LEADERSHIP

As the Chairman, Joe works with the board, management, and partners to further Sealaska’s strategic plan and fulfill their purpose of strengthening our people, our culture and our homelands.

He first found his way to the Sealaska boardroom as an attorney, helping to craft and develop a stock package for the new class of descendant shareholders. Joe was a member of the board when shareholders voted to approve the new stock, inviting thousands of descendants to enroll.  Understanding indigenous values, Joe continually advocates for younger voices in the boardroom and throughout Sealaska, knowing that decisions made today will impact generations yet to come.  He helped establish the Board Youth Advisor position in 2009.  All of these young people are continuing to make significant positive impacts within the community.

As board chair, he serves as ex-officio member to all committees. He serves as a director on Spruce Root’s board and ex-officio trustee for Sealaska Heritage Institute. Joe has been a Sealaska director since 2003 and has been board chair since 2014. Joe also serves as the co-chair of the Alaska Federation of Natives, a trustee to Sitka’s Outer Coast College and a director for Alaska Legal Services.

Joe is a Brown Bear (Teikweidí) from Yakutat.  He is also a Kwáashk’I kwaan yádi. His Tlingit name is Kaaxúxgu. Joe grew up commercial fishing and subsistence living in Yakutat. After graduating from Yakutat High School, Joe completed a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a Master’s degree in American Indian Studies from UCLA. He also has a juris doctorate from Loyola Law School.

Joe, his wife Crystal and children, Job, Nora, and Jude live in Juneau.

An expert in rural energy systems, Jodi has worked with Inside Passage Electric Cooperative (IPEC), known formerly as the Tlingit and Haida Regional Electrical Authority for more than 20 years, assuming the role of chief executive officer/general manager in 2008. Prior to IPEC, she worked at Sealaska as a senior accountant for five years.

Jodi is former chair and trustee of the Kootznoowoo Permanent Fund Settlement Trust, a director of the Kwaan Electric Transmission Intertie Cooperative, and a member of the Energy Committee for Southeast Conference. She also serves as a director of Synergy Systems, Inc., Olympic Fabrication, LLC, Kingston Environmental Services, Sealaska Constructors, LLC, and Haa Aani, LLC.

First elected to the board in 2006, Mitchell serves as chair of the Audit Committee and serves on the Compensation Committee and Finance Committee. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the University of Oregon and is a certified management accountant from the Institute of Management Accountants.

Jodi is Tlingit/Raven, Deisheetaan (Beaver clan) and Dleit káa yádi (child of). Her Tlingit name is T’seiltín.

A renowned Tlingit carver, Michael Beasley is a journeyman artist since 1987. Beasley has focused on the study and implementation of classic Tlingit art forms. He serves as a Tlingit & Haida Community Council delegate for Juneau, AK.

Beasley is Yéil (Raven) of the L’uknax.ádi (Coho) Clan. His Tlingit name is Daanawáak. Beasley graduated from the University of Washington with a BFA in metal design in 1987.

Barbara works as the Vice President for Arctic Ocean Conservancy. Prior to her current role, she served as director of the Alaska Native Policy Center for First Alaskans Institute, where she engaged with leadership at every level to advocate for Alaska Native people and ways of life. From 2015 to 2019, Barbara worked as a political appointee under the governor and lieutenant governor of Alaska as the director of Native and Rural Affairs and as senior staffer for Fish and Game. She conducted special studies and developed policy in areas of Tribal relations, subsistence, fisheries, forestry, transboundary water quality, food security and Native affairs. Previous positions include work with the USDA-Office of the Secretary in Washington DC, assistant professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and vice president of an 8(a)-certified business in Anchorage.

Barbara holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in rural development from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, along with certificates in Tribal Business Law and Indianpreneurship. She is a Sealaska scholarship recipient, former Sealaska accounting intern and former Board Youth Advisor.

She was born after 1971, so she is the first shareholder on the board of directors with descendant stock (Class D). She has also inherited landless stock.

Barbara’s Haida name is ‘Wáahlaal Gidaag (Potlatch Giver). Her Haida, Tlingit and Ahtna Athabascan family stems from Klawock, Hydaburg and Tsiis tl’edze’na’ (Chistochina). Her Xaadaas Clan is Yahkw Janáas (Raven Shark), her father is Naltsiine, and her grandfather is Teeyeeneidi.

Barbara is the Vice President and Treasurer of F/V Star of the Sea, Inc. and the Juneau School District Native Education grants administrator, Title VI Indian Studies Project Director, and Co-chair of the District-wide Equity Committee.

She serves as chair of the Shareholder Relations Committee, a member of the Governance-Nominations Committee and Finance Committee, and serves as a Trustee on the Sealaska Heritage Institute Board of Trustees. Barbara has been a Sealaska Director since 2009.

She is a tribal member and officer of the Douglas Indian Association (DIA), Chair of the Culture and Education Committee, and Chair of Housing 

Barbara is Tlingit, Teikweidí (Brown Bear clan), L’eeneidí/Filipino yádi (child of). Her Tlingit name is X’ashk’ugé.

Dr. Angela Michaud is the first female Tlingit chiropractor. She grew up in Ketchikan, Alaska. Her parents are William and Mary Pfeifer. Her paternal family is originally from Hoonah and her maternal family is from Iowa. Dr. Michaud’s Tlingit name is Saa Doo ou after Dorothy Carteeti and she is Eagle, Chookeneidi (Bear Clan). Her father is Raven, from the T’akdeintaan (Kittiwak Clan), and her grandparents are Pauline and John Hinchman from Hoonah.

She received her Bachelor of Science from Oregon State University, her Doctor of Chiropractic from Palmer College of Chiropractic and her Master of Business Administration from Pittsburg State University.

Dr. Michaud shares culture and traditions through her practice with the tribal health system over the last 14 years. She developed a full wellness model of care with chiropractic, acupuncture, massage, physical therapy, exercise specialists and health education at Southcentral Foundation. There, she also developed an accredited Tribal Doctor Training Program through Ilisagvik College. She is now the Senior Director of Recovery Services at Cook Inlet Tribal Council (CITC) in Anchorage, Alaska. She has implemented an integrated substance-use healing program to provide cultural healing for the residential, outpatient and prevention programs. Dr. Michaud’s focus is providing resources for families to be healthy and well. She is an international speaker and a mother of four.

In addition to her work with CITC, Dr. Michaud owns and manages several commercial and residential property rentals as well as helping support the management and business functions at her husband’s chiropractic clinic, True Life Chiropractic.

As one of Sealaska’s current board members, she has put focus on communication, community and connection to our culture and our lands.

The majority of Karen’s career has been spent supporting our Native organizations in both the for-profit and non-profit spheres. Through this work, she was able to support continued success for our Southeast Alaska region. This background gives her the opportunity to provide a unique perspective in the board room when investments are considered.  Overall, the goal Karen sees for Sealaska is to be successful in business for our shareholders, continuing to provide benefits and with share our culture.

In 2019, Karen retired as Controller for Finance at Bartlett Regional Hospital after serving nearly five years. Prior to that, she was a Controller for Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium. Karen served on the Goldbelt, Inc. board from 2008-2014 and as board chair for Goldbelt, Inc. from 2011-2013. She served as Sealaska’s Senior Accountant from 2007-2008 and served on the Goldbelt Heritage Foundation board from 2014-2022.  She brings a vast knowledge of the intricacies of ANCSA to the Sealaska boardroom along with a broad understanding of financial management principles to help ensure decisions are fiscally sound.

She has been a member of the Sealaska Board of Directors since 2020 and is a member of the Audit Committee, Compensation Committee, Finance Committee, Governance-Nominations Committee and Communications Subcommittee. Karen is also a manager on the Haa Aaní LLC., Board of Managers and a member of the Sealaska Settlement Trust Fund. She puts forth her energy and time for Sealaska and shareholders in many capacities.

Currently, Karen is the President of the Deishu Tlingit & Haida Community Council, a Central Council Tlingit & Haida Indians of Alaska delegate for Haines, Board of Commissioner for Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority and member of Alaska Native Sisterhood Camp 5.

Karen is Tlingit – Raven/Coho – L’uknax.adi (Daginaa Hit), Tsimshian, and Panabscot and her Tlingit name is GunnaShaa.

Nicole is the Owner and CEO of A&A Solutions, LLC, a consulting firm specializing in organizational efficiency.

She has a Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and a Master of Arts in European history from the University of California Berkeley.

Nicole has been a member of the Sealaska Board of Directors since June 2018. She chairs  the Governance and Nominations Committee, is vice chair of the Compensation Committee,  serves on the Audit Committee, and as a Trustee of the Elders’ Settlement Trust.

Nicole is the former vice president and corporate secretary of Sealaska, and the former director of operations of the National Congress of American Indians. She is a director on the national board of the American Indian Cancer Foundation, and former president and board chair of Cancer Connection in Juneau, Alaska.  She is an enrolled tribal member of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska  and the Petersburg Indian Association, and is a member of Petersburg ANS Camp 16.

Nicole is Tlingit/Raven, T’akdeintaan (Sea Pigeon) and Tsaagweidi/Norwegian yádi (child of). Her Tlingit name is Ch’aak’Tlaa.

Morgan is the founder of Morgan Howard Productions.

He has a Bachelor of Science in communications from Northern Arizona University and a Bachelor of Arts in film production from Columbia College–Hollywood.

Morgan serves as chair of the Communications Subcommittee and since September 2018, he serves as chair of the Sealaska Finance Committee. He is also a member of the Shareholder Relations Committee.

Morgan served on the Tlingit Haida Tribal Business Corporation Board of Directors (8 Years from 2009-2017) and formerly on the Yak-tat Kwaan Inc. Board of Directors (10 years from 2006-2016). He is a member of the Seattle Chapter of Central Council of Tlingit & Haida of Indian Tribes of Alaska (CCTHITA), Delegate; Alaska Native Village CEO Association, Founding Member; Alaska Innovation and Entrepreneurship Group, Founding Member; Board member of Seafood Nutrition Partnership; and Launch Alaska Tech Deployment Track Panelist.

Morgan is Tlingit/Eagle, Teikweidí (Brown Bear clan), K’ineix Kwáa yádi (child of). His Tlingit name is X’agatkeen.

Richard is CEO for Tlingit and Haida Business Corporation, president of Raven Potlatch Development, LLC, and managing member of Raven Potlatch Real Estate, LLC.  (Raven Potlatch is a private family-owned business).

Richard has 38 years of experience as a business executive and entrepreneur, including 20 years in private industry prior to working for Sealaska.  Rinehart earned a Master of Business Administration from Portland State University and a Bachelor of Science from Portland State University.

He is a member of the Sealaska Audit Committee and Finance Committee and serves as chair of the Haa Aaní, LLC Board of Managers. He has been a member of the Sealaska Board of Directors since 2013.

Richard is a member of the Shx’at Kawáan Dancers and ANB Camp 4 of Wrangell. Richard is Tlingit/Raven, Kiks.ádi (Frog clan), Gagaan Hít (Sun House), Teeyhíttaan yádi (child of), and Haida. His Tlingit names are Du aani Kax Naalei and Tashee.

Ka’illjuus is the Executive Director, Xaadas Kil Kuyaas Foundation (XKKF), the elected Supreme Court Chief Justice for the Tlingit and Haida Central Council Indian Tribes of Alaska, and the owner of Minority Woman-Owned Business, Lisaverosh Consulting. She is bar licensed since 2012 to practice law in New Mexico.

She has a Master of Arts, Simon Fraser University; First Nations Linguistics, Xaad Kil; Juris Doctorate, University of New Mexico; Bachelor of Science in political science with a minor in business, Emporia State University, Kansas; Associate degree in liberal arts with a business emphasis, Haskell Indian Junior College.

Ka’illjuus is Northern Alaska Haida; she follows her mother Carolyn Sandersons Yahkw ‘Laanas Clan, a Raven, Two Finned Killer Whale, from the K’aad Naay (Shark House). Her Haida name is Ka’illjuus. She is a child of Gerald “Osh” Lang, a Tsimshian Eagle and Tlingit heritage from Metlakatla, Alaska. Lisa lives in Hydaburg, Alaska. Her children are Verlaine Ravana, Ty Edenshaw, and Stephanie Sanders. She has five beautiful grandchildren.

Vicki Soboleff is an accounting and finance professional who was born in Seattle, Washington, and raised in Ketchikan. She is the cultural manager for Tlingit & Haida. From 2019-2023 she was the grants coordinator for the Tulalip Tribes in Tulalip, Washington, overseeing more than $25 million in grants. Soboleff has more than 20 years’ experience in finance and accounting, including 13 years with Sealaska, first as managing accountant and then as corporate controller. She serves as the chair of the board for Haida Corporation and as president for Haida Energy. She is a former board member of Catholic Community Services, where she served on the Audit Committee.  

First elected to the board in 2021, Soboleff serves on the Compensation, Finance and Audit committees. She also serves as chair of the Sealaska Heritage Institute Board of Trustees. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.), accounting focus from University of Alaska Southeast. Soboleff is skilled in financial statement preparation, including consolidations and audit management. 

Soboleff is an artist, performer, mentor and teacher who has been involved in a variety of traditional arts and youth mentorship programs throughout her life. She founded the Juneau-based youth dance group Lda Kut Naax Sati Yatx’i (All Nations’ Children in Lingít) in 1995. The group still exists today, and she remains an advisor to the program. After moving from Alaska to Washington state in 2017, Soboleff continued her outreach to youth through the Washington chapter of Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, forming another youth dance group called X̲aat’áay ‘Wáadluwaan G̲aagáay (All Nations’ Children in Xaad kíl). Soboleff began studying cultural activities and Native languages in Ketchikan. She received instruction from Nora and Robert Cogo in Haida language, world-renowned Master Weaver Selina Peratrovich in Haida basketry, Julia Fawcett in moccasin making, and Beatrice Starkweather in traditional beadwork.  Her Haida grandmother, Vesta Johnson, also taught Haida language, songs and dance, and button-blanket making. 

In 2019, Soboleff received the President’s Everyday Hero Award from Tlingit & Haida for her work as a culture bearer.   

Soboleff is Haida, Yak’Laanas (Raven/Double Fin Killerwhale) of the Brown Bear House; and Tlingit (adopted) Kiks.adi (Raven/Frog) of the Tinaa Hit (Copper Shield House) and the Gaagaan Hit (Sun House). Her Haida names are Hiilunjaat and Tl’aakahlwaas and her Tlingit names are Kuk’ak and Shx’aasti. 

La quen náay Liz Medicine Crow is both Haida and Tlingit from Kéex’ Kwáan, the Mouth of the Dawn People.  On her Tlingit side, she is Raven Kaach.ádi, Fresh Water-marked Sockeye Salmon, from the X̱’áakw Hít. She is the grandchild of the Tsaagweidí, the Killerwhale People from the House that Anchors the Village, and holds the Tsaagweidí, Dakl’aweidí, Wooshkeetaan, and Shangukeidí as direct opposites. As a Haida, she comes from Masset, Haida Gwaii then Hydaburg and finally Kake. She is an Eagle Tíits G’itanée, Hummingbird. Her grandfather was K’anaheik Thomas Jackson Sr. of Kake, her grandmother was Neunkwiigeigitkíiaaneuns Mona (Ingram/Frank) Jackson. K’anaheik was the son of Bessie (Sumdum) and Scotty Jackson, and was raised by his uncle/father Johnny C. Jackson. Neunkwiigeigitkíiaaneuns was the daughter of Sdaahlk’awáas Lucy (Jones) and Guskin Benjamin Ingram of the Yahgu ‘laanaas clan of Masset, and after her father passed her mother remarried Síigaay Luke Frank, also of the Yahgu ‘laanaas of Hydaburg who became Mona’s second father.  La quen náay’s parents are Bill and Sdaahlk’awáas Della Cheney, the youngest daughter of Neunkwiigeigitkíiaaneuns and K’anaheik. Bill is the son of Lillian and Charles Cheney of North Dakota and Montana, whose families immigrated to the US from northern European countries. Sdaahlk’awáas and Bill make their home in both Kake and Juneau.  Kat Saas is Liz’s Lingit name and La quen náay is her Xaad kil (Haida) name.  Her home is and always will be in Kake and her work is based out of Anchorage and across Alaska.

La quen náay serves as the President/CEO of First Alaskans Institute, having formerly served as the organization’s Vice President and before that as the Director of the Alaska Native Policy Center.  She currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Spruce Root, Philanthropy Northwest, Perseverance Theater, ACLU- Alaska, Vision Maker Media, and Get Out the Native Vote (GOTNV). Her current affiliations include: US Civil Rights Commission – Alaska Advisory Committee; University of Alaska System Alaska Native Recruitment & Success Initiative Steering Committee; Chair, Elections Policy Working Group, Alaska Lt. Governor’s Office/Division of Elections; Native Peoples Action Steering Committee; Philanthropy Northwest Nominations & Governance Committee; University of Alaska Strategic Planning Groups – Alignment and DEI; AFN Climate Change Task Force; AFN Council for the Advancement of Alaska Natives (CAAN); Co-Chair, Alaska Resilience Initiative Steering Committee; Anchorage Vaccine Advisory Committee; US Truth, Racial Healing, & Transformation Coalition; Mariculture Task Force Alaska Native Advisory Committee; Fort Lewis College’s President’s Tribal Advisory Committee; Kake Tribal Corporation shareholder; Alaska Native Sisterhood Camp #10, Kake; Kéex’ Kwáan Dancers. She is on a learning journey with both her Xaad kil and Lingit languages.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts (BFA Equivalency) from Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO; Juris Doctorate (JD) and a Certificate of Indian Law, Arizona State University, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Tempe, AZ.

Connor Ulmer is Kaagwaantaan (Eagle/Wolf) from  Kóok Hít  (Box House). He carries the name Deikeenaak’w (Little Haida) from his grandfather, George Obert. Ulmer is the son of Annette and Gary Ulmer. He was born and raised in Juneau.  

Connor graduated from University of Alaska Southeast in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a concentration in management. In the autumn of 2018, he began working for Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska as an administrative clerk. Ulmer currently works for Tlingit & Haida now as an administrative assistant. He also serves as a Council Member on the Juneau Tlingit & Haida Community Council. His experience has allowed him to be a resource to his community and discuss new ways to improve it. Ulmer is considering an advanced degree in either business or law to help fulfill is ambition to help tribes develop their judicial systems.

Martin’s Tlingit name is Náajeyistláa (mother of Cape Spencer), which was the name of her great grandmother. She is a Raven-T’akdeintaan from X’áakw Hít and a child of the Wooshkeetaan. She is a grandchild of John and Carolyn Martin from Hoonah and Tenakee. 

Martin recently started the Indigenous Language Speaking Certificate through the University of Alaska Southeast and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley where she is co-chair of the Indigenous Graduate Student Association. 

She recently completed a Master of Arts in Public Humanities at Brown University and holds a Bachelor’s in Religion & Anthropology with a minor in Dance and Movement Studies from Emory University. She hopes to become a professor of Alaska Native Studies and Indigenous Museum Studies after graduation.