Welcome Your August Year-Long VISTAs!

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. ​