Narrative Strategist

Aurora is a musician and outdoor enthusiast, born and raised on Lower Tanana Dene lands, with a degree in Politics from Whitman College. She has experience working in consumer advocacy and grantmaking organizations, electoral campaigns, and grassroots racial justice movements. In other past lives, she’s been an archaeologist, a teacher, a freelance web and graphic designer, and a student and facilitator of group work aimed at healing around climate grief. In her free time, she writes and plays music, and runs and skis with her dog. She’s passionate about using her love of personal connection and storytelling to help advance the movement toward a just and life-sustaining future for Alaska.

aurora@fbxclimateaction.org

Policy & Politics Organizer

Bella was born in New Mexico but was raised across the country, arriving on Tanana Dene Lands in Fairbanks in 2015. They now consider Fairbanks their home and today they study Anthropology at the UAF Troth Yeddha campus. Bella is currently the Policy and Politics Organizer, supporting the Policy and Politics Working group in their active campaigns surrounding climate policy issues at the local level. As a Latine person in Fairbanks, they are passionate about helping to work towards the collective liberation of all the people that make Fairbanks what it is. Aside from making and eating good eats, they spend much of their time reading fantasy books, listening to music outdoors, and raising up their three dogs at their home in North Pole.

bella@fbxclimateaction.org

Energy Justice Organizer

Eleanor grew up on the shores of Gichigami (Lake Superior) in Marquette Michigan. As Energy Democracy Organizer, she supports our working group members to organize around the Golden Valley Electric Association and bring more renewable energy development to Fairbanks. She has worked in Michigan and Berlin on mutual aid and social justice initiatives and is passionate about creating more just and equitable communities based on mutual aid and sustainability. She holds a B.A. in History from Northern Michigan University and an M.A. in International Relations from the Hertie School of Governance based in Berlin, Germany.
eleanor@fbxclimateaction.org

Member Organizer

Erin Aliqataaq Nanauq Edenshaw (she/her) was born on Inupiaq land in Kotzebue, and has lived in nearly every region of the state throughout her life, including several returns to the Interior. Erin has always considered Tanana Dene territory (Fairbanks) home, and moved there with her children permanently in 2016 to serve as a counselor in a youth residential facility. Erin has been enrolled as an Anthropology student for many years and takes classes when work and family permit, but in the meantime has been certified in counseling since 2013. Erin cares deeply about social, educational, and financial equity, and how colonization/imperialism impacts them on a local scale as well as a broader, worldwide scale. She also loves cooking, reading, watching good tv and movies, and amateur horse riding. When not doing those or thinking about decolonization, Erin loves spending time with her husband, 3 children, dogs, cats, and chickens, and eating Thai food.

erin@fbxclimateaction.org

Administrative Co-Executive Director

Margi grew up in Fairbanks with a love for the outdoors, social justice, and environmental conservation. Margi has a master’s in education equity, has facilitated statewide youth advocacy through Alaska Youth for Environmental Action, and has taught place-based field ecology and outdoor leadership skills on extended wilderness expeditions at the High Mountain Institute. On most winter days you can find her out on the ski trails, and summer months she enjoys romping in the tundra, especially in the golden light of endless Alaskan evenings.
margi@fbxclimateaction.org

Interfaith Organizer

Molly grew up on the Dena'ina lands currently known as Eagle River. She moved to Fairbanks in '01 to attend UAF. She works, lives, plays, and raises a family in Fairbanks. For the last 10 years, she has worked in children and youth ministry and is excited to focus on climate action through a spiritual lens. While Fairbanks holds her heart she spends most of her wintertime indoors trying to stay warm, read, and cook. In the summer she tries her best to enjoy the sun, attending music festivals and doing a little geocaching on the side.
molly@fbxclimateaction.org

Campaign Co-Executive Director

Sarah grew up in the northeast on Wampanoag and Lunape lands. She moved to Lower Tanana Dene Lands in 2011 and fell in love with the land and people here. Spending several years organizing around economic justice issues in the labor movement and climate issues with the KING working group, she brings a drive for building collective power to dismantle oppressive systems. Sarah is passionate about fostering community and is looking forward to expanding spaces for members to heal and connect. She values her relationship to the land, which she explores through hiking, skiing, gardening and making plant medicines. Other than that, Sarah spends her time studying Ayurvedic medicine, cooking and adventuring with her two sweet, fluffy sled dogs.
sarah@fbxclimateaction.org

Digital Communications & Engagement Manager

Tara is a mom, artist, medicinal crying enthuisast, and silly goose, who grew up in Fairbanks, Alaska. Tara joined the FCAC staff in the fall of 2021, and brought her experience in marketing, new media, and design to the communications team. Tara is passionate about intersectional justice and is thrilled to use her digital communications experience to support our collective liberation in a just transition. Outside of work, she loves cooking, making art & music, playing games, and spending time with her partner & their two kids, and working on her small business, Starlight Cofee.
tara@fbxclimateaction.org

Organizing Co-Executive Director

Tristan grew up in Fairbanks and is of Irish American and Silesian German ancestry. Tristan serves as the Organizing Director and works in that role to support the FCAC membership and working groups. He has organized on campaigns in both Alaska and in the Lower 48 as part of the climate justice movement and is passionate about climate action, renewable energy, social & economic justice, decolonization and anti-racism. He holds a B.A. in Political Science and Energy Studies from Yale University.
tristan@fbxclimateaction.org

Cathy (she/her) was born in Wisconsin and raised in various suburban settings. In 1988 Cathy flew up to Fairbanks for a summer job working as a physical therapist and immediately fell in love with the land and people here and has called it home ever since. The moral and spiritual imperatives to step into climate action compelled her to join others to help found FCAC. Climate Justice work has also raised her awareness to also be working actively on Anti-Racism and Decolonization efforts. At meetings you’ll typically find Cathy knitting to help center herself and listen better. Married for almost 30 years and the mother of 2 wonderful daughters, Cathy continues to revel in sharing time with them and with friends out on the land in Alaska whether it's cross-country skiing, kayaking, canoeing, hiking or sharing stories, playing games and laughing.

Enei is of the Diné & Tohono O’odham nations, she is Tachiinii and To’dichiinii clans. Her partner is of the Gwich’in nation from Arctic Village, Alaska; together they parent four children. Enei is a longtime community organizer, trainer, facilitator, and advocate around issues of environmental justice, economic justice, climate justice, and the rights of Indigenous peoples. Enei is a co-founder of and active member of the Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition and the Black Mesa Water Coalition. She has served on various national social justice boards, she was named one of Utne Readers “50 visionaries who are changing our world," but more importantly she is a dirt loving, vegetable growing, fabric addicted, bookworm, and a fierce mother. She was educated both on Dinétah --the land of her people-- and the halls of Stanford University. She lives in Fairbanks, Alaska with her partner and children while currently serving as the Executive Director at Native Movement.

Princess Daazhraii Johnson (Neet'saii Gwich'in) lives on the traditional territory of lower Tanana Dene lands in Alaska. She is a writer/director/producer/actor and is committed to building more narrative sovereignty for other Alaska Native filmmakers and working towards a just transition off of fossil fuels. Her short Gwich'in language film, "Diiyeghan Naii Taii Tr'eedaa", is part of the Reciprocity Project, and named one of the 'Brightest Stars' of the 2022 ImagineNative Film Festival. She is a Sundance Film Alum, a Nia Tero Storytelling Fellow, and Emmy-nominated writer and producer for the Peabody award-winning PBS Kids series "Molly of Denali". She is a founding member of the Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition and is humbled to sit on the boards of NDN Collective, Native Movement, the Institute of American Indian Arts.

Raised on Tongva and Chumash Lands in California and shaped by family, migration, and many nights reading speculative fiction, Jimena imagines and co-creates virtual spaces for learning at the North American Association for Environmental Education. She looks for moments to slow down and listen to people and their stories. She finds joy in being a part of a community that respects and celebrates our interconnectedness. Jimena is passionate about climate justice and education and is thrilled to serve FCAC as a community council member.

Jo is Afro-Taino of Guaynía, Boriken, colonially known as Ponce, Puerto Rico. They are an educator, community organizer, and nonprofit administrator currently living in lower Tanana Dene lands. They arrived in Fairbanks, AK in the summer of 2014 and have since called Alaska their home. Jo is active in various community organizations and projects centering the experiences of BIPOC and Queer people in Alaska. They have been involved at the University of Alaska as a staff and faculty member, working with students to develop their sense of identity, leadership and activism. Jo received their B.S. in Geosciences from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and their Masters of Public Administration from the University of Alaska Southeast, focusing on Equity and Policy. They currently serve as the Administrative Director for Native Movement.

Lynette Phạm was raised in Unalaska, Alaska (Unangam Tanangin), has lived in Anchorage, and has now made Fairbanks her home. Lynette is the daughter of Vietnamese and Visayan immigrants who made Alaska home through the fishing industry. Lynette has been organizing for climate justice, racial equity, and accessible education in rural Alaska for 10 years. The knowledge that has been shared, received, and given to Lynette comes from her ancestors and all over Alaska from the land to the sea, children to elders. With a strong dedication to the communities in Alaska, Lynette continues to learn to show care and solidarity with and for others.Description goes here

Katie Villano Spellman is a lifelong Fairbanksan, wife, mother, daughter, scientist, and environmental educator. She completed her undergraduate studies at Whitman College, her Masters of Biology at UAF, and her PhD in the Resilience and Adaptation Program at UAF. Katie currently works at the UAF International Arctic Research Center and the UAF Climate Scholars Program of the Honors College. Her research focuses on effects of climate on plants in Alaska (particularly berries) and innovations in climate change teaching and learning. She has a particular passion for community and citizen science as a pathway to climate action, research and learning.

Kristin is originally from Wisconsin but has called Fairbanks home since 2004. She teaches, strategies, and conducts social science research to try to improve communication at the interface of science and society to respond to a changing climate. She has a doctorate from George Mason University in strategic communication where she worked with the Center for Climate Change Communication and an MS and BA from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Prior to starting her research career, she spent nearly a decade helping scientists communicate their work in agencies, non-profit, and academic settings. In her free time, she loves spending time outdoors in every season, cooking, crafting, and spending time with her dogs, family, and friends.

Kyla grew up on Tutelo and Saponi Lands in Virginia exploring the outdoors and hanging out with dogs. She moved to Fairbanks about two years ago to work towards a master's degree in natural resources & environment at UAF. She previously earned a bachelor's degree in environmental science at Virginia Tech (Catawba Lands) with a focus in wetland science and green engineering. Outside of school and work you can catch her hiking, skijoring, running, skiing, crafting, reading, or napping with her dog. Kyla is excited to be a part of the Council to help work towards a more sustainable future for Fairbanks and Alaska!