon Athabascan, was born in Fairbanks with ancestral ties to Ruby and Kokrines, and grew up throughout Alaska in Ruby, Anchorage, Juneau, Nome, Utqiagvik, Fairbanks and Sitka. She now lives and works in Anchorage on Dena’ina land where she and her husband are raising their family. Her work focuses on collective impact approaches to positive social and systemic change, elevating equity and access, and wellness and wellbeing within the Alaska Native community.  Less

As a lifelong Alaskan, Jonella/Ququngaq (Yupik) recognizes and shares an appreciation for the complex challenges we face as Alaskans and is committed to using her experience and knowledge to help others meet the needs of their communities. Jonella was born and raised in Nome with strong family ties to Savoonga on St. Lawrence Island. She and her children are tribal citizens of the Native Village of Savoonga. Her love of Yupik art, culture, and ideology led her to the University of Alaska Fairbanks where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Alaska Native and Rural Development with an emphasis in cultural documentation and community planning and to Harvard University where she earned her Master in Liberal Arts in museum studies. She is committed to working with leadership on issues and impacts related to climate and social justice, sustainable communities, and cultural expression.  Less

Matt Rafferty is a Partner at Alaska Venture Fund. He came to Alaska to explore its wild places but has stayed because of its inspiring people. With two decades of conservation experience in Alaska, Matt is currently focused on elevating issues related to Indigenous sovereignty and creating equal access to philanthropy as the moral, just, and most effective way to ensure stewardship of Alaska’s lands and waters and provide resiliency from climate change for people and the planet.

Before joining Alaska Venture Fund, Matt was the Project Director of the Alaska Engagement Partnership and Alaska Wild Salmon Fund, served as a Program Officer at the Alaska Conservation Foundation, and was the Deputy Director of the Alaska Public Radio Network. He is an Alaskan Salmon Fellow and graduate of the University of Massachusetts and Leadership Anchorage Program. An avid builder of community, Matt helped launch, grow and host Arctic Entries, a monthly storytelling event, and co-created and hosted the Borealis Bluegrass Breakdown, a weekly radio program, for 10 years.

Matt currently lives in Juneau, Alaska, and recognizes it as the past and present lands of the T’aaku Kwáan and Áak’w Kwáan Tlingit people. He is thankful for their stewardship and seeks to learn from their example.  Less

Dr. Natalie Dawson is a wildlife biologist and educator with over twenty years of experience learning from Alaska’s lands, waters and people. She draws inspiration from the dynamic synergy of public policy developed by communities across Alaska and builds partnerships to create positive change.

Before joining AVF, Natalie was the executive director of Audubon Alaska and a vice president for the National Audubon Society. She was an interdisciplinary studies professor at the University of Montana, where she led international leadership training programs and partnerships for global protected area managers through the U.S. Department of Interior, Department of Agriculture and Department of State. Prior to those positions, Natalie was a biologist on the Tongass National Forest, a public policy fellow with the American Institute of Biological Sciences in Washington, DC, and a research scientist at the USGS Alaska Science Center. Natalie continues to learn from the mountains and rivers that create the boundaries of her home on Lingit Ani, the traditional lands of the Jilkat Kwaan and Jilkoot Kwaan in Southeast Alaska’s Chilkat Valley.  Less

Shaina Kilcoyne is driven to make Alaska a leader in the clean energy sector using bold and urgent action. With a focus on broad collaboration, she works to foster partnerships across disciplines, and leverage shared goals and resources to strive for major clean energy advancements across the state.

Most recently as the Energy and Sustainability Manager for the Municipality of Anchorage, Shaina co-led the Anchorage Climate Action Plan and implementation–bringing solar and electric vehicles into the municipality and launching a proven clean energy financing program. During high school and college, she spent six years with the Army National Guard as a heavy equipment operator within an engineering unit. Through Shaina’s experience serving in the military, she learned to respect the significance of a secure and sustainable energy economy. Shaina lives on Dena’ina land in Anchorage with her husband and scruffy pup.  Less

Dr. Stephanie Quinn-Davidson is a fisheries scientist and has worked in salmon fisheries in Alaska for nearly a decade. Her work focuses on sustaining Alaska’s fisheries and those who depend on them, and elevating Indigenous perspectives and voices in fisheries policy, management, and advocacy.

Prior to joining Alaska Venture Fund, Stephanie was the director of the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission with Tanana Chiefs Conference, and a fishery biologist, then a fishery manager for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game on the Yukon River. Stephanie was recently appointed to the Advisory Council for the University of Alaska – Fairbanks College of Fisheries and Oceans, and was previously selected as an Alaska Salmon Fellow. Before moving to Alaska, Stephanie was a professor in the Environmental Studies and Biology Departments at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. Stephanie has a PhD in Limnology and Marine Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Grinnell College.

Stephanie was born in Gresham, Wisconsin, and grew up in a rural area where she spent her childhood playing in the woods and on the rivers and lakes. Hunting and fishing were a big part of her upbringing and family tradition. She is an enrolled member of the Brothertown Indian Tribe of Wisconsin. She enjoys traveling and exploring the outdoors with her wife, son, and two dogs.  Less

With a background in fisheries biology, Bill is currently pursuing community-based solutions in environmental monitoring and land management in Bristol Bay. His interest in environmental stewardship can be traced back to the moment that derailed Bill’s original ambition of working in medicine–when he was introduced to coral reef restoration efforts in small villages in the outlying islands of the Fijian archipelago.

Prior to joining Alaska Venture Fund, Bill worked alongside the Igiugig Village Council, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the University of Alaska in diverse roles and environments on Sugpiaq, Unangax̂, Yup’ik, Dena’ina, and Tlingit homelands. He has worked closely with rural community leadership, commercial fishing and processing crew members, government and university researchers, and environmental compliance representatives; these experiences have prepared Bill for the unique challenges and opportunities that come with working in the Lake Iliamna region. 

Bill enjoys most any activity that brings him out on the land and water, as well as traveling, especially to equatorial regions. Bill also has a passion for music and is learning to play several instruments. He and his partner live in Igiugig with their adventure cat, Murphy.   Less

Zoé Styron is Alaska Venture Fund’s Communications Director. She has worked with organizations across Alaska to champion local brands and amplify causes committed to protecting Alaska’s unique way of life for future generations.

Before joining Alaska Venture Fund, Zoé was Strategy Director at Element Agency, Communications Director at The Salmon Project, and led communications at AlphaSights, one of the world’s fastest-growing professional services firms. Zoé has lived and worked in Asia, Europe, and the USA, and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Nottingham, and a Masters of Science from the University of London, UK. Zoé lives on Dena’ina land in Anchorage, Alaska, with her husband and two daughters.  Less

Nalikutaar, Jacqueline Cleveland (Yup’ik) is a subsistence hunter, fisherwoman, and gatherer from Quinhagak and a citizen of the Native Village of Kwinhagak Tribal Government. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Media and Theater Arts with a minor in Native American Studies from Montana State University, Bozeman.

As a filmmaker and photographer, Jacqueline’s work focuses on elevating the languages and cultures of Alaska Native peoples. In addition to leading the Aywaa Storyhouse project for Alaska Venture Fund, Jacqueline is working with Trim Tab Media on a documentary that features the impacts of climate change on the people and community of Quinhagak.

Jacqueline serves on the Kuskokwim River Intertribal Fish Commission, the Yukon- Delta Regional Advisory Council, the Central Bering Sea Advisory Council, Quinhagak Heritage, Inc., and the Native Village of Kwinhagak Tribal Council.  Less

Miaraq, Warren Jones was born in Bethel and raised in Nome and Palmer. He is of Gwich’in, Yup’ik and Iñupiaq descent and his family comes from Nenana, Hooper Bay and Nome respectively. Warren has traveled the state working the oil fields, canneries and fishing boats and has traveled and lived across the U.S. Warren served in the Marine Corps from 2002 to 2006 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom I and II with the 13th and 15th Marine Expeditionary Units. He met his wife Sacha while stationed at Camp Pendleton and they now reside in Anchorage on Dena’ina land with their four kids. Warren studied Political Science at UAA and did his internship with the First Alaskans Institute and Inuit Circumpolar Council comparing hunting and fishing rights across the four nations they serve. Warren’s work includes writing, poetry, Indigenous philosophy and consulting on culture and politics. Warren will be traveling and writing for Aywaa Storyhouse and brings his diverse knowledge and perspective to the Alaska Venture Fund team.  Less

Jacob grew up in Alaska and is a graduate of the University of Alaska Anchorage and a Harry S Truman Scholar. Prior to working with the Alaska Venture Fund, Jacob was a part of the Alaska Fellows Program researching sustainable economic development opportunities in-state. Jacob also worked on producing the Anchorage Climate Action Plan and a greenhouse gas emissions analysis for the city. He is passionate about creating a more sustainable future for communities across Alaska.  Less

Kendra Arciniega is a storyteller, community advocate, and culture-focused creative with a concentration in social and digital media strategy, visual media production, and community relations. Her communications and creative career spans multiple industries including higher education, law enforcement, local government and politics, and the entertainment industry.

Before joining Alaska Venture Fund, Kendra spent several years in public service. After serving as Deputy Communications Director for the Anchorage Police Department, she transitioned within the Municipality of Anchorage to serve as Creative Digital Director for Acting Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson’s administration at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before her career pivoted to public service, Kendra spent years as a television and film producer in Los Angeles. She is a Rasmuson Foundation Individual Artist Award honoree and serves on the board of Identity Alaska, a statewide LGBTQIA2S+ non-profit organization. Kendra earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from Trinity University in her ancestral region of San Antonio, Texas.

Kendra is a proud Tejana who lives, works, and creates on Dena’ina lands. Together with her wife, she produces monthly culture-bearing events through Arciniega Street Productions that focus on building community and showcasing LGBTQ+ and BIPOC artists in Alaska.  Less

Kenni Linden is an interdisciplinary communicator who specializes in collaborative relationship building and multimedia marketing. Her work centers on the people, places and passions of Alaska.

Prior to joining Alaska Venture Fund, Kenni was an account supervisor and social media strategist at the Anchorage-based and Indigenous-led marketing agency, Northwest Strategies. She also wrote, edited and taught journalism ethics and mindful social media for the online platform Elephant Journal. As a former Anchorage regional field organizer for Planned Parenthood, Kenni built wide-ranging relationships and coalitions across Southcentral Alaska. She is co-host of the podcast, “What Can Poetry Do?” and serves on the boards of Alaska Family Services and Mat-Su Borough Parks, Recreation and Trails.

Kenni graduated from Naropa University with a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies. She was born and raised in Palmer, Alaska–where five generations of her family have called home–and lives in Palmer on Ahtna and Dena’ina land. Kenni can often be found in Hatcher Pass with her family.  Less