John-Henry Henkendornis is the managing partner of the Anchorage-based political consulting firm Ship Creek Group. He has worked on over 100 Alaska political campaigns and initiatives in the last 12 years, helping launch Ship Creek Group in 2015 and working as Policy Director to Governor Bill Walker (I-AK) and Aide to Airbnb founder and CEO Brian Chesky. John-Henry graduated from Whitman College with degrees in politics and economics and as an All-American in intercollegiate debate. He has served on the Board of the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust and as a commercial fishing deckhand in Bristol Bay.

Burke Croft is the Deputy Data Director for Ship Creek Group. Born and raised in Anchorage, Burke has always been drawn to the curiosity of science and the kindness of community action. Since starting at Ship Creek Group in 2019, he’s been working to combine those passions. He studied Chemistry and Data Science at the University of Chicago and was also a Fellows Ambassador Team Leader at the Institute of Politics. Burke served as Digital Communications Director for U.S. Representative Mary Peltola and managed the elections legislation portfolio for Alaska’s lone Congressional office. He’s also a co-founder of Mental Health Advocacy Through Storytelling (MHATS) in Anchorage. You'll usually find him biking in the summer, ice skating in the winter, and making themed playlists whenever the weather shifts.

Ship Creek Group website - https://www.shipcreekgroup.com

Bridget Jochum is the Development and Operations Support Coordinator at the Alaska Literacy Program. She supports the fundraising and communications arm of ALP’s programming. Bridget previously worked in refugee resettlement services for the State of Alaska, with many of those same resettled refugees now attending classes at ALP. She was a Jesuit Volunteer AmeriCorps with Catholic Social Services in Anchorage after graduating from John Carroll University with a degree in Digital Media Communications.

Bridget's slides - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/aq2xwi7hg1w9d5t28nva0/AUU-Alaska-Literacy-Program.pdf?rlkey=6919w0dgiuym30vk7184jjikm&dl=0

Bridget's first and second slides contain links to the Alaska Literacy Program's website (http://www.alaskaliteracyprogram.org), where you can find the video Gretchen used at the beginning of her presentation.

Bretwood "Hig" Higman is a geologist who lives in Seldovia. After graduating from high school there, he spent 13 years in college and grad school, studying glass art and walking from Seattle to the Aleutians before moving back to Seldovia. He earned his bachelor’s degree in geology at Carleton College in Minnesota. Then, in 2007, he earned his PhD in geology at the University of Washington, studying the onshore effects of tsunamis while also studying physics and computer science. He has spent his career as a geologist studying tsunamis, earthquakes, and landslides. In addition to natural hazards, Hig has a passion for wilderness adventure, collaboration between stakeholder communities and scientists, trail building, natural resource policy, science communication, and chainsaw milling. Hig has also studied Yoshokai Aikido and invented the jewelry manufacturing method behind Sundrop Jewelry. He is the Executive Director of Ground Truth Alaska. This educational nonprofit seeks to advance public understanding and engagement in climate change, wilderness, energy, hazards, and natural resource issues in Alaska. He co-founded this organization, named initially Ground Truth Trekking, with Erin McKittrick. He and Erin now live in a yurt, near family, where they’ve raised their children.

https://groundtruthalaska.org/

Note that Hig's presentation included a LOT of computer graphics that are not easy to capture in a PDF slide show. We've decided to include a link to the video of Hig's presentation and all of the questions and his answers, along with the regular audio podcast. If you can view the video (it's in .mp4 format), I highly recommend that you do just that. While the audio format is very useable, the video is MUCH more helpful. The video starts after a 2-second tone, following John's introduction.

Link to presentation video -

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/xddkkvsb28oate2t8ds47/Presentation.mp4?rlkey=3negusa8fgifq7dowh0034gac&dl=0