A new team member joins the Alaska Business Publishing Company sales department. Weston Giliam comes aboard as a Sales Account Manager, facilitating relationships between advertising clients and the production department. Selling printed paper comes easily to Giliam, who previously ran Custacup, a distributor of logoed tableware for restaurants. He started the business in Miami after working for Flamingo Paper, a supplier of disposable cups and napkins to cruise lines. A third-generation Alaskan, Giliam earned a degree in marketing from Florida International University.

The forum for regional corporations formed under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) has a new leader. The board of the ANCSA Regional Association selected Nicole Borromeo as President. Borromeo, who previously served as general counsel to the Alaska Federation of Natives, succeeds Kim Reitmeier, who served as the association’s president for fourteen years. A shareholder of Interior ANCSA corporation Doyon, Limited, Borromeo is a graduate of Mt. Edgecumbe High School and UAA. She earned her Juris Doctorate from the University of Washington School of Law.

The Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority appointed Esther Aaltséen Reese as its new COO in Juneau. Aaltséen brings more than thirteen years of leadership experience from Wrangell Cooperative Association, where she served as tribal administrator. She is credited with securing federal disaster aid for Wrangell following a devastating landslide. Aaltséen succeeds Joyce Niven, who is retiring after nearly twenty years with the housing association.

Full-service marketing and public relations agency MSI Communications promoted two of its Anchorage employees to support clients statewide.

Asia Bauzon is now Associate Creative Director after five years as an art director. For the past three years, she has led creative strategy and development for some of MSI’s most visible clients. Bauzon earned a bachelor’s degree in art at UAA and previously worked as a graphic designer at Spawn Ideas.

Mercy Nyaga is promoted to Account Manager, responsible for strategic planning, marketing campaign development, budgeting, media strategy, and client communications. Nyaga earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Nairobi. Over the past four years at MSI, Nyaga has played a key role in building lasting client relationships.

A professional engineer and a geologist joined the staff at civil engineering, surveying, and environmental firm R&M Consultants.

Jason Johnston joins the team as Senior Project Engineer in the Surface Transportation Group. Before joining R&M, Johnston supervised a team of engineers at the US Forest Service. He has also held roles with the National Park Service, and he was a top-tier contracting officer’s representative for the federal government. Johnston holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Montana State University, and he is registered with the State of Alaska as a professional civil engineer.

Trevor Copple joins R&M Consultants’ Geosciences Group as an Environmental Geologist. His previous roles included managing field teams, preparing technical reports, and coordinating with clients on projects such as stormwater management, spill response and remediation, and oil and gas decommissioning across the western United States. Copple earned an associate’s degree in environmental geology from Salt Lake Community College, a bachelor’s degree in petroleum geology from Oklahoma State University, and a master’s degree in geology from the Colorado School of Mines. He is a certified asbestos building inspector.

The Alaska Heart & Vascular Institute (AHVI) added two experienced advanced practice providers to its location
in Wasilla.

Monica Lewis is a board-certified family nurse practitioner. Before joining AHVI, she provided primary, urgent, and emergency care in remote Alaska villages. Her career began as an emergency medical technician and transitioned to nursing, specializing in emergency medicine. She earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Utica College and a master’s degree from State University of New York Upstate Medical University.

Geoff Mittelsteadt is an acute care nurse practitioner and certified emergency nurse. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and a master’s degree from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. A retired US Air Force veteran, Mittelsteadt served twenty-eight years as a mentor, educator, and healthcare leader.

A new boss takes charge at the UAF Cooperative Extension Service. Jennifer Wagaman was promoted to Director from her previous position as Communications Manager of the UAF Institute of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Extension, under which the service operates. Wagaman has a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and art and a master’s degree in communications, both from UAF.

The philanthropic arm of the UA System gained a new President. Tlisa Northcutt, who was leading the UA Foundation in an interim capacity this summer, was hired for that position and, in a dual role, as the foundation’s Chief Development Officer. Northcutt holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and public communications from UAA and a master’s degree in philanthropy and development from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. She has been a Certified Fund Raising Executive since 2009.

Upon the retirement of Michael C. Burke after a decade as CEO of MTA, Demian Voiles stepped up as a successor. The board of the Palmer-based telecom selected Voiles at the culmination of a nationwide search. Voiles joins MTA from Comcast, the Philadelphia-based conglomerate where he served as Regional Vice President of Construction and Engineering. He previously worked in Alaska for Verizon as the global phone company’s first employee in the state and is credited with building Verizon Alaska from the ground up. Voiles holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California, Davis.