Kay Brown is a former state official, political strategist and media specialist who moved to Alaska in 1976. Kay has broad experience in political, non-profit and public arenas, including 10 years of service as an Alaska State Representative. After leaving the legislature, she helped assemble and lead a large coalition of Alaska environmental groups, the Alaska Conservation Alliance and Voters. She also served as Director of Oil and Gas for the State of Alaska, and Executive Director of the Alaska Democratic Party. She currently chairs the Alaska Progressive Donor Table and works as Arctic Policy Director for Pacific Environment. A journalist by training, Kay is the founder of Alaska Women Ascend, a training program for progressive women candidates and campaign staff. Kay was inducted into the Alaska Womens Hall of Fame in 2017 for achievement in public policy and politics. She has a B.A. in journalism from Baylor University. After living in Alaska for 48 years, she and her husband Mark Foster recently moved to Palm Springs, CA.

Larry Michael is a retired school psychologist who landed in Bethel, AK in 1982 answering a newspaper ad. For half his career he traveled to villages by airplane and for the other half he drove a car to schools in the ASD. He now runs a B&B with his husband in downtown Anchorage. Their modern family is comprised of five children and two grandchildren from diverse backgrounds. Raised conservative Christian, Larry now challenges Christian Nationalism for its threats to religious liberty and pluralistic democracy. His favorite podcast, Straight White American Jesus, ignited his knowledge on the topic. One does not have to be straight, white and a Christian to be a true American! Larry is an elder at First Presbyterian and involved in many community activities and organizations including the Anchorage Downtown Partnership, Center for Psychosocial Development, and the Third Avenue Radicals.

Slides - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/3vjj57pzk0vm8q60k8qfr/ChristianNationalism.pdf?rlkey=0yfvb6zkoqks76zcgfhg5v7xg&dl=0

Heba El-Hendi is the Senior Director at CSS’s Refugee Assistance and Immigration Services, bringing over a decade of experience in international development, refugee rights advocacy, and program management. She has worked with UNHCR and USAID, focusing on service delivery, community relations, and partnerships—including work in Western Sahara and Algiers. A Fletcher School graduate from Tufts University, she holds a master’s in human security, refugee & migration studies, and development economics, and earned her bachelor’s at Emory University. She held a Fulbright Teaching Assistantship in Morocco, and was a PeacePlayers International Fellow in Jerusalem. More recently, she served as Leadership Academy Director for PeacePlayers International. Passionate about supporting vulnerable populations, she has dedicated her career to addressing global inequality and conflict.

Nina Kempell is currently owner of the consulting company, Altius, Fortius where she is working with the Alaska Cultural Trust to develop a fundraising campaign to enable the Trust to provide grants directly to arts and culture organizations. Previously, Kemppel was CEO at the Alaska Community Foundation where she oversaw many successful programs such as Pick.Click.Give and the Social Justice Fund, and partnered with the State to distribute $70 million in COVID-19 grant support to nonprofit organizations. Nina has also served as the CEO at the Alaska Humanities Forum, a principal at the Coraggio Group in Oregon and a consultant at the global consulting firm, Oliver Wyman. She holds a BA in Economics from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business. Prior to her business career, Kemppel had an international nordic ski racing career spanning 13 years that included a record-breaking 18 U.S. National Championships and four Olympic Winter Games. Kemppel has also won the Mount Marathon race nine times, eight consecutively. She also served on the Board of Directors for the U.S. Olympic Committee from 2010 to 2018.

Slides - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/syq7lcv7u6p9q946dnxpq/AUUF_Alaska-Cultural-Trust-Presentation_06.22.2025_PDF2.pdf?rlkey=klkqarr06qrdmqazvmkmjikho&dl=0