Board of Directors

The management and affairs of the Alaska Public Health Association are under the direction of the Board of Directors. The Officers for the organization are the President, President-Elect, Immediate Past President, Affiliate Representative to the APHA Governing Council, Secretary and Treasurer. The President-Elect is elected prior to the annual meeting of the organization. The Secretary and Treasurer are elected from the twelve elective members at the first Board of Directors meeting following the annual meeting. Term of office for the Board Members is three (3) years each.

 Ingrid Stevens is a tribal member of the Yupiit of Andreafski from St. Mary’s, AK. Ingrid works in Anchorage,   AK on Dena’ina Athabascan lands for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium as the Assistant Director   of the Wellness and Prevention department. Ingrid oversees the Injury Prevention, Substance Misuse   Prevention, and Elders and Youth programming and uses a blend of public health principles and Indigenous   traditional knowledge. Ingrid has also served as the American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian   caucus Chair with the American Public Health Association, and is a previous SAMHSA fellow with the State of Alaska, Division of Prevention and Early Intervention. Ingrid received her undergraduate degrees in Community Health Education and the Health Sciences, and a Masters of Public Health education in Health Promotion from Portland State University [PSU] with an emphasis in Indigenous Mental Health. 

Danielle Reed lives in Palmer and serves as the Director of Data and Impact for the Mat-Su Health Foundation where she supports learning activities across the Foundation’s various programs to advance the mission and inform strategy and decision making. She has 15 years of health and disability related research and evaluation experience in Alaska, with 10 years of experience working on systems change and brain injury specific projects. Danielle holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biomedical engineering and a Master’s in business administration. 

"As a mother to a middle school son and a practicing public health nurse in a rural coastal fishing community, I experience first-hand the intersection of environmental, social, and health opportunities and challenges. I am actively engaged with health education and health promotion in my role as a public health leader in my community. In addition to recently becoming certified in public health, I am pursuing an MPH degree. As the Alaskan Representative for the Nurses on Boards Coalition, I see the great value in serving my community through active participation and leadership in ALPHA. I am committed to Alaska and am excited about having a greater impact as the President-Elect of ALPHA. With the collective experience and energy of the organization, we can pursue health initiatives that ensure Alaskans thrive where they live, work and play. I appreciate that such goals require continuous advocacy, passion, and partnerships among tribal organizations, state government, nonprofit entities, and local stakeholders."

Julie Cleaton grew up outside of Atlanta, went to Arizona State University for anthropology and genetics, and transitioned into public health after seeing how the healthcare system is not enough to keep people healthy. She got her Master’s in Public Health at Georgia State University while working as a graduate research and teaching assistant in infectious diseases. Next she became a rabies epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, managing the transition to electronic laboratory reporting surveillance and evaluating potential improvements to dog vaccination campaign methods. She fell for Alaska while dog sledding with a colleague in Fairbanks and moved to Anchorage as soon as she could in 2019, starting as an epidemiologist and later becoming the dementia program manager at the Alaska section of Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. There she has supported the implementation and evaluation of evidence-based clinical and community programs to prevent and treat chronic conditions. She currently chairs the ALPHA policy committee, and she lives near Wasilla with her partner, three dogs, and many struggling plants.

Katie Cueva, APHA Representative
Term Expires: 2027

Born and raised in Alaska, Katie is happy to be home to skate, ski, hike, and work in public health research and practice. Dr. Cueva is an Assistant Professor of Health Policy at the Center for Behavioral Health Research and Services (CBHRS), within the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA), and Associate Faculty with the Center for American Indian Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her research interests include social determinants of health in the circumpolar north, culturally appropriate health promotion, and community-based participatory action research. She currently serves as Alaska’s representative on the governing council of the American Public Health Association (APHA), and on the Council of Affiliates for APHA. She also serves on the executive council of both the American Association for Cancer Education, and of the American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Caucus of the American Public Health Association.

Alexandra Edwards, Treasurer
Term expires: 2026

Alexandra Edwards is a Research Professional and Project Manager at the UAA Center for Behavioral Health Research & Services (CBHRS), where she has worked since 2008. In 2012 she graduated with an MA in anthropology from UAA and completed her MPH from UAA in 2021. Although she grew up in New Zealand, she has now been in Alaska for more than 20 years and calls it home. At CBHRS she has worked on a variety of public health-related projects, including several focused on the prevention of alcohol-exposed pregnancies and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, the implementation of evidence-based strategies and tools to prevent alcohol misuse, the evaluation of community and youth resilience and suicide prevention programs, and most recently two related to COVID-19. Her final project for her MPH involved developing and implementing an evaluation plan for the Alaska Public Health Misinformation Response Team. Outside of work, she enjoys getting out and about with her husband and son.

Monica Chase, Director
Term expires: 2026

Monica Chase was recently hired as a Program Manager in the Behavioral Health Department with Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, in addition to being a health coach. Monica has a passion for helping at the individual level so it may reach the community and beyond to increase optimal health. She received her B.A. in Rural Development from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and an MBA from Alaska Pacific University. Monica is a tribal member of Holy Cross Tribe and a shareholder of Deloycheet Village Corporation, and the Regional Corporations of Doyon, Ltd., and CIRI.

Term expires: 2026

Juliana (Jewelz) Stephan served previously as a program manager for Alaska Native Medical Center’s Child and Family Developmental Services clinic. She assisted with creating policies and procedures for the launch of the new clinic where she oversaw 40-plus staff and provided administrative and operations support. During that time, she is also a LEND (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities) alumni, where she was able to look at disability experiences and services through a public health lens. Ms. Stephan has a passion for addressing childhood development and worked previously as the SCF RAISE program supervisor to lead a development team to plan, assess, and implement case management for Alaska Native Youth. Currently, Ms. Stephan applies her knowledge of tribal public health and public health administration in her current position as a director at the All Alaska Pediatric Partnership, where she works to connect public policy with pediatric care needs. Ms. Stephan is a board member and current President of the Programs for Infants and Children board, and a previous board member of the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Society of Public Health Education. Ms. Stephan received her B.S. in Community Health from Portland State University, and her Master’s in Public Health from the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Gloria Burnett, Director
Term expires: 2027

Gloria Burnett is the Director of the Alaska Center for Rural Health and Health Workforce and Alaska's AHEC Program. The Center is located at the University of Alaska Anchorage and is composed of a Program Office and 6 regional AHEC Centers located across the State. Gloria has over 14 years of experience in healthcare workforce development, youth career pathway programming and health continuing education. Prior to her current position, Gloria served as the Dean of Students at Ilisagvik College, Alaska’s only tribal college.

Mr. Jason Johnson Sr. is the Family and Workforce Services Division Director for Tanana Chiefs Conference and has extensive experience working in the fields of Tribal Public Health for the Alaska Tribal Health System. Mr. Johnson is leading TCC's early education and workforce development initiatives to create youth career pathways for the Summer Youth Employment program with both village and city-based leaders. Mr. Johnson also works with other tribal leaders toward enhancing tribal governments’ sovereignty to meet the health and social service needs of TCC by creating healthy, strong, and unified tribes. Mr. Johnson also has worked in the most remote communities including the TCC and Maniilaq (Northwest Arctic) regions to advance communities’ readiness to address weather, travel, emergency services, substance misuse and suicide prevention, tobacco prevention, and especially injury prevention priorities of drowning and transportation safety. Mr. Johnson graduated with honors from the University of Alaska Fairbanks with a B.A. in Social Work and is a UAF TriO and Honors Program alumnus.

Mariah Seater, born and raised in Alaska, serves as a Special Assistant to the Commissioner of Alaska Department of Family and Community Services focusing on policy and equity projects. She received her BS in kinesiology and MS in educational psychology from University of Nevada-Las Vegas, and MPH degree from UAA after returning to Alaska. With a focus on health equity and disability advocacy, she currently serves as a board member and the Vice President of Stone Soup Group (a non-profit with the mission of supporting Alaskan families who care for children with special needs), is the former President for the Alaska chapter of American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry (AADMD) and is a former LEND Fellow through UAA’s Center for Human Development where her research focus was examining the co-occurrence of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) and trauma. In previous professional roles, she has worked in special education, health equity and communications, non-profit program development, and academic research. Currently, she is pursuing a Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) degree with a focus in Leadership, Advocacy and Equity from Tulane University. Outside of professional pursuits, she enjoys exploring nature with her family and learning American Sign Language (ASL).

GEORGE A. CONWAY, MD, MPH, DABPM (CAPT, 0-6, USPHS, Ret.) is a physician and epidemiologist known for his work in epidemic response, environmental health, and human performance in extreme environments. Dr. Conway served in various senior level positions with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from 1988 to 2016, and has extensive international experience responding to public health threats and emergencies. Dr. Conway worked in Alaska and other Arctic locales for many years, and was President of the International Union for Circumpolar Health (1996-2000). His wide-ranging work on public health issues including disease outbreaks, HIV/AIDS, STDs, health, safety, and environment in the fishing, agriculture, aviation, and oil and gas industries; and internationally on many infectious and environmental hazards, includes over 100 scientific articles, monographs, and book chapters and is often cited. He has been a keynote speaker at many national and international conferences. Dr. Conway holds an M.D. from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, and a Masters of Public Health from the University of South Carolina. He served 1988-1990 as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer, and collaterally as a Federal Aviation Medical Examiner (AME), 1999-2014. He is board-certified in General Preventive Medicine and Public Health

Samantha (Sam) McNelly (she/her), MPH, CPH, LMSW, is a Program Evaluator with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium’s (ANTHC) Wellness and Prevention Department, where she provides evaluation and programmatic support to suicide prevention, domestic violence prevention, and comprehensive cancer control programs. Prior to her current role, Ms. McNelly worked in domestic violence crisis response for seven years, working both in Anchorage’s domestic violence shelter, and for an out-of-state domestic violence crisis line. Sam also worked as a sexual health educator in Alaska for three years, leading the facilitation of peer education programs for high school students, teaching sexual health classes in schools around the state, and facilitating a specialized LGBTQ+ sex education curriculum. Sam is passionate about public health challenges including domestic violence prevention and intervention, suicide prevention and mental health, sexual health and wellness, harm reduction and substance use, and housing and homelessness. Ms. McNelly received her Master of Public Health and Master of Social Work degrees from Washington University in St. Louis, and is Certified in Public Health and a licensed social worker in the State of Alaska. In her free time, Sam serves on the Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness Prevention and Response System Advisory Council, volunteers for the Northwest Abortion Access Fund, hikes with her over-eager dog, reads as much as possible, beads when she has the patience for it, and skis very poorly on some of Anchorage’s wonderful trails.

Dr. Eduardo Piqueiras is an assistant professor of Health Sciences at the University of Alaska Anchorage.  He is an environmental health researcher working to improve human and environmental health outcomes for vulnerable communities.  His research examines the role of infrastructures and urbanization on human health through the application of various research methodologies and data sources, including epidemiological, ethnographic, GIS, and advanced statistical analyses. He is an experienced leader in transdisciplinary and team science research and has collaborated with public, private, and non-private sectors in his work. In addition to his research, Dr. Piqueiras teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in environmental and urban health, biostatistics, and epidemiology. He is excited about the opportunity to contribute more directly to the Alaska Public Health Association and the future of public health in Alaska.