BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.2.3.1//EN TZID:America/Anchorage X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/Anchorage BEGIN:VEVENT UID:330@alaskaworldaffairs.org DTSTART;TZID=America/Anchorage:20220308T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/Anchorage:20220308T130000 DTSTAMP:20231231T065046Z URL:https://alaskaworldaffairs.org/archived-events/alaskan-indigenous-lead ers-visions-for-the-future-womens-day-panel/ SUMMARY:Alaskan Indigenous Leaders: Visions for the Future | Women's Day Pa nel DESCRIPTION:\n\nJoin Alaska World Affairs Council in honoring and celebrati ng the indigenous women leaders in our community.\n\nPanelists include: M elissa Kookesh\, Board Chair of Kootznoowoo\; Marit Carlson-Van Dort\, Pr esident of Far West\; and Dena Pedebone\, CEO of Gana A Yoo.\n\n\n\nPaneli sts:\n\nMelissa M. Kookesh was elected to the Kootznoowoo Board in 2016 an d began serving as Board Chair. In addition to her role as Chairwoman\, sh e also serves as ex-officio on all committees.\n\nFrom 2005-2014\, Melissa worked in the Office of the President at the Central Council Tlingit & \; Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. Currently\, she is employed as a Legisla tive Aide for the Alaska State Legislature. Melissa holds an Associate of Arts and Sciences and certification in Tribal Management from the Universi ty of Alaska Fairbanks.\n\nMelissa is the daughter of Lena Woods and the l ate Floyd M. Kookesh and is the granddaughter of the late Matthew and Ramo na Kookesh. Melissa is Raven Dog Salmon from the Central House in Angoon\, and her Tlingit name is X’eetoow.\n\n Dena Sommer-Pedebone\, Chief Exec utive Officer of Gana-A’Yoo\, Limited\, is responsible for working with the Board of Directors to set the overall direction of the Gana-A’Yoo Fa mily of Companies and provide leadership to its executive team.\nPrior to joining Gana-A’Yoo\, Dena was with Alyeska Pipeline Service Company mana ging Large Contracts\, Supplier Performance\, and Program compliance. Dena graduated with Leadership Honors from the University of Alaska Fairbanks with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Marketing. She holds a graduate certificate in executive leadership from Alaska Pacific Univers ity and Alyeska Pipeline’s Alyeska University\, a corporate leadership p rogram designed to provide future executives with the foundational knowled ge to excel in today’s competitive business climate and the know-how to build a holistic approach to identifying areas for improvement and strateg ies for change.\nMarit Carlson-Van Dort is Sugpiaq from the village of Chi gnik Bay. She was born in Alaska and raised in Southeast Alaska and the s outhern Alaska Peninsula where she commercial fished for nearly fifteen y ears. Marit has a Bachelor of Science in Conservation Biology from the Uni versity of Wisconsin- Madison and graduate work in Fisheries Science and Secondary Education.  Marit has spent the past several years working in b oth the public and private sectors in public and government affairs with an emphasis on state and federal regulation\, environmental policy\, permi tting\,\nresource development\, and community outreach and engagement. Cur rently she is employed as the\nPresident &\; CEO of Far West\, Inc. an Alaska Native village corporation formed under the Alaska Native\nClaims S ettlement Act (ANCSA).\n\nIn addition to her work at Far West\, she has se rved on the board of directors of STAR of Anchorage\, a\nlocal non-profit providing advocacy and support services to victims of sexual trauma\, and on the State of\nAlaska Board of Fisheries. She is the first woman to ever be elected as chair of the Board of Fisheries.\nModerator:\n\n\nHallie Bi ssett has been the ANVCA Executive Director for 4 years. Bissett holds a B achelor's degree in Global Logistics Management and an MBA from the Univer sity of Alaska. She has held many executive roles throughout her career\, including: Vice President of Business Development and Old Harbor Native Co rporation\, Team Leader of Procurement and Supply Chain Management and Sup plier Diversity at BP Exploration\, and Logistics and International Trade Director at the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation. In addition\, Bissett was the youngest person yet to be elected to the Cook Inlet Region Inc. (CIRI) one of Alaska's 12 Regional Corporations created under ANCSA\ , a position she has held for over 10 years. \n\nBissett has been honored as one of Alaska's Top 40 Under Forty\, University of Alaska College of B usiness Alumni of the Year\, and NCAIED National Top forty under 40. \n\n \n\nThis program is a part of the Evangeline Atwood Distinguished Speakers Series. Named after the the founder of the Alaska World Affairs Council\, Evangeline Atwood\, and with the generous support from The Atwood Foundat ion\, these public programs feature world-class experts on a diverse range of topics.\n\n\n\nProgram Details\n\n Check-in will begin at 11:30am wit h seating available on a first-come first-serve basis. The program will be gin at 12:00pm.\n Those with online reservations do not need to present t icket confirmation at the door\, we will have all confirmed attendees on a list at check-in.\n Lunch at this program will be available for individu al order and purchase from Bear Tooth Theatre. If you wish to do so\, plan on arriving early to ensure you receive your meal by the end of the progr am.\n Online registration will close March 7\, 2022 at 6pm. Remaining tic kets will be available for purchase the day of the program at the door fro m 11:00am.\n ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://alaskaworldaffairs.org/wp-content/upload s/2022/01/Speaker-bio-photos-2.png CATEGORIES:Events LOCATION:Bear Tooth Theatre\, 1230 W 27th Ave\, Anchorage\, AK\, 99503\, Un ited States GEO:61.19592979999999;-149.90727500000003 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=1230 W 27th Ave\, Anchorage \, AK\, 99503\, United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TITLE=Bear Tooth Theatr e:geo:61.19592979999999,-149.90727500000003 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Anchorage X-LIC-LOCATION:America/Anchorage BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20211107T010000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0900 TZNAME:AKST END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR