New Board Members

New Board Members Join the Forum

ALASKA HUMANITIES FORUM Board members are active change-makers and community leaders, listeners and storytellers, fundraisers and friend-raisers from across the state. We currently have 18 members serving terms of three years on our Board of Directors. This fall, we welcomed five new members.

STEPHEN QACUNG BLANCHETT

Juneau Arts and Culture Education Director Juneau Arts and Humanities Council

Stephen Blanchett is perhaps best known as a performance artist with Pamyua, an internationally renowned tribal funk, world music, and Inuit soul music band, but he has also worked in development at both ANHC and First Alaskans Institute, and he is currently the Arts and Culture Education Director at the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council. Blanchett serves on the boards of the Western Arts Alliance and Visit Anchorage, and as a commissioner on the Sister Cities Commission. With a degree in political science / Alaska Native studies, Blanchett’s passion is cultural inclusion. “I have always viewed my role as a conduit and a connector to help bring people together working towards a common goal. I have a passion for the arts and culture, and have made it my life’s work to help create balance between the traditional Alaska Native ways and the rapidly changing world around us.”

What is your “Alaska story”?

I’m from the Y-K Delta and grew up there for the better part of my life. I am Yup’ik from that corner of the world. My father is Black and grew up in Philadelphia and moved to Alaska because of the military.

What’s on your reading list right now?

I haven’t been reading too much lately, but I’ve immersed myself in reintroducing myself to Indigenous music that I’ve come across throughout my career and exploring new Indigenous music throughout the world.

KENEGGNARKAYAAGGAQ EMILY EDENSHAW

Anchorage Executive Director Alaska Native Heritage Center

Emily Edenshaw is working to complete her Ph.D. thesis on using communitybased research, with a particular interest in addressing trauma and healing. She brings extensive experience in donor stewardship and grantsmanship to her role on the board. “I believe one of my strongest skills is the ability to turn challenges or barriers into a source of strength that we can pull from later. I’m smart, hardworking, honest, and proud to be a strong Alaska Native woman.”

What is your “Alaska story”?

I am Yup’ik and Iñupiaq from Emmonak, Alaska. I am the great granddaughter of Axel and Pearlie Johnson, granddaughter of John and Cecilia Sipary, and daughter of John Neeley and Helen Miller.

What programming, resources, or opportunities at the Forum are you most excited about in the year ahead?

Development!

What’s on your reading list right now? A book, article, podcast that you’ve been looking forward to?

His Hand Upon Me by Katherine Gottlieb. I’m part of an Indigenous authors book club so anything on that reading list. Last month, we read Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger and this month, we are reading Trail of Lightening by Rebecca Roanhorse.

What topic/s do you think we should be talking about more in our homes, communities, workplaces in relation to strengthening community?

Alaska Native boarding school experience.

BEN MALLOTT

Anchorage Vice President Alaska Federation of Natives

Ben Mallott currently serves as the Vice President of the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN), where he staffs the Subsistence Committee, Executive Governance Committee, and Resolutions Committee; and helps to develop and manage effective working relationships on federal, state, and local levels. Mallott has also worked for U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski as a Legislative Assistant and as Communication Liaison for the Arctic Athabascan Council (ACC). He serves on the board of directors for Baan O Yeel Kon Corporation (BOYK), as chair of NTVI, a subsidiary of BOYK, and on the board of trustees for The Nature Conservancy Alaska. Mallott earned a B.S in Environmental Science from Oregon State University and a Masters in Public Administration and Policy from American University.

What is your “Alaska story”?

My family has been in Alaska since time immemorial. My father is Tlingit from Yakutat in Southeast, and my mother is Koyukon Athabascan from Rampart in the Interior. I mainly grew up in Juneau, but my parents made it a priority during my childhood to make sure I spent time in each of their homes to know my family, our homelands, culture, and heritage.

What programming, resources, or opportunities at the Forum are you most excited about in the year ahead?

If I had to pick one area, I am most excited about the Forum’s youth programs. The pandemic has really impacted our youth, and I feel these programs can create a space and opportunity for youth to start the healing process from the impacts of isolation of this pandemic and develop critical skills and connections for the future.

JEFF SIEMERS

Soldotna Executive Vice President Alaska Christian College

In addition to his administrative duties at Alaska Christian College, Jeff Siemers teaches art classes at the college and also at Kenai Peninsula College, a community campus of the University of Alaska Anchorage located in Soldotna. He holds a B.A. in Visual Communications from Southern Illinois University, an M.F.A. in Visual Art from Azusa Pacific University in California, and he is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Art Theory and Aesthetics at the Institute for Doctoral Studies in Visual Art. His research interests include aesthetics, ontology, and otherness. Along with serving on the Alaska Humanities Forum Board, Siemers serves on the Alaska State Council on the Arts.

What is your “Alaska story”?

I moved to Alaska in 1999 from the Chicago area to Hooper Bay. Because my first Alaska home was in the Y-K Delta, I have a special relationship with that area.

What topic/s do you think we should be talking about more in our homes, communities, workplaces in relation to strengthening community?

A topic that I feel would be an important aspect in strengthening communities would be something I might call “commonality in difference.” I find that we tend to hang out with people who look, act, and vote the same as ourselves, and we spend a good amount of energy posting or tweeting about how we are doing it better than others. I know that I have had much better experiences with others by sharing a meal or playing a game, as opposed to putting up signs and divisive statements.

AMINATA TAYLOR

Anchorage CFO Camp Fire Alaska

Originally from Guinea, West Africa, Aminata Taylor is one of 17 children and she’s fluent in four languages. Prior to her current role as CFO at Camp Fire Alaska, Taylor worked as a Senior Auditor at CliftonLarsonAllen, a national CPA firm serving clients of various industries. She holds an M.B.A. from Kaplan University in Chicago, IL and a C.A.P. Taylor is curious about the world around her, thoughtful, and committed. “I believe having someone with a diverse background and passion for the mission is valuable for the continued growth of the organization.”

What is your “Alaska story”?

I have been in Alaska for a bit over a year. I am originally from Guinea, West Africa.

What programming, resources, or opportunities at the Forum are you most excited about in the year ahead?

I really enjoy the conversations that the Forum facilitates—they engage different people, generations, and there is always so much to learn.

What’s on your reading list right now?

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

What topic/s do you think we should be talking about more in our homes, communities, workplaces in relation to strengthening community?

I think conversations about racial and cultural inequities are very important, and recognizing each of our biases and our roles in perpetuating or fighting it. ■