Staff

Lon joined AASB in 2015 as School Improvement Coordinator. Before that, he was a member of the AASB Board of Directors for eight years, serving as president in 2012. He also served on the Sitka school board for nearly nine years, five years as board president. 
Lon has a passion for school governance and has participated in school board governance and leadership at the local, state and national level. He has extensive experience in board development, superintendent searches, comprehensive policy services, and school improvement support.
As a former salmon enhancement biologist, Garrison spent many years living and working in remote locations of Southeast Alaska. He has a B.S. in Fisheries Biology from Colorado State University and attended graduate school at the University of Vermont.

Timi Tullis’ responsibilities include ensuring that board members have professional development opportunities that allow them to govern their districts knowledgeably. Her passion is training and facilitating groups of people, adults, youth or a combination of the two. She specifically loves topics around social justice and equity. She facilitates in-district workshops with school boards, charter school boards and advisory boards as well as leading districts or schools through the strategic planning process. Timi started with AASB in the summer of 2001 and found her home with them. She enjoys traveling across the great land of Alaska and working with her 350 board members in every corner of the state. Timi has an MA in Education from Michigan State University and loves her teams in Green!

Lori Grassgreen has been working on community engagement, youth leadership, and creating systems change in Alaska and internationally for more than 20 years. Her last position as Prevention Director with the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault enabled her to partner with communities across the state to strengthen families, build a core of youth leaders, and engage communities.  In her role as the Alaska Initiative for Community Engagement Director, Lori will work directly and oversee Alaska ICE efforts: including community engagement, asset building, school climate and connectedness, and youth leadership.  She will support school and community-based efforts to plan for, implement, and evaluate efforts to build resiliency among youth.

Tiffany joins the AASB team after serving 12 years on her local school board (10 years as President), 9 years on the AASB board of director (twice as President), and 3 years on the NSBA board of directors. Before joining AASB, Tiffany worked for her Tribe as the Executive Director. Tiffany brings her passion for public education to the Director of Membership Services position where her responsibilities will include the executive search service, superintendent evaluation service, paperless meetings, and board development services which includes facilitating in-district workshops.  

Born and raised in Alaska, Tiffany is Tlingit and Aleut. She and her husband have 3 amazing children, one who graduated from, and two who currently attend Alaska public schools. She enjoys reading, crafting, baking, traveling, Harry Potter, and her favorite book of all time is Charotte’s Web. 

Jenny Mathis has over 15 years of experience with non-profit organizations as an accountant, Assistant Controller, and CFO. She has been a CPA for over 20 years. Jenny is originally from Alabama but has lived in Texas most of her life. Jenny and her family now call Weatherford, Texas home.

Away from work, Jenny and her husband Ronald are busy raising their three kids. Abbi and Walker are both in high school. They are both busy with school activities, including being on the basketball team. Presli, who will be in the 6th grade next year, is an active member of the archery team at school. Jenny enjoys taking trips with her family and attending Texas Rangers baseball games when possible.

Jenny is excited to be part of AASB as the Finance Officer. In her new role, she hopes to help bring some new processes to the business office, including moving some programs and functions to the cloud.

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.

Coming to us by way of Portland from Yakutat and Anchorage, Connor is a dedicated professional with over a decade of experience in people-to-people interchange. Connection is the backbone of engagement, and as the newest Community Engagement Educator, Connor is excited to work with students, family, and faculty across the state.

Before arriving at AASB, Emily Ferry worked with non-profit organizations in Southeast Alaska to coordinate campaigns, engage communities, and advocate for policies that promote sustainability while honoring Alaska’s unique way of life. With three young kids enrolled in the Juneau school district, she is passionate about quality education for all. As a coordinator of the collective impact STEPS Promise Neighborhood grant, Emily works with partners in seven Southeast Alaskan communities working to improve educational outcomes “from cradle to career.”

Heather attended Northern Arizona University and received degrees in Advertising and Public Relations. She moved to Juneau after graduating and spends her free time hiking with her dog, Ursa.

Jenni Lefing has been working in community development, program evaluation and coordination with rural communities in Alaska, Oregon, and internationally for over 15 years. She joined the AASB team in 2010 as a Community Engagement Educator for Alaska ICE, where she facilitated connections between schools and communities throughout Alaska. In 2015 she began overseeing Alaska’s School Climate & Connectedness Survey (SCCS) and supporting districts in using their results to make data-informed decisions. This includes facilitating in-district workshops with school boards, school staff, students, and community members. In 2018, she returned to AASB full-time as School Climate & Conference Coordinator. In addition to overseeing SCCS, she now oversees many of AABS’s conferences as part of the Board Development team. Jenni holds a Masters Degree in Sustainable/Community Development from the SIT Graduate Institute.

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.

Kate Schaberg comes to AASB in 2023 as our Team and Executive Support Specialist. She will be working to support the AASB Board of Directors and the Conditions for Learning team. Prior to AASB, Kate spent seven years working for the University of Alaska, providing high-quality, place-based, hands-on learning experiences for youth in Kodiak and throughout Alaska. She brings with her a variety of skills & expertise related to project management, volunteer coordination, event planning, and community outreach.

With two young children of her own enrolled in the Kodiak school district, she is passionate about quality education and promoting youth leadership. She is an active volunteer in the Kodiak community and school district. When not at work, Kate enjoys spending time with her family, gardening, taking photos and being active outdoors; hiking, beach combing, trail running or being out on the water.

Kendra has been in Alaska since 2000, when she arrived at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks (UAF) to study mycorrhizal fungi and soil ecology and received a Master’s degree. She fell in love with Alaska and the community immediately and has spent the last 23 years working and living in Fairbanks. She comes to AASB with a wealth of skills and knowledge focused primarily on positive youth development and family engagement. She hopes to continue to learn and grow with AASB and is grateful to continue to serve the youth and families of Alaska as a member of the Conditions for Learning Team.

Kendra has had the privilege of serving youth and families in Alaska for over 15 years. Her work at UAF focused on the development and delivery of high-quality positive youth development programming primarily through after-school and other out-of-school time offerings, including many a summer camp. She has developed and facilitated a variety of programming for youth of all ages, from STEM and life skills to health and wellness and everything in between. Through her years at UAF, she has recruited and managed amazing volunteers and worked with her community to provide engaging and creative programming for youth and families. She did her best to deliver programming that the youth themselves directed, and that was also strongly supported by their families and community.

Kendra also has a passionate interest in embodiment theory and the use of art (particularly applied theater and music) for self-exploration and as a tool in healing trauma. She is also a student of Nuad Boran and has been learning and exploring the healing power of Thai massage since 2012.  Kendra enjoys spending time with her family, playing soccer, yoga, hiking, dancing, singing and going for long walks with doggies in beautiful places.

Lauren Havens has over 10 years of experience working in the nonprofit sector as an educator, evaluator, and program manager. Originally from Northern California, she now calls Sitka home, where previous roles include AmeriCorps Volunteer for the Sitka School District and School Program Coordinator for Sitkans Against Family Violence. She received her Master’s of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University in 2018, where she focused on creative approaches to program evaluation and adolescent health. Most recently, she spent 2 years working as the Director of Operations for a nonprofit addiction treatment program in Monterey, CA. She now returns to Southeast Alaska via AASB where her role will focus on using data to drive program quality and share the story of our work.  

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.

Lisa joined the AASB team in April 2018. As a STEPS Partnership Coordinator, she will be working with the education partners throughout Southeast Alaska to align their work while coordinating Family Engagement practices within the schools and communities. Prior to AASB, Lisa worked as a legislative aide to Rep. Parish who served as Vice-Chair of House Education. Lisa worked for 16 years in public education as a parent volunteer, substitute teacher, 8 years (4 as Chair) on Auke Bay Elementary and Floyd Dryden Middle School site councils. Lisa was elected and served 4 years on the Juneau School Board. Lisa has volunteered for several years with Great Alaska Schools and the Huna Totem Scholarship committee.  Lisa’s priority while serving on the Juneau School Board was focusing on student retention and graduation, however, in doing so she learned how equity policies and programs inherently impact all areas from student learning to graduation.  She is a product of our Alaska public schools starting in Hoonah City Schools in kindergarten before moving to Juneau and graduating from Juneau Douglas High School. Lisa graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Oregon.

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.

Mindy has recently joined AASB as an Administrative Assistant. 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.

Norm Wooten served on the Kodiak Island Borough Board of Education from 1990-2015. He has served in numerous positions and various committees, including five terms as president. His service with AASB began in 1993 when he was first elected to the board, where he served until 2009, twice as president. Norm was also the president of the National School Boards Association for 2007-2008. In 2009, he joined the AASB staff as the Director of School Improvement and assumed additional duties as Director of Governmental Relations in 2013.

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.