Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Forum Podcasts

Send us Fan Mail Lars Danner is a public criminal defense lawyer who has lived in Alaska since 2000.  He is the father of three daughters, including Esme Danner, who is the fellowship's music director. Lars also has a one-year-old grandson with whom he spends as much time as he possibly can. Lars was the first person to have completed the Iditarod Trail Invitational 300-mile race to McGrath i...

Send us Fan Mail Alissa Lambert serves as Program Director of Refugee Assistance and Immigration Services at Catholic Social Services, where she leads efforts to welcome and support refugees and other newcomers as they rebuild their lives in Alaska. With a decade of experience working alongside displaced populations, Alissa brings both international and local perspectives to refugee resettlement....

Send us Fan Mail Gayle Schuh has lived in Alaska since 2003, after retiring from education in Illinois, where she taught middle school physical education and later served as an assistant principal. A desire to connect with the LGBTQ+ community drew Gayle and her wife, Julie Schmidt, to volunteer with Identity, eventually serving on the board from 2006 until the early 2020s. Gayle worked on the spe...

Send us Fan Mail Lesil McGuire is a policy strategist and business development executive. She served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 2001 to 2006, and then in the Alaska Senate from 2007 through 2016. In the Legislature, she led bipartisan efforts to modernize energy, infrastructure, and regulatory frameworks and chaired multiple influential committees, including the Judiciary and Arct...

Send us Fan Mail Felix Rivera recently left the Anchorage Assembly after serving three consecutive three-year terms, the maximum allowed by the City Charter. During his time on the Assembly, Felix chaired the Assembly and several of its committees, and was one of the sponsors of the effort to create an Anchorage Public Safety Commission. He came to Alaska for college and never left. He earned his...

Send us Fan Mail Marisol Vargas is the Co-Executive Director of Operations at Alaska Literacy Program, with 16 years of experience supporting English language learners in overcoming barriers and achieving their goals. Originally from Mexico City, she earned a degree in business administration before immigrating to the United States in 1999. She attended Alaska Literacy Program to improve her Engli...

Send us Fan Mail Zori Opanasevych is the Executive Director of the New Chance United Relief Program in Anchorage and a Ukrainian community leader. She serves communities across Alaska, leading efforts to resettle and support nearly 2,000 Ukrainian refugees who have arrived in Alaska since the war began. Her work focuses on helping families secure housing, employment, education, and legal stability...

Send us Fan Mail Barbara Jones served as Anchorages Municipal Clerk from 2012 to 2023 and was responsible, among her many duties, for conducting fair elections. After retiring as Clerk, Jones served as Deputy Chief of Staff to Mayor Suzanne LaFrance from July 2024 until last month. Prior to her appointment as Municipal Clerk, Jones served as the Anchorage Ombudsman from January 2011-July 2012, and...

Send us Fan Mail Gregg Brelsford grew up in Denver. After visiting his parents in Anchorage on a college break the year before, Gregg drove the Alaska Highway in 1972 with his brother Jim to begin a life in Alaska. He earned his B.A. and a Master's in Public Administration from UAA while working full-time, and then a law degree from Harvard Law School.  He is a former Alaska prosecuting attor...

Send us Fan Mail John McKay, our beloved Forum facilitator (and a poet in his own right), had the idea of celebrating Poetry Month by having members of the fellowship read inspiring poetry selections, rather than inviting a handful of poets to present their own work. John's outreach included the following phrase - "This is the first time we have tried an entirely 'democratic' p...

Send us Fan Mail Sandy Harper , with her late husband, actor and director Jerry Harper, co-founded Cyranos in 1987. Five years later, they launched Cyranos Off Center Playhouse as the home of Eccentric Theatre Company, which later became Cyranos Theatre Company. Sandy is now Cyranos producing artistic director emerita, and the legacy and impact of the Harper's efforts to create an artistic co...

Send us Fan Mail Pamela Miller founded Alaska Community Action on Toxics in 1997 and serves as its Executive Director. Pam works passionately for environmental and reproductive justice, health, and human rights, with more than 35 years of research, education, and advocacy experience. She was elected in 2016 as Co-Chair of the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN), a network of more t...

Send us Fan Mail Matt Claman first came to Alaska in 1980 to work in a mining camp. After graduating from law school, Matt returned to Alaska to make his home, raise his family, and establish his career. Matt was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives in 2014, the Senate in 2022, is currently chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and is a candidate for Governor in 2026. Prior to service...

Send us Fan Mail Tom Begich is a candidate for Governor of Alaska in the 2026 election. Tom served in the Alaska State Senate from 2017 to 2023 and was the Senate Minority Leader from 2019 to 2023. In the past, he served as a staff assistant to two Majority Leaders in the Alaska State House and Chief of Staff to the Caucus Chair in the State Senate. He has served on numerous boards and commissions...

Send us Fan Mail Wesley James Furlong is a Senior Staff Attorney at the Native American Rights Fund. Wess practice primarily focuses on protecting Indigenous cultural resources and traditional cultural places and landscapes. Much of this work involves representing Tribal Nations, Tribal consortia and organizations, and Native Hawaiian organizations in large-scale and highly controversial natural r...

Send us Fan Mail Willie Hensley is an Alaska statesman and Native Elder.  He was instrumental in the creation of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, which became law in 1971. He is a co-founder and currently serves as Chair of the First Alaskans Institute. Willie served as Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Department of Business and Public Policy at UAA. He also helped found, and headed...

Send us Fan Mail Anna Taylor is the Executive Director at the Alaska Institute for Justice. She started working with AIJ as a staff attorney in March 2014 at the Juneau office. In February of 2018, she moved to the Anchorage office. Since joining AIJ, Anna has helped clients get U visas, as victims of crime; T visas, as survivors of human trafficking; green cards, as survivors of domestic violence...

Send us Fan Mail Jenn Bluntach is AUUF's Director of Religious Exploration. Jenn moved to Anchorage with her husband, Ryan, leaving behind their Minnesota roots, when she accepted the DRE position in the Fall of 2024. She has previous experience as an activity director and youth director at a progressive Presbyterian church in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. She loves continuing to learn about Unita...

Send us Fan Mail Bill Hill is a lifelong Alaskan. The son of two teachers, Bill spent nearly 25 years as a teacher, principal, and superintendent. In 2023, he was named Alaska Superintendent of the Year. A Dena’ina Athabascan, Bill grew up in a small village in Bristol Bay. His childhood was spent subsistence fishing and hunting, trapping, and raising and racing sled dog teams with his family. Bil...

Send us Fan Mail Charlene has served in many spaces as an advocate for Indigenous Womxn, Indigenous Sovereignty, climate justice, and Indigenous rights to health and wellbeing. Charlene is a lifelong learner in both her cultural traditions and decolonizing academia. She is a mother to Evan Lukluan. She earned her B.A. in American Ethnic Studies with a minor in Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies,...

Send us Fan Mail Asa Hohman earned his law degree and an M.B.A. from the University of Montana and an LL.M. from the University of Washington. Shortly after his admission to the bar, Asa began focusing his practice on immigration and small-business formation for immigrant-owned businesses (as well as other small businesses). He practices in the full breadth of immigration, including asylum and rem...

Send us Fan Mail   Mayor Suzanne LaFrance grew up in Palmer, Alaska, and is a proud graduate of Alaska’s public schools. She lives in South Anchorage with her husband Dave Hemstreet, their three kids, and their puppy. Mayor LaFrance served two terms on the Anchorage Assembly, including two years as Chair. She brings over 25 years of private sector experience, managing budgets, projects, and people...

Send us Fan Mail From 1991-2024, Tlingit Joaqlin Estus spent her career primarily as a reporter for public radio and television, and for the national online news platform ICT (formerly Indian Country Today). She has a degree in history from UAA and first worked as a historian for the National Park Service, then moved into coastal management.  She began volunteering at KTOO, the public radio statio...

Send us Fan Mail Senator Bill Wielechowski has been representing East Anchorage in the State Legislature since 2007. He has served as the President and Executive Board member of the East Anchorage Northeast Community Council, the Anchorage Planning and Zoning Commission, and the Anchorage School District Budget Review Team. He has held positions on the Alaska Workers’ Compensation Board and the Mu...

Send us Fan Mail Caroline Storm was born in Canada to immigrant parents, one from South Africa and one from Czechoslovakia. Education and learning were central to her home environment, and she was pushed to pursue a professional degree. Educated and licensed as an architect, she left the profession after 25 years in practice to serve as Executive Director of the Coalition for Education Equity in A...