Side by Side in the Same Direction

Nicole Borromeo (Upper Kuskokwim Athabascan) serves as the Executive Vice President and General Counsel for the Alaska Federation of Natives. Born in McGrath, she now resides in Anchorage with her husband and four children. Nicole advises AFN’s board and president, and advocates on a wide array of Alaska Native legislative and litigation matters, including civil and voting rights, governmental affairs, business and infrastructure development. In addition to championing the Child Welfare Tribal Compacting process with the State under Governor Walker’s administration, Nicole most recently served on the Alaska Redistricting Board to protect and uphold a fair and just process for all Alaskans.

Dr. Rosita Worl (Tlingit), whose Tlingit names are Yeidiklasókw and Kaaháni, is Ch’áak’ (Eagle) moiety of the Shangukeidí (Thunderbird) clan from the Kawdliyaayi Hít (House Lowered from the Sun) in Klukwan. Kaaháni has served as the president of Sealaska Heritage Institute since 1997, an organization charged with preserving and advancing the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian Native cultures of Southeast Alaska. A highly accomplished anthropologist and researcher, Kaaháni centers fierce advocacy in protecting our ways of life in all she does for our Alaska Native community.

In the 1990s, while working on an Alaskan public health project, Dr. Herb Illisaurri Schroeder realized how few public health engineers were Alaska Natives and went on to found the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP) in 1995 to help a single Alaska Native student earn an engineering degree. Since that time, ANSEP has grown to include 500+ alumni with STEM bachelors, masters and doctorate degrees, and more than 2,500 additional students on track to follow in their footsteps. Dr. Schroeder currently serves as University of Alaska Anchorage Vice Provost of ANSEP.