Brad Hillwig is an award-winning filmmaker, journalist, and communications professional driven by the art of innovative storytelling. During a career in Alaska media that spans more than two decades, Brad has developed and produced television shows for U.S. cable networks, created brand-defining commercial campaigns, and directed documentaries in some of Alaska's most remote places. In 2021, Brad launched Greatland Studios, a startup production company built around authentic, community-based documentary storytelling. Using an immersive, cinematic style, Brad's films range from independent documentaries to brand-funded content that defies traditional marketing. At the core of his work is a simple mission: to tell purpose-driven stories that capture unique aspects of the human experience. Brad holds an MBA from UAA (2010), where he now serves as the 2024/25 Atwood Chair of Journalism.

Slides - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/8n6fkowdrp2pbkqa55wqm/Atwood-Presentation-DECK-AUUF-March-2025.pdf?rlkey=cnjw13plwexp55kd9jo50pnoj&dl=0

The PDF contains short video clips embedded on pages 4, 10, 14, 17, and 24. To start the videos, you must click on those pages.

Meg Parsons was born and raised in Berkeley, California, in the 50s-60s. She enjoyed what the city and state provided for education and uprearing. She received a BA from Humboldt State College. She left the wet weather and logging industry of the Pacific Northwest to come to Alaska for the summer in 1975, ended up in Homer, and is still smitten with the beauty and spirit of Alaska after fifty years. She joined Friends of AK National Wildlife Refuges (NWR) while attending the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival in Homer in 2016. Since then, Meg has done volunteer work at Tetlin NWR and Izembek NWR, and on the Friends Outreach Committee, participated in the Friends 2024 Discovery Trip rafting the Kisalarik River in Yukon Delta NWR, and rafted the North Fork of the Marsh River bird-watching and hiking in the Arctic NWR.

Poppy Benson is Vice President for Outreach for Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges. She has been involved in Friends for all 20 years, first as a refuge employee coordinating with Friends and after retirement from the Fish & Wildlife Service as a Friends Board member. Prior to her 2014 retirement, she was the supervisory park ranger for the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge based in Homer, founding the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival and developing the Islands & Ocean Refuge Visitor Center. She also taught a two-semester class on Alaska's wildlife refuges for Anchorage OLÉ! (Opportunities for Lifelong Education) and lobbied in Washington for increased funding for refuges. Poppy has a degree in Forest Recreation from the University of Minnesota, where she was raised. She moved to Alaska 40 years ago after working in natural resources in Minnesota, Oregon, and Nevada. She lives in Homer and loves camping, boating of all kinds, from kayaks to liveaboards, skiing, fishing, birding, and hiking.

Slides - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/86t3wmlzt9b1d51wdba5s/Friends-outreach-presentation-2025-big-screen-for-presentation.pdf?rlkey=6addrvetuebkfds8p5o2o7hz3&dl=0

Kachemak Shorebird Festival - https://kachemakshorebird.org/

Dr. Jack Hickel is the Board President of the Alaska Health Project South Sudan. Jack was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska. He has an MD degree and is board-certified with the American Board of Family Medicine. Jack has a Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Diploma from the Republic of South Africa. He worked in Eswatini, Africa, for 16 years, from 1982 to 1997. While there, he was the Chief Medical Officer of a large urban hospital and a small rural hospital and, at various times, was also the medical director of 16 rural clinics. Dr. Hickel worked with Alaska Natives from 2000 to 2024. In 2008 he co-founded the Alaska Sudan Medical Project, now called the Alaska Health Project South Sudan, which delivers hope and health to Old Fangak and other desperate villages along the Nile River, and helps to save countless lives by building a new health center, a tuberculosis clinic, providing clean water, and establishing small farms.

Slides - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/9xme6n5icbr0fxlgdhyfm/Jack-Hickel-Cruise-2024.pdf?rlkey=yq5bfmg6r2dpjhksla7har8iw&dl=0

Slides 32-38, 40, 43, and 45 contain links to videos. The video does not auto-play. You have to click on the slide.

Molly Southworth is an endocrinologist, retired from the Alaska Tribal Health System, a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine, and Adjunct Professor of Medical Education at the University of Alaska Anchorage / WWAMI. She is also the Past Regent of the American College of Physicians. Molly graduated from Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, and as an undergraduate, she studied music and chemistry at Oberlin College. She served as principal harpist for the Anchorage Symphony for 11 years. Molly is married to Bret Haering, and they have three adult children, Russell, Don, and Celia, who grew up in the AUUF RE Program.

Slides - https://www.dropbox.com/s/fevd5079lqjtgao/Obeslty%20%26%20Health%20in%20Our%20Community%20AUUF%201.pdf?dl=0

Venus of Willendorf - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_of_Willendorf

Dove commercial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U

Dove Self Esteem Project - https://www.dove.com/us/en/dove-self-esteem-project.html

Suzanne LaFrance was elected as the mayor of Anchorage in 2024. Before becoming mayor, she represented South Anchorage on the Anchorage Assembly from 2017 to 2023. She served as Assembly Chair from 2021 to 2023, was Chair of the Assembly's Budget and Finance Committee, and Co-Chair of its Health Policy Committee. She also served on the board of the Alaska Municipal League. She is a 25-year Anchorage resident with 25 years of private sector experience, managing budgets, projects, and people. LaFrance grew up in Palmer and is a proud graduate of Alaska's public schools. After graduating from Palmer High School, she earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Portland and her masters from Purdue University. LaFrance has also volunteered with Great Alaska Schools Anchorage and the Rabbit Creek Elementary PTA and has led local scout troops. She and her husband, David Hemstreet, have three children, all students in the Anchorage School District. They enjoy outdoor activities and sports.

Slides - https://www.dropbox.com/s/zqndrc6zyy8ob08/LaFrance%20Slides--AUFF%20Sunday.pdf?dl=0

Mike Huelsman is a community activist and advocate. He came to Alaska as a VISTA Volunteer in 1966, served in the combat infantry on the DMZ in Korea, and then worked as a commercial fisherman, carpenter, and laborer in Alaska until he found permanent work. He helped prisoners leaving jail with finding work and housing while working for the Division of Corrections. He was a grants administrator and helped develop and manage alcohol, drug, and mental health programs in Anchorage. As an Ombudsman Assistant, he investigated citizen complaints and made recommendations to improve government. He was a political finance campaign investigator for the Alaska Public Offices Commission and a public health planner and researcher for the Municipal Health Department. He was also the Artistic Director of Out North Theater. A frequent traveler, Mike lived in Russia for two months a year between 2014 and 2019 and lived in Ukraine in October and November 2024, volunteering in a rural

Mike's slides - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/a8mkxuux77u1l80fnipux/20250223_0900.mp3?rlkey=b3ksolxqz4rjeu82v9lsi6ohb&dl=0

Note that the second to last slide is an art piece that depicts the resistance.

George Bryson on Stewardship - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/6z6uhuwih12nv9bvpf2qj/05_February23_GBrysonVersion2.mov?rlkey=lbe95aq2n3tewb1r7gu8p7d7r&dl=0

Tim Toll has served for the past twenty years as Executive Director of the Bristol Bay Heritage Land Trust, an organization he helped start in Dillingham in 2000. Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, the land trust owns or holds conservation easements on 58,412 acres in Bristol Bay and helped broker protection for 21,320 acres in the Wood Tikchik State Park. Tim came to Alaska in 1978 as a VISTA volunteer lawyer for Alaska Legal Services in Bethel. From 1980 to 1985, he was the city manager of St. Mary's, where he helped the Lower Yukon region revitalize Yup'ik Dancing. The Alaska Federation of Natives honored Tim with its Denali Award in 2019.

Tim's slides can be found here - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/7dtqooc40zbsvajpmbzum/Sitka-SJ-Presentation-AUUF2.pdf?rlkey=jyljnsb121gs507mjf3aw5oz6&dl=0

Slide #7 is a video. To start the video, "click" on the speaker on the slide.

There is another video that Tim mentioned. It can be found here - https://aifg.arizona.edu/film/dancing-people-yupiit-yuraryarait

Mel Langdon Stewardship video - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/l7cihifkirlwafcsnsd5m/04_February16_MelLangdon.mp4?rlkey=ipnxa7jz16tsqjztglneu2s4t&dl=0

Note that Mel's Stewardship video starts about 1'15" into the podcast and has been replaced (in the podcast) by 3 seconds of static.

Erin Jackson-Hill is Executive Director of Stand Up Alaska, one of the state’s only BIPOC women-led social justice organizations. Her advocacy is mainly focused on issues that disproportionately affect minority communities. She’s a proud alumna of Wonder Park Elementary, Wendler Jr. High School, and Bettye Davis East Anchorage High School. Her rich and diverse experience in nonprofit management and event production began at Anchorage Fur Rendezvous, where she became Events Manager. She has also worked at the State of Alaska-Child Support Division, Doyon Limited, and JJ Powers Public Relations. Erin's foray into organizing was serving as the statewide coordinator for the Recall Dunleavy campaign. She founded the Alaska Civics Academy, a program promoting civic participation and understanding. She actively contributes to the Alaska Coalition for Justice, explicitly focusing on police reforms and the school-to-prison pipeline. Erin is also a board member of Alaskans for Fair Courts and serves on the steering committee of Alaska Women's Ascend and the planning committee of Juneteenth Anchorage.

Slides - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/lxirurtkskflmhznupi2l/Alaskans-Take-A-Stand-Stand-UP-Alaska-Action-Team-2.8.pdf?rlkey=7ak92ddm0o8hm6gj6nrk0dk15&dl=0

Stan Up Alaska - https://standupalaska.org

AUUF Stewardship video - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FzZBJ5D1qM6ufXa_zRVHXLcNVyyLzxut/view