Linda Chamberlain, PhD, MPH
Scientist, author, and founder of the Alaska Family Violence Prevention Project, Dr. Linda Chamberlain has worked in the field of brain development, stress, and trauma for over two decades. Known for her abilities to translate science into practical strategies with diverse audiences, she is an internationally recognized keynote speaker who conveys a message of hope and empowerment. Her current focus is on brain-body practices that work top-down and bottom-up to address how stress and trauma are stored in the body. A trainer with Capacitar, an international network for transforming trauma, she shares a wide range of simple tools that use the breath, mindful movement, meditation, and polyvagal-informed strategies to promote resilience, self-regulation, and healing. Dr. Chamberlain taught for the University of Alaska and earned public health degrees from Yale School of Medicine and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is the author of the Amazing Brain Series, a nationally acclaimed resource on healthy brain development and several national curricula on trauma. Recognition for her work includes a Scientist Scholar with the Fulbright Arctic Initiative, a National Kellogg Leadership Fellowship, an Alaska Women of Achievement Award, and the Inauguraln Scattergood Foundation Scholar on Child Behavioral Health.
Jessica saniguq ullrich, phD
Jessica Saniguq Ullrich is an Inupiaq scholar, a tribal citizen of Nome Eskimo Community and a descendant of the Native Village of Wales. Jessica worked in the Alaska child welfare system as a frontline family services worker, ICWA Specialist, and developed and supervised the first Alaska Native family services unit in the state before becoming a child welfare trainer. Jessica’s passion and drive has been to end the disproportionate number of Alaska Native children removed from their families and community. Jessica’s dissertation research from 2019-2020 focused on the development of an Indigenous Connectedness Framework for child and collective wellbeing that was guided by 25 knowledge bearers of Alaska Native child welfare. Now as an Assistant Professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage in the School of Social Work, she focuses on the promotion of connectedness, wellbeing, relational healing, as well as social and environmental justice. Jessica is currently engaged in efforts that involve digital storytelling with Alaska Native youth on documenting community strengths; culturally based intervention development for her Tribe; Tribal child wellbeing and prevention efforts; authentic youth engagement in child welfare; language revitalization and connectedness for systems change. Storytelling through research, education, and authorship is central to her work.
Kim Guay, MSW, Director of Office of children’s services
Kim has over 22 years of child welfare experience starting in frontline case work, then moving into managerial and executive child welfare roles. Kim is currently the Director of the Office of Children’s Services and is known as a steadfast advocate for child safety, not just in her role as the Director of the Alaska’s Office of Children’s Services, but also as Chair of the Children’s Justice Task Force. Kim completed a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from the University of Nevada- Reno in 1995, and completed her Masters in Social from Portland State University in 2018.
Unique to the State of Alaska, Director Guay has been on the forefront of consulting with, developing, and negotiating government to government relations with Tribal partners through the Alaska Tribal Child Welfare Compact. She believes in working collaboratively to achieve the best outcomes for Alaska’s children and families. Director Guay is an active member of the Court Improvement Project and an active member of the Alaska Impact Alliance, knowing that addressing and focusing on systemic prevention improvements benefit those in the community we are here to serve.
If asked what she loves most about the work she does, she will tell you that its working to improve the lives of people through community and social connections.
Christina Love
Christina Love is an Alutiiq/Sugpiaq woman (she/her/mom) from Egegik village who was raised in Chitina, Alaska. Christina is a consultant, Recovery Coach and civil and human rights activist. Christina has dedicated her work and energy to systems change for target and marginalized populations. She is a formerly incarcerated person in long term recovery who currently works as a Specialist for the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (ANDVSA), the state’s coalition of domestic and sexual violence programs. Christina’s role focuses on intersectionality with an emphasis on trauma. Christina is part of a collective movements that works to end violence, oppression, shame, and stigma through the liberation of education, community healing, and storytelling.
Erin Terry, FBI Victim Specialist
Erin Terry, MA is a Victim Specialist for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Anchorage Field Office. She holds a master’s degree in Psychology and has worked in the victim services field for two decades and in Alaska since 2006. Erin worked as a child forensic interviewer, NGO administrator, systems advocate, shelter and crisis responder, consultant and trainer. As a Victim Specialist, Erin assists victims of all federal crimes, with a strong focus on crimes against children, human trafficking, and domestic terrorism. Erin facilitates the Alaska Victim Assistance Partnership (AVAP) working group and leads the development of the AVAP Toolkit, www.avaptoolkit.org.
Jolene goeden, Sr. investigator, fbi
Jolene is the senior investigator for the FBI Anchorage Field Office Crimes against Children and Human Trafficking programs. Jolene earned her Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and Sociology from Beloit College and her Master's Degree in Forensic Psychology from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. Following college, Jolene worked in the mental health field and conducted therapy with convicted sex offenders in a state prison and hospital setting for eight years. Since joining the FBI in 2004, she has been assigned to the FBI Anchorage’s Crimes Against Children and Human Trafficking Task Force and Jolene has investigated hundreds of human trafficking and crimes against children cases. Jolene has also conducted numerous trainings and outreach in these areas for partner law enforcement agencies, community groups, and international organizations.
Sgt. Aaron Whitt, Anchorage Police Department
Aaron Whitt is a Sworn Police Officer employed by the Municipality of Anchorage for 24 years. He is currently a Sergeant assigned as the supervisor in the Detective Division of the Anchorage Police Department Cyber Crimes Unit. His assignment entails overseeing investigations related to the manufacturing, possession, and distribution of child pornography and the online enticement of minors. He also serves as the Task Force Administrator for both the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task force as well as the Human Trafficking Task Force (Human).
Tiana Teter, Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center
Tiana Teter is Koyukon Athabascan and currently resides in Fairbanks, Alaska with her two children. Her maternal family is from Huslia, Alaska, and her paternal family is from Rampart, Tanana and Manley Hotsprings. Her education includes an associates degree in Human Services with a concentration in addictions counseling, and a bachelors degree in Social Work. She is currently pursuing a masters degree in Social Work. Tiana has spent her professional career working with children and youth who have experienced trauma, working with victims/survivors of domestic violence and/or sexual assault and assisting tribal communities in building resiliency through culture.
Dr. Ali Ziegler, PHD, UASE
Dr. Ali Ziegler (she/her or they/them) is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Alaska Southeast Ketchikan. In this position, Ali teaches and does research on a number of topics related to gender, sexuality, intimate relationships, and bodies. Ali received her joint PhD in psychology and women's studies from the University of Michigan in 2014. In her free time, Ali enjoys spending time outdoors with her family - hiking, running, fishing, and just generally soaking up any of the sunshine that we get in SE AK.
Arika Paquette, MPH
Arika Paquette (she/her or they/them) is the Community Services Director for Women In Safe Homes in Ketchikan, AK where they has been employed since 2015. Arika received a Bachelors of Liberal Arts with an emphasis in psychology and sociology from the University of Alaska Southeast in 2014, and a Master of Public Health from University of Alaska Anchorage in 2021. In their position with WISH, Arika supports the creation of community-based programs and works to create change through systems advocacy and service integration. Arika is grateful to be able to work every day to make Alaska a more equitable and safe place for all who live here. In their free time, Arika enjoys powerlifting, coaching youth soccer, and exploring Southeast Alaska while commercial fishing with their three young children and partner.
Rebecca Hamon, Alaska Police Standards Council (APSC)
Rebecca Hamon is a 24 year resident of King Salmon, a village in the Bristol Bay region, where she lives with her husband and has raised her two children to adulthood. For 18 of those years, she has worked for Safe and Fear Free Environment, Inc. as a legal and village advocate, serving victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in the Bristol Bay and Lake and Peninsula Boroughs. Rebecca was appointed as a public member on the Alaska Police Standards Council (APSC) by Alaska Governor Sean Parnell in 2011. She has been reappointed by two consecutive governors since then, and was elected APSC Chair 2020. Although she was born and raised elsewhere, Rebecca has grown to love the Bristol Bay region and its people, and feels a sense of home there that she had never experienced in life before. Rebecca is an enthusiastic believer in recovery, healing and wellness through crafting, art and subsistence activities. She finds daily joy in practicing and sharing these skills and acquiring new skills at every opportunity. Rebecca believes strongly that all people, in every stage of life and experience, are worthy of unconditional love, understanding and a helping hand.
JD Martin, Prevention Coordinator and President of Ketchikan Pride Alliance
JD Martin (she/her) is the President of the Ketchikan Pride Alliance and the Prevention and Education Coordinator at WISH. She's been working in WISH's Prevention and Education Department for five years, and serving on KPA's board for two, having only recently been elected president.
She has a background in sociology, and is passionate about violence prevention. She identifies as queer, and has spent the past two years helping KPA expand it's services within the community.
Kristen Van De Geer, Residential Youth Care
Originally from a small town in Massachusetts, Kristen is an experienced educator who has spent most of her career with young people of all ages on soccer fields, ropes courses, hiking trails, in classrooms, and on international adventures. She freely shares her passion for youth advocacy, is eager to learn from others’ diverse experiences, and is thrilled to be the Project Manager for the SeaLevel Youth Center Project. In her free time you can find her crocheting stuffed animals, snuggling her Maine coon kitties, video chatting with her siblings, and cooking new recipes with her husband.
Dr. Charity Carmody
Dr. Charity Carmody is a fourth-generation Alaskan. She and her husband, Kris, have been married for 28 years, and have four grown children and three grandchildren. Charity became a foster parent at the age of 21. Charity has been in finance and insurance since starting her career in 1994 at Smith Barney. She started her own company, Carmody Insurance Agency, in 2007. Her agency is now located in South Anchorage and still going strong, giving jobs and resources to the community. Charity founded Beacon Hill in 2009. Beacon Hill is a child welfare nonprofit that operates statewide in Alaska. Beacon Hill has a foster care prevention program called Safe Families for Children Alaska; it also operates two family support centers that host family visits and provide mentorship. Beacon Hill also manages the Heart Gallery of Alaska, which recruits adoptive homes for children in foster care that are legally free for adoption and are waiting for a forever family. In 2017 Beacon Hill opened a thrift store whose profits fund the organization’s operating expenses. Charity acted as the volunteer Executive Director until 2018 and officially stepped off the Board of Directors in 2021. Charity and her husband Kris started a consulting company in 2019 called Beautiful Step LLC. They provide organization and leadership consulting, teach classes, and host a relationship podcast. Charity began consulting for the State of Alaska on child welfare prevention strategies in 2021, and now facilitates the Alaska Impact Alliance. The Alaska Impact Alliance is a large group of child welfare practitioners actively building a statewide community-led prevention network that reduces the need for child protective services interventions. Charity has a BA in Business and MBA from Alaska Pacific University where she now teaches as an adjunct business professor. She received her Doctorate in Law and Policy from Northeastern University in Boston.
Samantha Funk, LPC, Women In Safe Homes
Samantha Funk, LPC-S is a lifelong Ketchikan resident currently working for Women In Safe Homes. She has been working with youth for nearly a decade providing individual, group, and family therapy first to youth in residential treatment and now as part of the school-based mental health support system for the secondary schools.
Riley Boss, Victim Services Case Manager Ketchikan Indian Community
Born on N’dakinna (New Hampshire) in the traditional homelands of the Abenaki Nation, Riley Boss is a Victim Services Case Manager at Ketchikan Indian Community. She currently resides on Tlingit Anni, stewarded by the Tanta Kwaan. In 2019, Riley graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a Bachelors of Arts in Anthropology and minored in Forensic Sciences. Originally on the path of Marine Science, Riley’s interests took a sharp turn into the archaeological field and eventually she spiraled into the world of restorative justice and the anthropology of violence. She went on to serve as an AmeriCorps Victim Assistant at the YWCA New Hampshire to get her boots on the ground and into the trenches. Her passion for helping survivors of violent crime was ignited. Riley moved to Ketchikan in October 2020 where she saw opportunity to use her experience to find ways to help with the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples crisis in the Northwest. As a teenager, Riley worked as a Pyrotechnician, blowing up fireworks for weddings and holidays. She is absolutely honored to have been invited to present on introductory Domestic Violence for the Thrive Summit 2022.
Dustin Larna, COO/CFO Residential Youth Care
After getting tired of catching small fish in Idaho, Dustin moved to Alaska and began working at RYC in 2001 as floor staff. He is passionate about behavioral health and driving community wellness through authentic connections as well as practicing curiosity, and an innovation mindset. Through his time at RYC he advanced from Floor Staff to Assistant Director, then COO/CFO, and in 2020 was promoted to CEO. Dustin currently serves as Vice President on the Alaska Behavioral Health Association Executive Committee and as President-Elect for the Alaska Association of Homes for Children.