Staff

Aggie joined AASB in November 2024, bringing a strong background in customer service and small business management. She is passionate about the work of the Conditions for Learning department and is excited to support the diverse communities across Alaska. Outside of work, Aggie enjoys reading, linocut printmaking, hiking, soaking up the sun, and spending time by the ocean.

Alicia aa.eegáakushée Duncan joins the AASB team with a background in Applied Anthropology from Oregon State University, where her studies focused on medical anthropology, particularly on Indigenous birth ceremonies in the Pacific Northwest. She is Tlingit, from the T’akdeintaan tribe, a daughter of the Teikweidí clan and a granddaughter of the Kiks.ádi clan. Her family originates from Sitka and Angoon. As the Data & Evaluation Coordinator, Alicia will be focusing on using data to drive program quality and share the story of our work. With her return to Southeast Alaska, she is committed to bridging her educational experience to help better serve the communities of Alaska.

Angie is excited about supporting Alaskan educators as they implement trauma-engaged practices within schools. Before coming to AASB, Angie worked as an Infant Learning Coordinator and an Elementary School Counselor for more than 22 years. She’s seen how schools with caring adults and predictable routines provide emotional and physical safety that heals the hearts and minds of our most at-risk children.

Becky joins us after two decades of working for a local mechanical contractor. She has lived in Alaska since 1986. Becky is thrilled to be a part of AASB as the Administrative Coordinator, supporting the Board Development Team and the Business Office. Having a sister who has worked with the Association for more than 13 years, Becky has frequently been around AASB conferences and functions. She loves all this organization does to support school boards and, ultimately, education for Alaskan students.

Claudia is a graduate Eastern Oregon University with a Bachelor of Science in Sociology, with a minor in Gender Studies. She also has her Master of Science Degree in Sociology from Portland State University. After receiving her Master’s, she spent a year teaching undergraduate level sociology classes at Eastern Oregon University. Although she enjoyed teaching, Claudia wanted to work in a field where she could feel that she was making a real difference. This brought her to Alaska, where she spent over 5 years working to engage youth and communities in violence prevention programming. She is enjoying working with communities and school districts to engage youth in leadership and advocacy work.

As coordinator of the Alaska Family Engagement Center, Emily brings her passion and personal experience raising three kids to her work of supporting strong school and family partnerships. Emily previously served as AASB’s transitions coordinator and worked to improve educational outcomes “from cradle to career,” including rethinking how we prepare students for life after high school. Over the course of her 20+ years in Alaska, Emily has often landed in community organizing roles where she gets to ask her favorite question: “How can we make this better, together?”

Heather Shaw joined the AASB team in 2020. After graduating from Northern Arizona University with BA’s in Advertising and Public Relations, she moved back to Juneau to work in the community that served her so much in her youth. In her free time, she enjoys spending as much time outside as possible with her dog, Ursa.

Jenni Lefing came to AASB after working with non-profits and NGOs in Alaska, Oregon, and Southeast Asia in community development, and program evaluation and coordination. She joined the AASB team in 2010 as a Community Engagement Educator for the Alaska Initiative for Community Engagement (now the Conditions for Learning team), where she facilitated connections between schools and communities throughout Alaska. In 2015 she became the School Climate Coordinator and administered Alaska’s School Climate & Connectedness Survey (SCCS). In August 2022, she joined the Board Development team full-time as Membership Services Manager. In this role, she oversees AASB’s statewide events, the June Nelson Memorial Scholarship program, and facilitates in-district workshops with school boards, advisory school boards and charter schools. She also supports board development services such as Strategic Planning, Superintendent Searches and School Board Member Recognition. Jenni holds an MA in Sustainable Development from the SIT Graduate Institute and a BS from Cornell University.

Jennifer has been working in the design industry for over 15 years since graduating with a BFA in graphic design from Savannah College of Art and Design. She joined AASB in January 2024 and is excited to be a part of the Conditions for Learning team as the Communications and Event Coordinator. Jennifer now considers Juneau, AK her home and enjoys exploring all the amazing things Alaska has to offer with her family when she’s not working.

Kami Moore serves as the School Climate and Connectedness Coordinator at AASB. Kami comes to AASB with experience as classroom teacher, community educator and most recently a member of the School Health and Safety team at the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development. Kami is passionate about student health and wellbeing and has spent the last 13 years working with communities across Alaska. She has a B.S. in Education and received her Master’s of Public Health from UAA.

Karin joins AASB after serving 25 years in Alaska’s schools as a classroom teacher, instructional coach, Director of Title I, assistant principal and principal in schools both in rural remote and Anchorage. She brings a passion for working with students, families and school staff to support student learning and achievement. Karin earned a BA in education from UAA, Masters in Reading from UAS, Type B (Principal’s) Certification from UAA. When she isn’t supporting education, Karin enjoys being active in the outdoors with her two dogs.

Chookán yóo xat duwasáakw, Ch’áak’ naax xát sitee. Chookaneidí áyá xát, Kiks.ádi yádi xát sitee. Sheet’káx’ yéi xat yatee.

Chookán (Lakrisha) Brady was born and raised in Sitka, where she had the opportunity to learn from some amazing teachers, elders, and mentors. Chookán has dedicated her life to preserving cultural knowledge through teaching Indigenous youth. She has spent the past 10 years working in various positions at the Sitka Tribe of Alaska. Most recently, she served as the Sitka Native Education Program Co-Director. In her current and past positions, Chookán dedicates her time and energy to students and the caring adults around them so that we can work together to grow good humans. Chookán believes this necessitates instilling a sense of values among youth.

At the Association of Alaska School Boards, Chookán supports youth leadership, community conversations, and embedding cultural heritage and Alaska Native languages during school and out-of-school time activities.

In her personal time, Chookán can be found with students in Sitka schools, in dance groups, with family, at cultural events, beading, with her partner, or doting on her beloved dog, Luna.

Lauren Havens serves as the Deputy Director for our Conditions for Learning team. She has over 15 years of experience in youth development and education, including roles as an educator, evaluator, and grant program coordinator. She received her Masters of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University in 2018, where she focused on program evaluation, social-emotional learning, and school-based interventions. Prior to her current role, she was AASB’s Data and Evaluation Coordinator. She currently lives in Sitka with her husband and two young sons.

Laurie is responsible for coordinating the HR needs for the organization, performing various duties for the Business Office and providing logistical coordination and specialized support to AASB. Laurie offers a warm, enthusiastic approach to managing the daily responsibilities of the office and has a natural ability to multi-task and keep the AASB staff organized and effective. Laurie joined AASB in 2004, and has been with the organization cumulatively for more than 13 years.

Lingít x’éináx X’unyéil áyá ax saayí. Dleit kaa x’éináx Lisa Worl yóo xat duwasáakw, Ch’áak’ naax xát sitee. Kaagwaantaan áyá xát. Kóok hít áyá xát. Filipino yádix xat sitee, du een toot uwa.át wé T’akdeintaan. T’akdeintaan dachxán áyá xát, Xunaa Káawu áwé uháan.

Lisa X‘unyéil Worl is the Partnership Coordinator. Lisa supports work around Family Engagement, Cultural Integration and trauma-informed Schools practices in schools and communities. She’s worked as Alaska State legislative staffer and spent 16 years in public education including four years serving on the Juneau School Board. On the board, Lisa initially focused on student retention and graduation but then recognized how equity policies and programs inherently impact all areas from student learning to graduation. Lisa attended school in Hoonah and Juneau and graduated from Juneau Douglas Yadaa.at Kalé High School and received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Oregon. Her two adult children also attended and graduated from Juneau School District before attending and graduating college.

Prior to joining AASB, Maressa worked as Trauma-Engaged Schools Specialist for the Juneau School District. She holds a BA in Social Science from University of Alaska Southeast, with concentration areas in Sociology, Psychology and Anthropology; and a Master’s degree in Clinical Social Work from Boston University. To her role as coordinator of Trauma Engaged Schools and Social Emotional Learning with AASB she brings enthusiasm for evidence-based approaches to improve wellbeing for students, staff, families and communities, and provides training on topics including ACES, resilience, trauma engaged approaches, restorative practices, and Circle of Security. When not at work, Maressa enjoys spending time with her family, reading, or being active outdoors; hiking, skiing, paddle boarding and trail running.

Melissa “Nissa” Kagle started her career as a science/math teacher at Dzantik’i Heeni Middle School in Juneau and is excited to return to Southeast Alaska to support schools in becoming full-service community schools. After leaving Juneau, Nissa earned her doctorate in education policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education; her dissertation focused on the development and implementation of Math in a Cultural Context, a K-8 mathematics curriculum based on Yup’ik elders’ knowledge, in three rural Alaska schools. She taught teacher education and Native American studies at Colgate University and Dartmouth College and also did education research and evaluation work at non-profit organizations and the US Department of Education. Nissa brings a research and practice background on building relationships between schools and communities to her work at AASB.

Mindy is the Executive Administrative Assistant at AASB, serving the Board of Directors. She has two kids in Juneau Public Schools. After spending time off to raise her young kids, she’s excited to be a part of AASB. When not working, you’ll find her enjoying family and all that beautiful Southeast Alaska has to offer.

Bio coming soon!

Stephanie joined AASB in the fall of 2019. As a grant coordinator, she works closely with the Conditions for Learning team, the AASB Business office and our grant partners. Stephanie moved to Alaska from Oregon where she previously worked with the Oregon Teacher Standards & Practices Commission (TSPC) as an educator license evaluator. While at TSPC, she enjoyed working with PK-12 Educators, Oregon School Districts, Oregon college and university educator preparation programs and partner organizations.

For over 30 years Steve Nelson has provided communications, public relations, and project management services to nonprofit organizations, private industry, broadcasters, advertising agencies, the Alaska Legislature, and five Alaska governors. He joined the Association of Alaska School Boards in 2004 and has assumed lead roles as AASB Public Information Coordinator and Project Coordinator.

Theresa comes to AASB with almost two decades of experience as a public school educator and counselor in both Alaska and Hawaii. She has worked with students aged Pre-K – 12th grade throughout her career and is greatly invested in ensuring success for Alaskan students. Theresa is originally from Kodiak Island and, along with her husband and son, continues to call the community of Kodiak her home.