Rhonda V. Magee

Rhonda V. Magee (B.A., M.A. Sociology, and J.D., University of Virginia) is a Professor of Law at the University of San Francisco and is an internationally-recognized thought and practice leader focused on Applied Mindfulness: the integration of research-based mindfulness practices into higher education, Law and social justice. Magee’s book, The Inner Work of Racial Justice: Healing Ourselves and Transforming Our Communities Through Mindfulness (Sept. 2019), was named one of the top ten books released for the year by the Greater Good Science Center and received similar recognition by Psychology Today and the editors of Mindful.org. Her work has received numerous awards, including the Impact Award from the American Public Health Association’s section on Integrative, Complementary and Traditional Health Practices (2020), and the Garrison Institute’s Impact+Insight Award (2019).

Born in Kinston, North Carolina and raised in Hampton, Virginia, Professor Magee is a 1989 graduate, with Distinction, of the University of Virginia (UVA) College of Arts and Sciences, and a graduate of UVA’s United States Army Reserved Officer’s Training Corps. She earned both a Master’s degree in Sociology from UVA’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and a Juris Doctorate from the UVA School of Law in 1993.

A Professor of Law since 1997 (tenured since 2004), Magee teaches courses dealing with civil actions for personal injury and insurance recovery (Torts); courses dealing with race and inequality, and a course she co-created on mindfulness and lawyering. Magee’s teaching and writing support compassionate conflict engagement and management; holistic problem-solving to alleviate the suffering of the vulnerable and injured; presence-based leadership in a diverse world, and humanizing approaches to education. She sees mindfulness and the allied disciplines as keys to personal, interpersonal, and collective transformation in the face of the challenges and opportunities that social change represents. 

Libby Roderick

Libby Roderick is director of the Difficult Dialogues Initiative, Associate director of the faculty development center at the University of Alaska Anchorage, and co-founder of the Difficult Dialogues National Resource Center. She is Associate Editor of Start Talking: A Handbook for Engaging Difficult Dialogues in Higher Education, co-author of Stop Talking: Indigenous Ways of Teaching and Learning and Difficult Dialogues in Higher Education; and editor of Alaska Native Cultures and Issues and Toxic Friday: Resources for Addressing Faculty Bullying Higher Education. She works with faculty in Alaska, across the U.S., and in South Africa to increase their capacity to effectively conduct difficult dialogues, apply Indigenous ways of teaching and learning, and ensure collegiality in academic departments.

Libby graduated Phi Beta Kappa, Summa Cum Laude from Yale University with a degree in American Studies, and received her M.A. in Social Psychology from Alaska Pacific University.

Her essays, poems, and songs have appeared in numerous movies, books, and publications, including Hometown by Pulitzer-prizewinner Tracy Kidder; Moral Ground: Ethical Responses to a Planet in Peril; Prayers for a Thousand Years: Inspiration from Leaders and Visionaries Around the World, and many more. She has received a citation of excellence from the Alaska Legislature for her activism and is a Rasmuson Individual Artist Fellow and an Alaska Woman of Achievement.

Jennifer Booz

Jennifer Booz is UAA’s first chief diversity officer and serves as the principal advisor to the chancellor and cabinet on diversity matters. Her position leads UAA’s efforts to transform programs, services, and processes that support a vibrant campus life, a positive and respectful culture, a diverse curriculum, and the meaningful inclusion of UAA's diverse population of students, staff, and faculty.

Jennifer previously served as director in the Office for Diversity and Inclusion for the University of Toledo (UT). She worked closely with administrators, faculty, staff, and students to implement UT’s Strategic Diversity Plan. Jennifer has 20 years of experience as a post-secondary administrator, including as a dean of students. She has facilitated dialogues about diversity and inclusion with local, regional, and national audiences including nonprofits, corporations, and government officials.

Carey Brown

Carey Brown is a senior academic advisor with the College of Health Student Success Center and a faculty adjunct in the Department of Human Services.

Originally from Fort Worth, Texas, Brown has an extensive background in Human Services and related fields, specializing in re-entry from incarceration. He has always considered himself a helper, one to serve others who are in need, so he started working toward a career in hospital administration to address infant mortality rates in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. Not long after, Brown found additional opportunities to serve while working within other areas of Human Services, such as homeless and distressed youth services, disability support services, domestic violence prevention services, and re-entry services.

“I enjoy the feeling that I get when I see an individual's once-dire circumstances change for the better, as it re-emphasizes the need for everyone to have a chance, and sometimes, a second chance.”

Brown has earned a BS in Health Administration from Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas; a Master in Public Administration from the University of Alaska Anchorage; and a Nonprofit Management Certification from the Foraker Group/University of Alaska Fairbanks. His affiliations include the National Organization for Human Services Professionals (NOHS), National Academic Advising Association (NACADA), Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., and the American Society for Public Administration.

In his free time, Brown enjoys traveling to different places with a small group of friends for music concerts and festivals. He also enjoys catching professional sports games in Seattle for a quick getaway from Alaska, and he is a collector of autographed sports memorabilia and Charlie Brown/Snoopy collectibles.

Quentin Simeon

Quentin Simeon is the interim assistant director of Native Student Services at UAA. He earned his BA in English in 2006 and has been working in and around higher education and cultural education ever since. He draws fulfillment in providing a welcoming environment, indigenous structure, and academic assistance for learners to be holistically secure as they pursue their goals.

Quentin grew up between the communities of Aniak and Bethel and moved to Anchorage in 1994. His English name, Quentin Simeon, means 5th son with the last name deriving from his great grandfather which was given to him during the time of the missionary influx in Alaska.

He enjoys spending his time with his three children Ashlynn, Stormy, and Emerson.  

Cama-i, Cissiarougua. Wiinga Yup’iaq angun, wii Qusquqvagmiu-llu. Greetings, My Name is Ciissiar (Little-Bug), I am a Yup’ik man, and I am from the Kuskokwim River. (Audio)

Gloria Burnett

Gloria Burnett is the director of the Alaska Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Program as well as the president of the National AHEC Organization. She holds a master's degree in education along with a bachelor's degree in psychology. Gloria has been a part of the AHEC network since 2010 when she served as the founding Director of the NW AHEC region, which was then located in Utqiaġvik, Alaska at Ilisaġvik College.

Gloria has a passion for rural healthcare and community engagement. AHECs are federally funded programs dedicated to healthcare workforce development with a special focus on rural and underserved populations. By nature, this work promotes diversity and equity in healthcare.

Britteny M Howell

Britteny M Howell, Ph.D., CPG, CDP (B.S., Central Michigan University; M.A., University of Cincinnati; Ph.D., University of Kentucky) is assistant professor of population health sciences, affiliate faculty of the National Resource Center for Alaska Native Elders (NRC), and founding director of the Healthy Aging Research Lab at UAA. She is co-chair of the UAA Gerontology Working Group, a board member of the Alaska Anthropological Association, and member of the Gerontological Society of America's (GSA) Academy on Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE).

Dr. Howell is a Credentialed Professional Gerontologist (CPG), Certified Dementia Practitioner (CDP), a registered and certified yoga teacher (RYT-200) for older adults, and Alaska's only trainer of the national AARP Disrupt Aging Classroom curriculum. She was recently nominated for the 2020 Ernest A. Lynton Award for the Scholarship of Engagement for Early Career Faculty from Brown University for her work in community-engaged research and development of service-learning projects and coursework.

Dr. Howell has published 20+ articles in journals such as Family & Community Health, Ageing & Society, Journal of Applied Gerontology, Journal of Community Health, Cross-Cultural Gerontology, and Journal of Healthcare for the Poor and Underserved, along with several book chapters. She is also co-editor of the forthcoming Anthropological Perspectives on Aging from University Press of Florida (expected publication: December 2022).

Originally from Detroit, Dr. Howell has been at UAA for 3 years. In this time, she has developed 2 new courses on gerontology at UAA to train our future geriatrics workforce and is working on a third course this summer focusing on death, dying, and end-of-life care options. As a community-engaged anthropologist and advocate who has worked with older adults and people with disabilities in hospitals, non-profits, and academia for nearly two decades, Dr. Howell is interested in advancing equity and justice for these vulnerable populations.

Faith Itta

Faith Itta is a senior in the Bachelor of Social Work program and an MSW candidate at Washington University in St. Louis. She is a 2020 Udall Scholar and loves working in rural and underserved areas with Indigenous populations. She enjoys working with data and conducting research to create meaningful, long-lasting, positive change.

Faith is also a mom of three and enjoys spending time with her dog, Penny.

Paula Jones

Paula Jones is the student services coordinator with the Native Student Services (NSS) and student alumni from the Department of Human Services. Jones graduated Summa Cum Laude with her Bachelor of Human Services degree and brings a wealth of skills and experience to her position with NSS, UAA, community partners through mentorship, programming, recruitment, and academic excellence.

Paula comes from the Alaskan village of Kuinerraq (Quinhagak) and has a strong relationship with her home community where most of her family still resides. She has a teenage daughter, Jaelynn, who is s sophomore in the Anchorage School District.

Amana Talala Mbise
Amana Mbise Ph.D. is a Multicultural Postdoctoral Fellow in the School of Social Work, University of Alaska Anchorage.

His research interests center around migration, trafficking, and rights-based approaches to working with children. This research has so far focused on the integration and inclusion of immigrants in the United States, labor trafficking and exploitation in Tanzania and the United States, the rights of children, and services to immigrant families.