STAFF & BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Director & Staff
Tami Truett Jerue
Executive Director
Hello my name is Tami Truett Jerue. I am the mother of 4 children and 5 grandchildren. I work for the Alaska Native Women's Resource Center as the Executive Director. I have a Bachelor's degree in Social Work and master's work in Community Psychology. My work has been in Indian Child Protection, Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault (DV/SA), Counseling/Advocacy, Mental Health Counseling, Addictions and many other areas. I have worked mostly in the remote village Anvik for the past 24 years and have recently been splitting my time between Anvik and Fairbanks since my parents are aging and I need to spend more time with them.
Marie Taylor was born in California but has been an Alaskan resident for 35 years. She is a mother of three children, six grandchildren and a great grandmother to one grandson. She has worked in the field of DV/SA for 19 years and has worked as a Sexual Assault Responder. Ms. Taylor is also a DV/SA trainer and worked as an advocate in a safe home for six years before she took a job facilitating Alternatives to Violence classes for the offenders. At that time, she facilitated classes for men at the correctional center and for both men and women at her office.
She has been involved with different native women’s coalitions and agencies and also worked with the elders as a planning and development specialist for 3 years. Being a survivor herself along with family suicide and domestic violence has given Ms. Taylor the strength and the passion for this work. She has also taught pre-school working with three and four-year olds. Ms. Taylor currently works for the AKNWRC as their Administrative Assistant.
Her goal is to continue this work in order to hopefully bring education, healing and social change within the families to inspire violence free living.
She has been involved with different native women’s coalitions and agencies and also worked with the elders as a planning and development specialist for 3 years. Being a survivor herself along with family suicide and domestic violence has given Ms. Taylor the strength and the passion for this work. She has also taught pre-school working with three and four-year olds. Ms. Taylor currently works for the AKNWRC as their Administrative Assistant.
Her goal is to continue this work in order to hopefully bring education, healing and social change within the families to inspire violence free living.
Kate Chaussee, was raised in Anchorage, Alaska and Washington State, but has always considered Alaska home. She feels an affinity for the land and the values of Alaska's Indigenous People. Ms. Chaussee began serving tribal governments in 1995 as a fledgling grant writer. She received her law degree from the University of Iowa in 2000. From 2002 to 2006, Kate traveled in rural Alaska, camping and working in Atmautlauk, Anvik, Kasigluk, Akiak, Tuluksak, Aniak and Togiak where she developed an even deeper respect for tribal governments, Alaska's Indigenous People, and the work performed in the tribal government offices. Her law degree and 20 years of bookkeeping experience came together in a skill set perfect for providing compliance support and training, grant management, audit preparation and audit finding resolution. Ms. Chaussee is an advocate for tribal social issues spending many hours grant writing to facilitate tribally driven programs for change including DV/SA Prevention and Intervention Programs. Kate recently joined the ANWRC as the Finance Director wanting to focus her attention on DV/SA. Her dedication to DV/SA prevention has grown from personal experience, the experience of her daughters and friends. She feels honored to join the AKNWRC team of amazing people facilitating tribally driven responses to domestic violence.
Janelle Chapin is Koyukon Athabascan. Her family is originally from Kaltag and Illinois. She is married with two children. Her self-care includes beadwork and sewing traditional clothing for her family and friends. She enjoys substance hunting and fishing with her family.
Janelle holds an Associate's degree in addictions counseling and a BAchelor's of fine arts in social work. She has worked in the domestic violence field for over 15 years. Janelle has worked with both survivors and offenders of domestic violence for many years. She believes the way we change family patterns is by working with the whole family and addressing cultural and historical trauma. Janelle believes our tribes need to be self-empowered to work with our tribal members for substance changes.
Janelle holds an Associate's degree in addictions counseling and a BAchelor's of fine arts in social work. She has worked in the domestic violence field for over 15 years. Janelle has worked with both survivors and offenders of domestic violence for many years. She believes the way we change family patterns is by working with the whole family and addressing cultural and historical trauma. Janelle believes our tribes need to be self-empowered to work with our tribal members for substance changes.
Candy Keown is a tribal member of the Hoonah Indian Association in Hoonah, Alaska. She is Tlingit and from the T'akdeintaan clan. Hoonah is located in Southeast Alaska about 45 air miles from the capital city of Juneau. Candy moved to Hoonah at the age of 10 and has kept Hoonah as her permanent home since that time. She graduated from Hoonah City Schools in 2005 at which time she left Hoonah to further her education at Stanford University. She graduated from Stanford in 2009 with a BA in Sociology and a Psychology Minor. She returned to Hoonah immediately after college in hopes of using her education to give back to her community.
In 2011 Candy accepted the Human Services Director position for the Hoonah Indian Association. This position included running the General Assistance Program, the Child Care Assistance Program, The Domestic Violence Advisory Board, and being the Indian Child Welfare Act Worker. She has firsthand knowledge of the struggles community members face in rural Alaska. She is passionate about help safer for everyone and believes the work of the AKNWRC is necessary in order to achieve that goal.
In 2011 Candy accepted the Human Services Director position for the Hoonah Indian Association. This position included running the General Assistance Program, the Child Care Assistance Program, The Domestic Violence Advisory Board, and being the Indian Child Welfare Act Worker. She has firsthand knowledge of the struggles community members face in rural Alaska. She is passionate about help safer for everyone and believes the work of the AKNWRC is necessary in order to achieve that goal.
Paula Julian serves as Senior Policy Specialist for the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center (NIWRC), the National Indian Resource Center Addressing Domestic Violence and Safety for Indian Women. Paula assists with policy analysis and development, technical assistance and training, and development of partnerships to strengthen laws, policies and responses addressing violence against Native women. Paula has worked with Alaska Native advocates to establish the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center and with Native Hawaiian advocates to form the Pouhana O Na Wahine (Pillars of Women) – both organizations dedicated to addressing domestic and gender-based violence in the Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian community respectively. Formerly, Paula was an Outreach Coordinator with Sacred Circle and also worked for the Avellaka Program of the La Jolla Band of Luiseno Indians to establish the Program and help develop the Tribe’s response to violence against women. Paula worked with the White Buffalo Calf Woman Society, Inc. in a technical assistance project to strengthen tribal capacity to assist sexual assault victims, including the development of a curriculum, community education and webinar materials.
From 1995-2005, Paula was a Program Manager at the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW), U.S. Department of Justice. Highlights of her time at OVW include: analysis and development of policies affirming government-to-government relations and the Federal trust responsibility, for the Department and with other Federal agencies; development of the Safety for Indian Women from Sexual Assault Offenders Initiative; development and administration from 2001-2006 of the Tribal Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Coalitions Grant Program; management of the following OVW Programs: STOP Violence Against Indian Women, STOP Violence Against Women, and the State Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Coalitions; and development and implementation of technical assistance and training.
Ms. Jacqueline Agtuca, J.D. has dedicated her legal career to increasing protections for women at the tribal, state, federal, and international levels by providing services to victims and advocating for legal reforms under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). With the passage of the VAWA in 1994, Ms. Agtuca joined the Department of Justice to help launch the Violence Against Women Grants Office. In this capacity, she assisted in establishing federal policy and programming to increase the safety of women. Since 2010, Ms. Agtuca has internationally advocated for the safety of Native women. Ms. Agtuca is a founding member of and serves as a policy advisor for the National Congress of American Indians Task Force on Violence Against Native Women (2003-present). Ms. Agtuca is the editor of the Restoration of Native Sovereignty and Safety for Native Women Magazine (2003-present), contributed to the anthology Sharing Our Stories of Survival (2008), and authored Safety for Native Women: VAWA and American Indian (2014) for the National Indigenous Women's Resource Center. In 2015, the American Bar Association's Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence awarded Ms. Agtuca a Vision 20/20 award for her contributions to building a national movement and mobilizing the legal profession against domestic and sexual violence by advancing VAWA. Ms. Agtuca serves as a consultant to the ANWRC providing policy analysis impacting the safety of Alaska Native villages women and authored the ANWRC domestic violence curriculum.
Debra O'Gara (Djik Sook) is Tlingit from the Tee Hit Than clan (Wrangell). Her mother, Carol O'Gara, was born and raised in Mountain Village and she now lives in Juneau. Debra's maternal Grandmother, Frances (Skip) Tamaree Sheppard, was born and raised in Wrangell and as a nurse traveled up to Yukon Kuskokwim Delta. Debra's Great Grandmother, Matilda (Tillie) Paul Tamaree, was born somewhere near Vancouver Island and spent most of her life in Southeast Alaska. Tillie, a mover and shaker on her own, was also the mother to William Paul, Sr. and Louis Paul, both active in shaping Native rights throughout Alaska. Debra's father was Irish and in the Air Force, stationed in Fairbanks.
Debra has worked primarily in the legal field for the last 30 years for several Northwest Tribes in Washington and the Tlingit & Haida Tribes. She has obtained experience applying the law to a variety of situations as well as developed several new programs and initiatives. After relocating to Southeast Alaska in March 2007, she began the task of building the Tlingit & Haida Court, first as a Magistrate, then the elected Chief Justice and then finally as the Presiding Justice. She has also worked as a Magistrate Judge for the State of Alaska Court System covering Petersburg, Wrangell and Kake. Recently Debra became the Senior Policy Specialist for the Alaska Native Women's Resource Center (AKNWRC) and is a PhD student at the University of Fairbanks in Indigenous Studies.
Throughout her legal career Debra has achieved extensive experience in developing and implementing laws and policies relating to domestic violence, child support, and child welfare and dealing with jurisdictional matters, particularly in the child welfare, child support and criminal law areas. She has worked for Tribes and on Native issues, as a prosecutor, advocate, mediator and a judicial officer and has assisted individuals in navigating the legal maze to find solutions, accountability, retribution or to provide voice towards problem solving.
Debra enjoys creating art as a way of maintaining balance in her life. She commits many hours each month to learning, creating and sometimes teaching cedar bark and spruce root baskets, Chilkat and Ravenstail weaving, sewing and beading Native regalia, as well as needle point.
Tiana Teter is a Program Specialist with AKNWRC. Her work is primarily to provide support to tribal communities on their OVC grants. She holds an Associate’s degree in Human Services and a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work. She is very passionate about working with Native communities and helping people reconnect with their cultural traditions to heal from generational trauma. She has experience as a domestic violence and sexual assault advocate, as well as experience working with children and youth in multiple settings including a Child Advocacy Center.
Tiana is Koyukon Athabascan and from the Caribou Clan. Her family is originally from Huslia, Alaska. She currently resides in Fairbanks with her husband and two children. She enjoys beadwork, art, berry picking, and spending time with her family.
Michelle Demmert, Tlingit, Eagle, Ḵaax̱ʼoos.hittaan (Man’s Foot) clan is the Law and Policy Director at the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center. In the recent past, she was the appointed Chief Judge for the Tulalip Tribes and the elected Chief Justice for the Central Council Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. While the Chief Justice for her tribe, she served as the co-chair of the National Congress of American Indians’ Violence Against Women Task Force. Judge Demmert has devoted her legal career to advancing improvements and practices in tribal courts and has also worked in various capacities of advancing domestic violence protections for women and children. She has testified to Congress regarding legislation and current issues affecting women and children. She is the past Chief Judge at the Chehalis tribe and was their Presiding Judge for over 12 years while working at the Northwest Intertribal Court System. Judge Demmert worked for nearly 10 years in the Reservation Attorney’s office for the Tulalip Tribes. In that position, she served as the Tulalip Tribes’ primary point of contact for the special domestic violence jurisdiction intertribal working group on domestic violence and has presented about this process at many tribal, state, federal and university forums, including a presentation to the Department of Justice staff during Domestic Violence Awareness month in October 2015. Judge Demmert is a graduate of the University of Washington for both her Juris Doctorate and her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. She actively engaged in the Alaska commercial fishing industry prior to her practice of law. /p>
My name is Aandayeen, my English name is Violet Sensmeier. I was born and raised in Southeast, Alaska. I am Tlingit from my Father's side, Raymond Sensmeier. I grew up in Yakutat, the northernmost village in the panhandle. I am Koyukon Athabascan from my Mother's side, Eva Olin Sensmeier. I grew up going to visit my Grandmother in Galena, Lillian Olin in the summers. She taught me to sew and bead and bake bread. I am a proud mother of three beautiful children. One is a full time student at UAA, the other two are in kindergarten and second grade and keep me on my toes. I am so honored to be working with AKNWRC as a program specialist under OVC. I feel I have truly come full circle in my own journey. As a domestic violence survivor, I understand the important work that needs to be done in our state and across Indian Country. I am very humbled to be working amongst such a dynamic group and hard working team here at AKNWRC. I look forward to working with the tribes all across Alaska. Baasee'
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Tia M. Holley is an Inupiat, descendent from King Island, Alaska whose Eskimo name is Aisena after her great grandmother. Currently she is an independent trainer with the Alaska Native Health Consortium working on a Domestic Violence Prevention Initiative to provide culturally relevant training to rural providers in Alaska. In 1996, she founded RID Alaska of Child Abuse, a prevention and awareness organization that has a statewide web-based resource and information directory for families and survivors of child abuse. Since 2004 she has been a SART (Sexual Assault Response Team) advocate volunteer to provide advocacy to Alaska Native and American Indian sexual assault victims, and has been a member of the local Domestic Violence Task Force. Since 2011 she has been a member of Norton Sound Health Corporations “Cultural Committee” task force working to create an indigenous based wellness center in Nome.
She has worked as a victim’s advocate, child advocate, and sexual assault advocate for State funded and Tribal organizations. She has worked as a chemical dependency counselor for private and tribal organizations.
She has over 17 years experience creating and presenting a multitude of informational/education groups, classes and workshops from child sexual abuse, domestic violence, to addictions and co-occurring disorders. She has worked individually and collaboratively with public, private, Tribal, State and National individuals and organizations establishing culturally considerate professional strategies addressing domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, and addictions issues. She has developed treatment and victim response plans relevant to Alaska Native populations in the substance abuse, domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse field. She has produced training programs for providers in Alaska’s social service fields that are holistic and culturally sensitive to the unique needs of rural and urban Alaskans. She has created numerous education materials and brochures for groups, individuals and the general public.
She received her Bachelor of Social Work “cum laude” in 2012 and is in her last semester for a Masters in Rural Development, a leadership program focusing on circumpolar indigenous issues.
Lenora (Lynn) Hootch is a tribal member of the Yupik Eskimo Tribe in Emmonak, a village in southwestern Alaska. She has lived in her village most of her life and has been actively involved in her community and tribal government. She has served as an officer and a board member for many organizations in her community, including the Emmonak Tribal Council, Emmonak City Council, Vice Mayor for the Village of Emmonak, member of the Parish Council, which is affiliated with the local church, Advisory School Board member, the Alaska Native Women’s Coalition, a state wide organization committed to eliminating personal and societal violence in the lives of Native women and children, and a former member of the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, an organization comprised of Shelter Programs in the State of Alaska. Lynn has worked as the Director for the Yup’ik Women’s Coalition and is responsible for managing a regional tribal coalition to increase awareness of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and/or dating violence, to enhance the response to violence against Native women at the local, state and national level, creating leadership opportunities and providing technical assistance to other tribes to enhance access to essential services to Native women victimized by domestic violence and sexual assault. Lynn is Co-Chair of the NCAI Task Force on Violence Against Women dedicated to advocating for tribal sovereignty to increase women’s safety.
Lynn is also a founder of the Emmonak Women’s Shelter, a non-profit organization that started in 1979. The Shelter is an example of a grassroots movement by village members/volunteers who saw a need to provide safety for women, children and vulnerable victims who were victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and other forms of abuse. The program was founded for the purpose of providing emergency shelter and assistance to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.
Lynn is married and mother of five beautiful children, three boys and two girls; two gorgeous granddaughters who bring life, joy, happiness and love to all.
Lynn is also a founder of the Emmonak Women’s Shelter, a non-profit organization that started in 1979. The Shelter is an example of a grassroots movement by village members/volunteers who saw a need to provide safety for women, children and vulnerable victims who were victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and other forms of abuse. The program was founded for the purpose of providing emergency shelter and assistance to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.
Lynn is married and mother of five beautiful children, three boys and two girls; two gorgeous granddaughters who bring life, joy, happiness and love to all.
Joann Horn is a Yupik Eskimo from the Village of Kotlik who has been living in the Village of Emmonak for over 25 years, located in the Yukon Delta Region of southwestern Alaska. Joann lives in Emmonak with her husband, and has five adult children and eight grandchildren. Joann received a certificate in May of 2010 on Rural Human Services from KUC in Bethel, AK. Joann began working in the 1980s at the Emmonak Women’s Shelter as a relief advocate helping women and children, and later as a rural shelter outreach coordinator traveling out to the area villages and educating the community on domestic violence and sexual assault and about shelter services. Joann is now Shelter Director managing and developing Shelter operations and advocacy services representing the Shelter as a member of the Yup’ik Women’s Coalition.
Priscilla S. Kameroff is Inupiaq originally from the Village of Unalakleet and serves as the Public Policy Specialist for the Yup’ik Women’s Coalition. Prior to this position, she had eleven years experience working in the human services field with the Native Village of Emmonak as the Indian Child Welfare Worker. This involved working closely with the Office of Children’s Services when they come out to the Village to do investigations with children that may have been harmed, or were in a home that is not safe. She was also President of the Board of Directors for the Emmonak Women’s Shelter and the Yup’ik Women’s Coalition for several years.
She received a certificate in May 2010 in the Rural Human Services from KUC in Bethel, and a degree in Associate of Applied Science in Human Services in May 2012.
Her passion is supporting the local women’s shelter. Growing up as a young child, she saw things such as domestic violence committed against our women. It was never talked about. Everyone kept silent. The violence was swept under the rug and kept there.
Isabel Mills is a Tlingit from southeast Alaska and has lived in Kake, Alaska all of her life and is currently employed with the Organized Village of Kake as the Domestic Violence Coordinator since 2011 working closely with staff, other first responders and area services on providing victim services, outreach, training, and prevention of violence against women. Prior to this, she worked for the Tribe as a Social Services Assistant. Ms. Mills also has experience working Accounts Payable for another entity for 10 years. Ms. Mills enjoys helping people to have a healthier life style. She has served as a Kake School Board member for 17 years, a Sunday school teacher and enjoys reading. Ms. Mills is married with 6 children and 7 grandchildren who she enjoys very much.
Shirley Moses is an Inupiaq Eskimo, born in Nome, Alaska, whose tribal affiliation is the Sitnasuak Native Corporation/Bering Straits Native Corporation. She has a Masters in Education Administration, and approximately 30 years experience working in the Behavioral Health Field in various positions. She has taught Elementary Grades K-8 in Rural villages throughout Alaska, and was a Principal Teacher. In addition to her experience in the classroom, she has worked as a Coordinator for SED Youth in Residential and Community Settings. She has experience with coordinating care in the school, behavioral health and community settings for dually diagnosed youth and Adults. She also worked for a statewide Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Coalition as a Program Assistant, Shelter Director, Coordinated Statewide/Regional and Village SA/DV Training and response, and is a certified SART Responder. She also was appointed by US Attorney General Eric Holder to sit on a 15 member National Coordination Committee to address Sexual Assault Response in Indian Country. This was a 2-year appointment during which she represented Alaska Native Tribal concerns and needs pertaining to Sexual Assault Protocol. As a Domestic Violence Prevention Initiative (DVPI) partnership team member she has brought her extensive experience with Alaska Native culture to provide a Historical Trauma presentation focusing on the local tribal or regional history. As a team member, she is a strong voice advocating for victim rights across the state of Alaska. Shirley currently is the Director of Healing Native Hearts Coalition, a Tribal DV/SA Tribal Coalition funded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice.
Nettie J. Warbelow is the Domestic Violence / Sexual Assault and ICWA Coordinator for the Village of Tetlin. She was born in Alaska and was raised in the Village of Tetlin, Alaska where she was raised traditionally, with her grandmothers teaching her the essentials of Athabascan Culture and language. Nettie is fluent in the Tetlin Athabascan dialect, and is a strong supporter and advocate of Culture preservation. Nettie has worked in the field of Social Services for Child Protection, ICWA, Advocate for DV/Sexual Assault, SART Trained, State Court Proceedings and Tribal Court for 20 years. She was involved during the passage of the ICWA law for Alaska. She also is an expert with ex parte for her clients with the Court systems. Nettie has demonstrated the capacity to carry out many tasks, including, but not limited to as Tetlin Council Liaison, Grant writer, Workshop Facilitator, Tetlin Corporation Assistant, and State Social Service Associate to Foster Care/Adoption. Nettie served on many Boards throughout her years advocating for people. Nettie also loves working with the Youth. Her passion is community healing through holistic culture and traditional teachings. Nettie has one daughter Sadie Rose, who is close to her heart.
