STAFF & BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Director & Staff
Tami Truett Jerue
Executive Director
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Tami, an Anvik tribal member, is currently residing in Fairbanks, Alaska, after living and working for the past 25 years in Anvik Alaska, a small Deg Hit’an Athabascan community on the Yukon River. She is the mother of four children and the grandmother of five grandchildren. She has worked in the field of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and intersecting issues for the last 40-plus years in various capacities. Ms. Jerue's education includes a Bachelor's Degree in Social Work, Community Psychology, and Secondary Education. She has been involved with many non-profit Boards over the years. She has worked most of her professional life in rural Tribal Alaska, providing direct services for the State and tribes, including as a Therapist, Sexual Assault Counselor, Teacher, Tribal Administrator, ICWA Social Worker and Trainer, and Tribal Director of Social Services. As an ICWA Social Worker and Director of Social Services, she managed a child protection team; developed and implemented a Youth Mentor Program focused on preventing violence and substance abuse. She currently works as the Executive Director of the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center. Her many experiences, and that of her family and friends, with Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault have kept Ms. Jerue passionate about helping facilitate change at a community level, within systems, and families to help survivors live violence-free lives.
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. Candy, through her work at the Hoonah Indian Association, became one of the founding board members of the AKNWRC and served on the board until she resigned in 2017 and accepted a position at AKNWRC as the Communication Specialist. She is passionate about helping make Alaska safer for everyone and believes the work of the AKNWRC is necessary 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. Candy, through her work at the Hoonah Indian Association, became one of the founding board members of the AKNWRC and served on the board until she resigned in 2017 and accepted a position at AKNWRC as the Communication Specialist. She is passionate about helping make Alaska safer for everyone and believes the work of the AKNWRC is necessary 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.
Tiana Teter is Koyukon Athabascan and 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 a bachelor's degree in Social Work. She is currently pursuing a master's degree in Social Work. Tiana has spent her professional career working with children and youth who have experienced trauma, with victims/survivors of domestic violence and/or sexual assault, and assisting tribal communities in building resiliency through culture.
Frances Andrews joined the AKNWRC at the beginning of March 2022 as the Senior Program Specialist with a focus on Grants Administration and Management. She is Tlingit – Daaklaweidi (Eagle Killerwhale) from Angoon. Her Tlingit name is Khin-du-ane. The last five years of her career were spent with the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska where she worked as the Court Administrator and ended her time there as the Tribe’s Grant Manager. Her background is in Administration and Grant Management and she is excited to bring this experience to the TA Team at AKNWRC. She was born and raised in Southeast Alaska where she has spent most of her life. In the summer of 2021 she relocated to Anchorage where she now lives with her youngest daughter. She is also blessed to be the mother of a recent high-school graduate, Amanda and a HS Sophomore, Shaun.
Rick A. Garcia serves as the Co-Director of Law and Policy for the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center (AKNWRC). Rick was born in West Germany and raised in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Rick moved to Alaska in 2018 and has dedicated himself to serving Alaska Tribes by providing training and technical assistance to Alaska tribal courts and justice systems. Prior to joining AKNWRC, Rick served as a Tribal Justice Facilitator with the Alaska Native Justice Center (ANJC) and as the Tribal Justice Director and Associate General Counsel for the Association of Village Council Presidents (AVCP) in Bethel, Alaska. Rick also had the honor of serving as the District Court Magistrate Judge for the Alaska Court System’s 4th Judicial District, based in Aniak and Hooper Bay.
Since 2018, most of Rick’s time in Alaska has been spent living and working off the road system in communities such as Bethel and Aniak. Through his work with AVCP, Rick had the opportunity to travel extensively to many Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Villages, connecting with Tribes and assisting with tribal court and justice capacity building and training and technical assistance.
Rick graduated cum laude from the Southern Illinois School of Law in 2009 and received his bachelor’s degree in Political Science cum laude from Florida Atlantic University in 2004. Rick has been a licensed Attorney for over a decade and is licensed in the state courts of Florida and Alaska and in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Michala Coghill is the Finance Clerk for AKNWRC. Her main priority is to support the ever-changing and growing workflow of the Finance department. Michala believes in doing what she can within the company to support the overall mission of AKNWRC. Being a domestic violence survivor, Michala is proud to be a part of an organization that advocates for those who can’t do it themselves and creates an empathetic and safe space for learning and healing.
Michala was born and raised in Alaska. She grew up with her four siblings in Nenana, AK. Once Michala graduated from Nenana High School she moved to Fairbanks and has lived there since. She enjoys spending time with her family, camping in the summers, and spoiling her dog.
Kendra (Kahtle-et) Kloster (Tlingit/German/Irish) was born in the beautiful community of Wrangell, Alaska, and spent most of her childhood in Juneau, and is currently raising her three children on Dena’ina lands in Anchorage. Kendra is Tlingit Raven/Kiks.a'di of the Sun House and is a tribal citizen of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. Her maternal grandparents, the late Christine Jenkins and Charles Jenkins, are both from Wrangell, Alaska. Her parents are Shelley Jenkins from Wrangell, Alaska and Earl Kloster from Yakima, Washington.
After graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and a minor in Literature from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, Kendra worked at the Office of Senator Ted Stevens in Washington, D.C, and then moved to Juneau to work at the Alaska State Legislature for ten years. She obtained her Master’s Degree in Public Administration and Policy Analysis at the University of Alaska Anchorage and served as the Executive Director of Native Peoples Action for five years. Kendra has now joined the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center as the Co-Director for Law and Policy. Kendra has been dedicated to serving her community and Alaskans, working hard to improve public safety, increasing access to voting across the state, working with her peers and community to end the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, including serving on the State MMIP Council and MMIWG2S Alaska Working Group. “My ambition and strength to make positive changes comes from the support and encouragement from my family and community. I want to ensure my children and future generations will have the ability to grow up in a safe and loving environment in Alaska. I hope everyone will be accepted for who they are and have all the experiences of living off the land, fishing with their families and being part of a supportive and safe community.”Ginger Jenkins joined the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center in September 2022 as the Lead Administrative Assistant. She is Koyukon Athabascan from Galena, Alaska and resides in Fairbanks, Alaska. Ginger grew up between Anchorage, Galena and Fairbanks. She has three beautiful children (Kianna, Tavin, and Kaysen) whom she raises with her partner, Kevin.
Ginger looks forward to learning and growing with AKNWRC and to see first-hand the love and passion put into the AKNWRC team helping our community and across Alaska!
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.