Board of Directors

Sara Jansen - Chair

Sara has spent forty plus years working for communities through non-profit and public sector jobs. For twenty years with the Alaska State Fair she learned how a dedicated team could achieve an overall goal while sustaining the singular visions of a myriad of participants. Using that nonprofit foundation, she ran for and was elected to two terms on the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly, serving as Deputy Mayor during her second term. Working for the City of Palmer she served as the Community Development Coordinator, Special Assistant to the City Manager, and Deputy City Manager. Her professional career concluded at the Matanuska-Susinta Borough as a Long Range Planner, and the Chief of Planning Services. Her appreciation of Great Land Trust’s approach of working with willing sellers to preserve land led her to become a more active participant in their projects, leading to appointment to the Board of Directors.

Larry Hartig - Vice-Chair

Larry is a retired attorney, most recently serving as the Commissioner for the State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation for 11 years. He has been a member of a variety of boards, commissions, task forces and other governmental and nonprofit entities in Alaska over the last 35 years, most recently including: the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council, the Alaska Ocean Observing System, the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, the Alaska State Board of Forestry, the Alaska Bar Association, and more. Larry enjoys a variety of outdoor activities in Alaska with family and friends including hiking, skiing and camping, as well as travelling outside Alaska to enjoy these activities in different environments.

Traci Schacht - Treasurer

Traci has spent 25+ years as a finance and audit professional, 15 of those years in Anchorage. Traci recently established Arjava Consulting, LLC to provide accounting and audit support to Alaskan companies and ANCs.  Drawing on her accounting and internal audit experience, most recently as the Senior Director of Internal Audit for Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, Traci supports companies needing temporary accounting resources, assists with external audit readiness, and provides internal audit services. Traci is a CPA and a CIA. Originally from Maine, Traci moved to Alaska in 2008 for the vast wilderness and opportunities for outdoor recreation.

Jon Goltz - Secretary

Jon is Senior Counsel in the Legal Department at ConocoPhillips Alaska.  He provides Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) support for the company’s operations on the North Slope, and works with federal, state, and local regulators on permitting and regulatory compliance. He has previously worked in the Natural Resources Section of the Alaska Department of Law, and served on the board of the Anchorage Farmers’ Market. Jon met his wife, Else, at St. Olaf College in Minnesota, and in 1998 they returned to his hometown, Anchorage, where they are raising two boys and one chocolate lab.

John Baker

John is an Anchorage attorney and consultant. Formerly an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Alaska, Natural Resources Section, with a primary practice in public lands issues, John litigated and negotiated transactions on behalf of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. Previously a State legislative aide, John worked for the creation of the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge. He is a lifelong Alaskan, and a member of a pioneer family.

Deidre Berberich

Deidre moved to Alaska as a child living first in Kodiak and then Palmer.  She grew up playing outdoors and her favorite days are still when she can be outside even if it is just the trail in her back yard.  She and her husband raised their children to have a love of the outdoors and are now sharing that with their grandchildren.  Deidre’s favorite quote might be “Gramma, can we go hiking?” She also loves to travel, especially to Europe, reading, art and summer in Alaska.  To support her habits, she is an accounting professor at Mat-Su College/UAA.

Mark Dalton

As Senior Vice President with HDRAlaska, Inc., Mark is experienced in developing and managing large infrastructure, planning, and development efforts, including National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance, environmental baseline data assessments, and natural resources mitigation efforts. Mark was also senior environmental planner at the Municipality of Anchorage prior to his tenure at HDR. He is a past president of the Anchorage Audubon Society and has raised his three wonderful children here in Anchorage since 1981.

Becca Pilipchuk

Becca is the Donor Relations Manager at Catholic Social Services in Anchorage where she connects with supporters to expand the organization’s critical work to serve Alaska’s most vulnerable. Becca’s background is in public relations, having worked in a variety of client industries ranging from resource development to telecommunications to tourism. Born and raised in Chicagoland, Becca is a DePaul University alum where she studied public relations and advertising before moving to Alaska to work in the nonprofit sector in 2018. Becca loves Alaska and is proud to call it home. When not at work, she’s exploring the state with her partner Alex and their two dogs.

Gretchen Specht

Gretchen is the Controller at The Foraker Group, Alaska’s state nonprofit association. She works with The Foraker Group’s Shared Financial Services team which focuses on providing all levels of accounting services to Alaska’s nonprofits to allow them to focus on their missions. She’s been providing financial services to Alaska’s nonprofits for over 15 years. She served on her local community council as secretary and is a lifelong Alaskan.

Ethan Tyler

Ethan Tyler is the Director of Corporate Affairs for Cook Inlet Region, Inc (CIRI), where he serves as the company spokesperson, and oversees all aspects of the organization’s branding, communications and stakeholder engagement.

Ethan is the former Director of Alaska State Parks and Outdoor Recreation, an avid outdoorsman and has an extensive background in Alaska Tourism, marketing, public relations, and business development. He is a level one certified Professional Ski Instructors of America ski instructor.

Ethan was named Top 40 Under 40 by the Alaska Journal of Commerce in 2014 and serves as immediate past chair of the Girdwood Alliance, an advocacy organization for the community of Girdwood. When not on the job, Ethan can be found surfing the Turnagain Arm Bore Tide, on his bike, backcountry skiing, or ski instructing at Alyeska Resort. He lives in Girdwood with his wife and 13 year old daughter.

Emeritus Directors

Gary Baugh

Dick LeFebvre

Molly McCammon

Pat Pourchot

Susan Ruddy

 

Honorary Directors

Linda Kumin

John McManamin

Eric McCallum & Robin Smith

John Strasenburgh & Ruth Wood

Board Committee Volunteers

Patty Bielawski (Lands Committee)

Raylene Saur (Finance Committee)

Board Alumni

Founding Board:

Emily Barnett

Ray Burger

Chuck Curry

Dick LeFebvre

John LeTourneau

Dean Littlepage

Philip North

Laura Oden

Bruce Talbot

Thede Tobish

Ellen Toll

Past Board Members (in order of service):

Patricia Joyner

Holly Kent

Lewis Gordon

Doug Baily

David Banks

Diane Black-Smith

Randy Hagenstein

Steven Schellong

Michael Smith

Alex Swiderski

Susan Ruddy

Jeff Dillon

Shelda Duff

David MacDowell

Marty Rutherford

Jim Stratton

Pat Pourchot

Caryn Rea

Corinne Smith

Ken Taylor

Gary Baugh

Greg Jones

Curtis McQueen

Mark Kroloff

Molly McCammon

Dick LeFebvre

Bri Kelly

Kelly Chang

Cathie Straub