Category: WELCOME - AMERICORPS VISTA OF FAIRBANKS

Meet Your 2020-21 Leadership Team!

9/4/2020

KENZLEY DEFLER,
VISTA TEAM LEADER

Kenzley grew up in Kentucky, went to college in Alabama, and has most recently been living in Tanzania for 2 years volunteering with the Peace Corps. She will be serving as the VISTA Team Leader and is excited to get involved with the community, learn, and develop new skills through her role. Kenzley is passionate about environmental sustainability and can’t wait to explore the many outdoor activities Alaska has to offer. In her free time, Kenzley can be found reading, running, or at a coffee shop to escape the snow.

MICHAEL SANDERS,
PROGRAM DIRECTOR

Mike Sanders has been the Housing & Homeless Coordinator for the City of Fairbanks since March 2017 and has overseen the local AmeriCorps VISTA program since January 2019. Mike is a certified Project Management Professional with a PhD in Public Policy Administration. Mike is married and the father of two sons.

Welcome Your August Year-Long VISTAs!

9/4/2020

Mikayla, Tessa, Hal, Sol, Nicole, and Stephen will serve Fairbanks from August 31, 2020 - August 30, 2021. Year-long VISTAs perform indirect service focusing on capacity building. Stay tuned for updates as their year progresses!

Mikayla Riley,
Reentry Program Associate

Mikayla was born and raised 40 minutes south of Boston, Massachusetts, and recently graduated with her Masters in Social Work from Roberts Wesleyan College with a focus on mental health. She will be spending the year working with the Fairbanks Reentry Coalition on capacity building projects centered around creating awareness of and providing comprehensive services to individuals who have experienced incarceration. She loves the outdoors and spending time in nature.

Tessa Holmes,
FSWCD Project Development Specialist

Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Tessa comes to Alaska to join the Fairbanks Soil and Water Conservation District (FSWCD). She will assist in the development and implementation of a large-scale hydroponic vertical farm that aims to improve food security and provide job training opportunities for the Fairbanks community. Excited to combine her interests in community development and sustainability, Tessa sees this VISTA year as a great opportunity to gain work experience and explore the Alaskan wilderness!

Hal Gensler,
Northern Hope Center Development Coordinator

Hal is a recent High School graduate from Illinois. Hal is a full year AmeriCorps VISTA, working with the Northern Hope Center. She will be helping build organizational capacity to achieve long term stability and financial independence. Hal has never been to Alaska prior to the VISTA program, and is looking forward to going to the mountains for the first time, meeting new people, and being involved in the community. After her time with AmeriCorps, she is hoping to go to college. As of now, she wishes to major in Peace and Social Justice to be able to work with nonprofits in the future.

Nicole Wills,
ThrivAlaska Development & Communications Coordinator

Nicole comes to Fairbanks from the Finger Lakes region of New York. She will be spending her year working with ThrivAlaska focusing on fundraising, marketing, and sustainability. She is very excited to learn the ropes of how nonprofits make a tangible difference in people’s lives and to get to use her experiences working with children and families for a big picture goal. In her free time, Nicole loves choral singing, making art, and spending time outside with her dog, Juniper.

Stephen Greenlaw, FNSB Public Library Services Coordinator

Stephen is originally from San Diego, California. He has been living in Fairbanks, Alaska for several years now. He received his Bachelor's of Arts degree in Fisheries and minor in Spanish at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He will be spending his year serving as a Library Program Specialist VISTA with the Fairbanks North Star Borough Public Libraries. He will be assisting in projects centered around poverty alleviation and community outreach. He is a foodie and loves coffee.

WELCOME YOUR 2020 SUMMER ASSOCIATES!

5/21/2020

From May 27-August 4, Fairbanks will host 5 summer associates at 3 sites. These VISTA responsibilities differ from full-year VISTAs. Instead of focusing on capacity building, summer associates perform direct service for their sites.

Taryn Williams,
Children's Museum

Pronouns: She/Her
Hometown:
Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Fun Fact!: I have studied abroad in / lived in five countries!

Max Herz,
Boys & Girls Club

Pronouns: He/Him/His
Hometown: Fairfax, Virginia
Fun Fact!: I have climbed the tallest free standing mountain in the world (Kilimanjaro in Tanzania).

Amyaa Edwards-Davis,
Boys & Girls Club

Pronouns: She/Her
Hometown: Barrow, Alaska
Fun Fact!: I love to listen to podcasts.

Caitlin Amburgey ,
Children's Museum

Pronouns: She/her/hers
Hometown: Reno, Nevada
Fun Fact!: I love to run, I make exercise a part of my everyday routine and typically jog anywhere from 4-6 miles a day!

Daisy Morotti,
Bread Line

Pronouns: She/Her
Hometown: Kodiak, Alaska
Fun Fact!: I love nature!

WELCOME YOUR March YEAR-LONG VISTAs!

3/23/2020

Shea, Diana and Aisha will serve Fairbanks from March 16, 2020 - March 15, 2021. Year-long VISTAs perform indirect service focusing on capacity building. Stay tuned for updates as their year progresses!

Shea Brenneman, United Way Volunteer Center Coordinator

Shea comes from Colorado Springs in the Rocky Mountains. She will be helping the United Way of Tanana Valley to establish an effective, viable, and sustainable Volunteer Action Center (VAC). She is looking forward to engaging with the nonprofit roots of Fairbanks and making it easy for people of the Golden Heart of Alaska to discover volunteer opportunities to strengthen and support their community. The quirky, endearing culture of Fairbanks already apparent, she is sure that this next year will be one for the books.

Diana Ramstad,
Youth Homelessness Demonstration VISTA

Diana was born and raised in Alaska in Lake Clark National Park & Preserve. She grew up with horses on Blodgett Lake and remotely flying in small planes around the state with her father. In January 2017, she came to Fairbanks to attend the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She will graduate this spring with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies and minors in Art and General Education. Diana serves at Fairbanks Youth Advocates establishing a practical, viable and sustainable Youth Homelessness Demonstration Project. She is very excited to be a part of VISTA; the chance to be able to help people is significant to her.

Aisha Pereira, Development and Communications Coordinator

Aisha joins Americorps VISTA after moving up from a small town in coastal Maine. She is looking forward to spending her year assisting Restore Inc as their new Development and Communications Coordinator. Her time here will be focused on helping the organization with fundraising, grant writing and so much more. Aisha is very excited for the opportunity to help some of the most vulnerable populations (pre- and post- release individuals, those recovering from homelessness and addiction) as well as the chance to use her English degree and behavioral health experience to do so. In her free time, Aisha enjoys exploring the area with her rescue dogs she adopted in Mississippi who are enjoying the snow just as much as she is!

Welcome Your September Year-Long VISTA!

9/17/2019

Zak will serve Fairbanks from September 3, 2019-September 1, 2020. Year-long VISTAs perform indirect service focusing on capacity building. Stay tuned for updates as their year progresses!

Zakeya Mitchell,
Library Program Specialist

Zakeya Mitchell is a currently a Location Services Coordinator at the Noel Wien Public Library in Fairbanks, Alaska, by way of South Carolina. What intrigued her about this position at the library is her love for writing; because great readers are great writers, but even more so, great readers learn to avoid the one sided narrative. Zak, as she likes to be called, has read many stories about great adventures that lead to the main characters epiphany or Ah Ha moment near the end. So many different stories, so few representations, and even fewer variations in character complexities, especially for minorities of any shade. She wants to change that, one story at a time. Giving every hue, disability and special thing that categorizes people as an “other” voice in story books. Zak is a writer. And it is her end goal to serve the world with words.

WELCOME YOUR AUGUST YEAR-LONG VISTA!

8/20/2019

Brynn will serve Fairbanks from August 19, 2019-August 17, 2020. Year-long VISTAs perform indirect service focusing on capacity building. Stay tuned for updates as their year progresses!

Brynn Butler,
Reentry Program Associate

Brynn Butler is local to the Fairbanks area. She serves with Fairbanks Reentry Coalition. She will work with FRC to increase anti-poverty and anti-opioid programming for those returning to the community after incarceration. Brynn is passionate about reducing the stigma that is attached to those reentering the community from incarceration and those who have been affected by the opioid epidemic. She is the mother of two teenage daughters and a very “Fancy” cat.

WELCOME YOUR AUGUST YEAR-LONG VISTA!

8/8/2019

Leah will serve Fairbanks from August 5, 2019-August 3, 2020. Year-long VISTAs perform indirect service focusing on capacity building. Stay tuned for updates as their year progresses!

Leah Shaffer,
Project Development Specialist

Leah joined the VISTA team here in Fairbanks on August 5th after moving up from St. Louis, Missouri. She will be working at Fairbanks Soil and Water Conservation District (FSWCD) as a Project Development Specialist, helping to get their urban hydroponic farm project up and running. Leah is psyched to experience her first Alaskan winter and is planning to make the most of it by ice skating on the river, fat biking, and learning to ski.

Please don't laugh at her if you watch her fall off her fat bike in the snow.

Welcome Your July Year-Long VISTA!

7/10/2019

Vicki will serve Fairbanks from July 8, 2019-July 6, 2020. Year-long VISTAs perform indirect service focusing on capacity building. Stay tuned for updates as their year progresses!

VICKI SLOBODYANIK, DEVELOPMENT & COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR

Vicki Slobodyanik moved to Fairbanks in the summer of 2019 from a small town in Iowa. She will serve at Love Inc. as a Development and Communications Coordinator focusing on developing a sustainable plan. She recently graduated college with a bachelors degree in Business and Accounting and also did a program with YWAM in Mexico! She loves helping and serving people and can not wait to help impact this community!

Welcome Your June Year-Long VISTAs!

6/27/2019

Kelsey and Emily will serve Fairbanks from June 10, 2019-June 8, 2020. Year-long VISTAs perform indirect service focusing on capacity building. Stay tuned for updates as their year progresses!

KELSEY SNYDER,
FUND DEVELOPMENT
& FINANCIAL DIVERSITY

Kelsey moved to Fairbanks from Michigan to join Thrivalaska as their first year-long VISTA. She will be focusing on fundraising, communications and development. Kelsey recently graduate from the University of Michigan with a bachelor degree in political science but has always had a passion for volunteering. She loves to travel and go on adventures with her Alaskan husky, Polar!

EMILY DRESZER,
DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR

After moving from Maryland to Fairbanks to serve as ThrivAlaska's first VISTA Summer Associate, Emily has joined the Alaska Coalition on Housing and Homelessness (AKCH2) as their year-long Development Coordinator VISTA. She will be focusing on capacity building, researching best practices, and advocacy.

Welcome Your 2019 Summer Associates!

6/24/2019

After a whirlwind recruitment and first day setbacks, Fairbanks is hosting 11 summer associates at 9 sites. These VISTA responsibilities differ from full-year VISTAs. Instead of focusing on capacity building, summer associates perform direct service for their sites.

Lisa Cogen serves with Fairbanks Youth Advocates at Fairbanks' youth shelter, The Door. She helps prepare and provide meals to the youth as well as supporting their on-site community garden. She also participates in community outreach.

Raina Follet serves at the Boys & Girls Club, working with kids from age 7 to 18. She works directly with the kids, providing support, building relationships and resolving conflict.

Devon Gerstenfield serves with the Fairbanks Soil & Water Conservation District. He provides support to community gardens around town, including mowing, weeding, planting and watering. He also presents learning opportunities to the children involved in JP Jones’ summer program.

Kim Green and Amber Mensch serve at ThrivAlaska in the Head Start Birth to Five program. They work directly with the children, assisting the teachers in their daily activities.

David Leslie serves the North Star Community Foundation as a social media manager and instructor. He produces workshops to teach non-profits how to effectively set up and utilize social media communications.

Emily Markkanen serves at Access Alaska with their summer work program, which provides hands-on training to local high school students in special education programs. Her position involves providing guidance, mentoring and modeling positive behaviors to students.

Grace Martin and Evan Taylor serve at the Fairbanks North Star Borough Libraries. They assist the librarians with the children’s Summer Reading Program. They also come up with ideas for passive programming and community outreach. Grace is located at the Noel Wien location while Evan serves at the North Pole Branch.

Imani McGowan serves at the JP Jones Center with their children’s summer program. The program involves feeding children lunch as well as partnering with the Children’s Museum and Soil & Water Conservation District to provide science based learning opportunities.

Sheila Vent serves with the Fairbanks Wellness Coalition. She creates graphics as well as posts for FWC to use on social media and their website. She also supports the organization through community outreach.

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