Lisa Eyler brings over 20 years of executive leadership in nonprofit, natural resources and cross-cultural communications fields. She served as Alaska Program Director of the Conservation Lands Foundation, Senior Project Manager of Environmental Resources Management and Executive Director of The Great Land Trust, Inc.  Lisa works with Alaskan villages, Latin America and Arctic nations focusing much of her career on partnering diverse organizations and individuals toward a common purpose. 

She holds a JD from the University of Oregon Law School and has consulted for nonprofits, industry and governmental entities. Lisa’s extensive cross-cultural community involvement puts her in an ideal position to advance AKWorld’s mission and vision.   She is dedicated to ensuring AKWorld’s educational programming continues to engage our community as world events shape Alaska and Alaskans shape world events. As Lisa says, “We’re a non-partisan organization that is passionate in pursuit of our mission to help Alaskans understand that we are a global crossroads, not a distant periphery.”

Her dedication to the AKWorld mission to advance international understanding and engagement is shown through her 14 years of service as a volunteer, member and a AKWorld Board Member.  

During her free time, you can find Lisa exploring Alaska’s wild places with her kids and dogs.

The AKWorld Executive Board extends its deepest gratitude to Lise Kristiansen for her years of leadership and service and wishes her well in all her future endeavors.

Under Lise’s innovative leadership, the Alaska World Affairs Council has implemented high-impact programs with over 550 world leaders including diplomats, NATO Commanders, policy makers, public officials, Presidents and Royalty. She thoughtfully challenged our next generation of global thinkers by spearheading the Council’s Speed Mentoring Program for local high school students, as well as cultivating the growth of events like the annual Academic WorldQuest Student Competition to send Alaska’s top competitive teams to the World Affairs Council of America’s National Competition in Washington, D.C. She has strategically led the organization through major challenges over the last sixteen years, while partnering with policy experts and multifaceted organizations around the globe. Her dedication to the organization has earned her national recognition from the National World Affairs Councils of America being named, Leader of the Year, out of the 94 Council Leaders around the United States.

The Alaska World Affairs Council extends its deepest gratitude for Lise and the growth of our organization, which culminated from her vision, passion, and steady leadership. The distinctive accomplishments of Lise reflect credit upon herself and the impact she has had in the State of Alaska and we wish her well in all of her future endeavors.

The Alaska World Affairs Council is now conducting an executive search to fill the position as Kristiansen will leave the role in February 2023. Want to learn more? General inquiries can be directed to Stefan Saldanha at stefan.saldanha@alaskaworldaffairs.org and Jim Cantor at jim.cantor@alaskaworldaffairs.org.

About the Alaska World Affairs Council

The council was founded in 1958 by the late Evangeline Atwood with the conviction that better community education in world affairs is necessary for sound democratic citizenship. The Council does not take a stand on current-day issues but rather provides the population a wide spectrum of viewpoints and background information through its diverse range of programs and activities. The Alaska World Affairs Council is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit, non-partisan organization which is membership-based and is one of over 90 members of the World Affairs Councils of America.

The rapid weather changes that are ongoing throughout the Arctic can be felt around the world. Two Alaska Native women give this AKWorld program’s participants from near and far the opportunity to listen and discuss how important this environmental issue is not only for Alaska, but the entire world. This program engages in a civil discourse to hear all of the sides regarding climate issues. Listening to these women warriors who so eloquently connect science and personal story to understand their perspectives on the evolving arctic environment.

Dr. Sarah Aarons, an assistant professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in the Geosciences Division, kicks off the discussion by mentioning the importance of how indigenous people are born being natural scientists because they have studied how the earth works for a very long time. From knowing how plants and animals migrate and the implications that has on food security to knowing when sea and river ice forms and when it rots and the implications that has for hunting and fishing. Also, monitoring how weather and temperature changes on both seasonal time and longtime scales in terms of our lifetimes and ancestral timelines. Leading the conversation in climate change and how, why, and where we can see this, Dr. Aarons lays out a presentation filled with numerical, thermal, and topographic maps displaying these events over time. 

There are geological records that show changes in temperature over the Earth’s history and specifically ice records that help to tell us the information about the atmospheric compositions at the particular time period that it was formed. Carbon dioxide concentration impacts at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii since 1950 also serves as evidence of the fossil fuels burned by humans leading the increase of this concentration. For those unfamiliar with carbon dioxide, it is a potent greenhouse gas that absorbs outgoing heat and traps it in the atmosphere leading to rising temperatures on the Earth’s surface. The Arctic and Alaska are warming twice as fast as the rest of the world, with record breaking July 2019 temperatures! These record temperatures combined with dry conditions lead to wildfires that emit more smoke and aerosols into the atmosphere. 

Rising temperatures are not the only ongoing issue with climate change. Ocean temperatures are also changing as well. Ice and snow are essential to the Earth’s ability to reflect the sunlight and thermal waves. The more ice and snow melt, the more the Earth’s surface absorbs heat and thermal energy leading to increases in global temperatures. The melting sea ice and glaciers have effects on the rural Alaskan villages, like Unalakleet, Little Diomede, and others along the Bering Strait, that can create violent storms. Sea ice and its extent has a very important control on ocean circulation which dictates the weather patterns on the Earth’s surface. In the polar regions, the ice and snow keep the surface protected from the solar radiation and rising temperatures. 

The scientific focus on the changing Arctic environment deals with the constraints on the greenhouse gas emissions that are a result of the thawing of the semi-frozen ground in Alaska, Siberia, and the Canadian Arctic, known as permafrost. For Alaskans, thinking about the sea ice and its implications is important for those coastal communities that depend on hunting and fishing. Gail Schubert, direct descendant of the last traditional Chief and Shaman of Unalakleet and President and CEO of Bering Straits Native Corporation, recalls her early childhood in Unalakleet. There she would skate on the sea ice and sled on the snowbanks next to her village; those activities are not possible today. In rural villages where fishing and hunting is essential to the subsistence, warming waters are sending fish to migrate further north to cooler waters.

While we don’t know how or when we will be able to put a stopper in the climate change issue, ensuring that any of the future developments and operations in the Arctic regions doesn’t interfere with the activities and resources essential to the subsistence of Alaska. Alaskans are on the front line of the global warming effects and having a proper scientific explanation that coincides with the personal stories of Alaska Natives sharpens the mind to the severity of the issue. Through this AKWorld program participants were able to interchange and ask questions that encouraged the global conversation both of the Alaska Native women were able to lay out.

Post written by: Jazmine Carrillo, AKWorld Intern

Published by: Siobhan Choi, Operations Director

This program was a part of an education project with The CIRI Foundation. Thank you TCF for your support in bringing the world to Alaska!

The Alaska World Affairs Council has been able to offer programs that bring the world to Alaska for the past 60 years. Now, during these unprecedented times we are able to use Zoom to bring Alaska to the world! With people tuning in from around the world, people are able to engage in this wonderful program that features Nick Hanson, known to many as the “EskimoNinja” from his being on the TV competition show NBC’s American Ninja Warrior for 6 seasons. Speaking on the bridge between Alaska Native culture and Western culture, both of which Nick is a part of being half-white and half-Iñupiaq, this program is able to open the dialogue and introduce a fresh perspective on Alaska world affairs. 

Nick Hanson, from Unalakleet, is a huge asset to Alaska and the region. As a young child, he was bullied for his mixed heritage and used sports as an outlet. His experiences in his youth living in a small village led him to search for knowledge in the adults in his community. Through this Nick became a top athlete in his community. After earning his degree in civil engineering and interning with companies like BP, Alyeska Pipeline, and ConocoPhillips throughout college, Nick was able to work for NASA at the Goddard Space Flight Center on the other side of the country. As amazing as these opportunities were, change and spontaneity led him to return to Unalakleet. His engagement with the youth in his village has been essential in his work as a community leader. In fact, it was an 8th grader that told him to try out for American Ninja Warrior! 

One of the biggest stigmas that can be found in today’s society is found in the topic of suicide. A difficult situation that Hanson has personal experiences within his life and those around him. He believes that Western culture comes into play in modern times where the narrative has done a 180˚ flip now that men are no longer essential in providing for their communities, which has been the historical norm. Where Nick has found ways to motivate himself, he seeks to inspire others to do the same. He serves as a great example that young men in his village also have more than one option available for them in life. 

So, the question found throughout the hour-long inspiring discussion is, “What does it take to be Ninja Warrior?” For the “Eskimo Ninja” the answer lies in knowing who you are. Finding your purpose is dependent on the individual and being yourself. Alaskan diversity is different to the continental U.S. diversity and being able to deal with the current events can be found in each other’s support systems, which is important for Alaskans to be able to understand each other. Finding yourself in the political gray area is interesting in opening discussions and perspectives, so understanding who we are leads us to better helping others and involving ourselves in various political movements. 

Building a community and having constructive dialogue is important in being able to facilitate these programs and showing what they have to offer. Ending with a Q&A from questions in the chat we can better engage with communities and open the discussion in world affairs. With two guest appearances from fellow Ninjas, Grant McCartney “Island Ninja” and Daniel Gill “Kingdom Ninja”, you never know what surprises lie ahead in fellow AKWorld programs!

Post written by: Jazmine Carrillo, AKWorld Intern

Published by: Siobhan Choi, Operations Director

This program was a part of an education project with The CIRI Foundation. Thank you TCF for your support in bringing the world to Alaska!

The fun, easy-to-understand multiple-choice format creates an environment of collaboration within teams and helps students to engage in dynamic discussion about complex topics. My team and I were also a delegation to UAA’s Model United Nations conference, and World Quest was essential in teaching us how to work together and communicate effectively with one another about what is going on in the world and the best ways to react.

Even though World Quest is a national competition (with the added bonus of the winning team getting to represent Alaska at nationals in Washington D.C.), it feels like a tight-knit community event with an introductory social period, speakers, and prizes. To a high school student, it is challenging and can be high-stakes, but it is also fun and welcoming.

As a former student of Eagle River High School that was heavily involved in Model United Nations and participated in World Quest twice, World Quest was a fun, interesting event that I looked forward to each year.

Testimonial shared by Ciera Stafford, WorldQuest 2015 & 2016

To learn more about WorldQuest, click here.

You can support AKWorld’s global education opportunities and join our dynamic group engaging Alaskans with the world by becoming a member today. Learn about membership options and join online here.

For more information about Dr. Stedman, visit the archived event page.

To listen to the podcast of Dr. Stedman’s riveting talk check out Alaska Public Media’s website.

Did you know AKWorld live tweets many of its programs and often conversations are sparked that continue online? Follow us on Twitter for highlights from past programs and to join the next conversation!

At this program, AKWorld also honored the winners of the 2016 Academic Student WorldQuest Competition from West High School, who will be traveling to Washington DC later this month to compete in the national competition!

For more information about the panelists and moderator, please visit the archived event page.

To listen to the podcast of the program, check out Alaska Public Media’s website!

Did you know AKWorld live tweets many of its programs and often conversations are sparked that continue online? Follow us on Twitter for highlights from past programs and to join the next conversation!

Julie finds much fulfillment in her career and especially developing community programs, which she plans to be involved in for a lifetime. Having an artist father sparked her interest in art and culture. Art is special to Julie because, “It’s dependent upon good relationships with a lot of different people and because each day I learn something more.” According to Julie, her most important accomplishment is: “Being lucky enough to know really good people and the collaborative projects that were impractical to accomplish but made a big impact on the participants and led to more and more conversations and ideas.”

Julie Decker views life through the lens of art and culture and believes that it should not be a separate thing; but that it is actually “a way of seeing and thinking and thinking critically.” Reiterating the strong connection that art and culture have with the people of the world, Julie emphasizes, “Art and culture are at the core of my understanding and way of visually taking in and responding to the world, but I don’t think I need to spread awareness of art in itself, necessarily.” Her role is an important one. Her contributions to the public come from the voices of artists that are represented in places like the Anchorage Museum.

The most important note that we should remember about art and culture at the Anchorage Museum is that, “Artists can be key questioners and observers and can offer a compelling narrative for examining the world—past, present and future. To me, our compelling narrative is about the North—its people and its environment.” Julie’s honest motives, hard work, dedication, and compelling advice to not only dedicate yourself whole heartedly to your passions but to give art and culture the place they deserve in the world truly shape who she is beyond the title of CEO and Director of Anchorage Museum. She is an inspiration and the influential voice behind the scenes at the Anchorage Museum.

Julie will be participating in an Alaska World Affairs Council panel discussion on Friday, April 8th, noon at the Downtown Hilton on “Music, Art, & Justice: Community Building and Political Expression Internationally and Locally.” To join us for this event or any other upcoming event please contact Meneka Thiru at rsvp@alaskaworldaffairs.org or call (907)276-8038.

Post written by: Haliehana Stepetin, Intern
Published by: Alyssa Bish, Operations & Marketing Director

Haliehana is a Navy Veteran and a senior at UAA graduating this semester with a degree in International Studies – Russia Track and minors in Russian and Anthropology. She is an Unangax dancer, very interested in maintaining and preserving her culture through song and dance, artwork, and traditional practices.

For more information about the panelists and moderator, visit the archived event page.

Did you know AKWorld live tweets many of its programs and often conversations are sparked that continue online? Follow us on Twitter for highlights from past programs and to join the next conversation!

Torrie has always known that he would follow his heart and dedicate his life to the performing arts and broadcast media. His career started when he spent 20 years studying with leading voice teachers and vocal coaches, under legendary conductors such as Lyndon Woodside. Woodside harnessed Torrie’s talented singing voice, which landed Torrie at venues at Carnegie Hall and even in Russia, Prague, Mexico and Costa Rica. Torrie had many roles that he would ultimately play in performing arts, from singing as an operatic bass to finding his personal fit as an arts leader. Torrie ultimately realized that he wanted to pursue arts leadership, which has brought him great rewards including recently helping to launch the Alaska World Music Festival and being invited to participate as a grants review panelist for the Wallace Foundation’s $52 million Building Audiences for Sustainability initiative.

Torrie’s choice to leave his full-time career as a performer and singer was to develop this interest in arts leadership. “I believe the performing arts is in my DNA,” says Torrie, and it certainly brings him satisfaction in his career at AKPM. Torrie showcases his performing arts skills by moderating events, and being the voice behind public broadcasting. “I’ve been passionate about public broadcasting since my youth.” Before AKPM, Torrie was the leader of Alaska’s largest performing arts production company, the Anchorage Opera.

Performing arts and broadcast media dominate Torrie’s life, in a good way of course! Torrie balances his work between hiking, snow machining, and traveling, but includes: “I’m also almost always thinking about the arts and broadcast media … and I love it that way!” Today, Torrie’s calling is to unite the performing arts and broadcast media. He is paving the way for this unification in Alaska through his work with AKPM and his connection to the community. “From an executive leadership perspective, broadcast media and the performing arts have a lot in common and face many of the same challenges including relevance, sustainability and adaptability.” Performing arts and broadcast media have a strong relationship and significant social impacts, as Torrie says, “The arts and public broadcast media have the power to help people be more creative, connected and civil.” Through all of his hard work in becoming a well-versed arts leader and moving into a leadership position in broadcast media, Torrie is paving the way at uniting performing arts, broadcast media, and society as a whole.

Torrie will be moderating an Alaska World Affairs Council panel discussion on Friday, April 8th, noon at the Downtown Hilton on “Music, Art, & Justice: Community Building and Political Expression Internationally and Locally.” To join us for this event or any other upcoming event please contact Meneka Thiru at rsvp@alaskaworldaffairs.org or call (907)276-8038.

Post written by: Haliehana Stepetin, Intern
Published by: Alyssa Bish, Operations & Marketing Director

Haliehana is a Navy Veteran and a senior at UAA graduating this semester with a degree in International Studies – Russia Track and minors in Russian and Anthropology. She is an Unangax dancer, very interested in maintaining and preserving her culture through song and dance, artwork, and traditional practices.