Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Forum Podcasts

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Robert Alexander is the CEO and Co-Founder of AuraLab, whose Breathscape app supports deep meditative states by transforming breath into music through biofeedback. Before launching AuraLab, he worked as a NASA fellow at the Goddard Space Flight Center, served as the Chief Innovation Officer at the University of Michigan, and lectured on Sound Design and Psychology at the Hong...

Send us Fan Mail Jory Knott is the Executive Director of the Alaska Innocence Project. A lifelong Alaskan, he earned an interdisciplinary degree in art and music at UAA, then moved to Oregon, where he composed music, wrote grants for creative projects, and apprenticed in stone masonry. He became operations manager for a masonry company with stone cutting operations and rock quarries across the Pac...

Send us Fan Mail John Weddleton moved to Anchorage in 1987 after a life of traveling across the country and world, including several years in Istanbul, Lugano, and five years as a dry cabin dweller in Fairbanks. John started his work career as an economic consultant. He now owns a retail business and some commercial properties. John went to a Community Council meeting in 1997, then things got out...

Send us Fan Mail   Leon Jaimes (pronounced hi-Mays) is a network security professional who has provided security consulting services to the healthcare, financial services, state and local government, telecommunications, and retail sectors. He has over 20 years of experience in Cybersecurity and Information Technology. He lives with his amazing wife and two amazing children on the traditional lands...

Send us Fan Mail Margie Harrison has worked in libraries for over thirty years. She planned to go into social work after college, but her career path changed after taking a job at a small urban library. Margie graduated with a Master's Degree in Library Science from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, a couple of years later. Her love of learning and passion for serving and helping o...

Send us Fan Mail Retired Judge Elaine Andrews served as a trial judge for over 20 years in Anchorage.  She served as Presiding Judge of the Third Judicial District from 1996 to 2002.  Prior to assuming the bench in 1981, she was an attorney serving in both the public and private sectors, practicing criminal and civil law.  She is the past chair of the Committee for Fair and Impartial Courts for th...

Send us Fan Mail Ruth Adolf is an 18-year Police Officer with the Anchorage Police Department (APD). Her extensive experience includes patrol work, specialized Crisis Response, and a key role in developing and implementing APD's successful co-responder model—a concept that pairs officers with mental health professionals in the field. A former member of the Crisis Negotiator Team, Ruth is a de...

Send us Fan Mail Steve Lindbeck has enjoyed a 45-year career in Alaska journalism, public affairs, and non-profit management. He served as CEO & General Manager for Alaska Public Media, Vice Chancellor for Advancement at the University of Alaska Anchorage, Associate Editor of the Anchorage Daily News, and Executive Director of the Alaska Humanities Forum, among other roles. In 2016, he spent a...

Send us Fan Mail Julie Green-Graham i s a retired teacher who served in the Anchorage School District for 34 years. Married to a lifelong Alaskan, she is the mother of four daughters and Mema to four grandchildren. She is a member of Central Lutheran Church and part of their Local Organizing Ministry team. In 2022, she served on the Anchorage Municipal Emergency Cold Weather Task Force. Her role w...

Send us Fan Mail Monica Lee is a Director of Operations for Southcentral Foundation. In her role, she supports SCF’s Specialty Care Services division, assisting with the smooth operation of services for customer-owners. She is responsible for the daily operations and growth of 20 different departments at SCF, providing both local and statewide health care for Alaska Native families. Prior to her c...

Send us Fan Mail Shirley Mae Springer Staten has called Anchorage, Alaska, home for over 45 years, dedicating her life to building bridges across race, class, culture, and generations. As an artist, educator, speaker, and cultural connector, she is known for her exuberance, compassion, and commitment to community and global understanding through the arts. In 2015, she founded Keys to Life, a nonpr...

Send us Fan Mail Cathleen McLaughlin is the CEO of Restorative and Reentry Services (“RSS”). She has worked in law and advocacy for over 35 years.  In 2014, Cathleen became the Director of the Partners Reentry Center, which provided pre- and post-release reentry services to vulnerable individuals who would otherwise be released from incarceration to homelessness.  This experience inspired her to o...

Send us Fan Mail Felix Rivera came to Alaska for college and never left. He earned his BA in Liberal Studies at Alaska Pacific University. While studying journalism there, he covered local events and also wrote for an international wire service. His work as Constituent Relations and Special Assistant for the Mayor's Office helped to prepare him for his role as an Anchorage Assembly Member and...

Send us Fan Mail Yareth Rosen came to Alaska in 1987 to work for the Anchorage Times. She has been reporting on Alaska news ever since, covering stories ranging from oil spills to sled-dog races. She has reported for Reuters, the Alaska Dispatch News, Arctic Today, and other organizations. She covers environmental issues, energy, climate change, natural resources, economic and business news, healt...

Send us Fan Mail   Rev Lisa Adams Sherry is the settled minister for the Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.  She grew up in Oregon as part of a blended family.  Her main interests growing up were dancing and theatre--she performed a lot!  Another highlight was learning French and spending her junior year of college in France. Lise is married to Nelson, and together they have two boys (Ke...

Send us Fan Mail Jane Angvik has been involved in Alaska public life since 1973. After serving on the Anchorage Charter Commission, she was elected to the Anchorage Assembly and became the first woman to serve as Assembly Chair. She has managed state agencies, coordinated a foundation, planned and built facilities, and assisted communities across Alaska in planning their infrastructure and long-ra...

Send us Fan Mail Ed Ulman is the President & CEO of Alaska Public Media (AKPM), Alaska's largest PBS, NPR, and statewide news organization. He joined AKPM nine years ago, having previously served as Executive Director and General Manager of the public television station in Tacoma. During his tenure, Ulman has led teams that revitalized local television production, expanded statewide enter...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Steven Konkel is passionate about connecting the environment and human health. He has worked at two national energy laboratories conducting energy assessments, policy analysis, and environmental evaluations of projects. He served as a Policy Analyst and Strategic Planner during Gov. Jay Hammond’s second Administration, with overall responsibility for rural and remote energy pl...

Send us Fan Mail   Douglas Eby , MD, MPH, has worked as a physician executive in support of Alaska Native people for over 30 years.  He has been the VP of Medical Services for the Baldrige Award-winning Southcentral Foundation for over 25 years, and helps jointly oversee the Alaska Native Medical Center.  While based in Anchorage, SCF manages and supports clinics across a huge swath of southern Al...

Send us Fan Mail Judith Anderegg and David Pelto have more than 100 years of life in Alaska between them.  Judith came to Anchorage with her family in 1957; David's family arrived in Juneau in 1966.  Both attended colleges in the lower forty-eight before returning to Alaska to live. Judith worked in the Hammond administration for the Coastal Zone Management program.  In 1980, Judith received...

Send us Fan Mail Sophia is a coach, athlete, bodyworker, and lifelong learner. She is passionate about human resilience, building teams, and uplifting passionate people. After several years of rowing competitively in flat water, Sophia set her eyes on the ocean, and in 2022, she and her team, Latitude 35, set the world record for the fastest women's team to row from California to Hawaii. A se...

Send us Fan Mail Rose O'Hara-Jolley is state director of Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, working to protect and promote reproductive and LGBTQ2+ health, rights, and justice. They oversee statewide advocacy programs, policy and legislative efforts, and Planned Parenthood’s local and state electoral programs, including ballot initiatives. Rose began as the Fairbanks organizer and then be...

Send us Fan Mail Daniel Gwynn was sentenced to death in Philadelphia in 1994 after being convicted of first-degree murder, arson, and aggravated assault in the death of Marsha Smith. Thirty years later, in February 2024, the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office dismissed all charges in the case, acknowledging that Gwynn was wrongfully convicted and unjustly imprisoned for nearly three deca...

Send us Fan Mail Dennis Arashiro is a longtime member of AUUF and is the Executive Board President of the Alaska Japanese American Citizens League of Alaska.

Send us Fan Mail Laura Norton-Cruz is a licensed master social worker (LMSW), Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC), lifelong advocate for children and families, former teacher and victim advocate, artist, and a mother of two wonderful elementary-aged children. She grew up in Anchorage, and attended Mount Holyoke College for undergrad and University of Michigan for graduate school. Laura has lived i...