About Us

Board/Staff

Alaska Common Ground is governed and operated by a volunteer board of directors. The board plans and organizes all of our events, with logistical support from a contracted coordinator.

The board meets monthly as a whole and also in committees working on our priority issue areas. Board members bring diverse experience and interest to the organization and remain committed to our mission to collect and disseminate information about Alaskan issues and problems, facilitate discussion, and to develop public policy, knowledge, and understanding among Alaskans.

Chair

Dick Mylius

Dick has been on the Board of Directors of Alaska Common Ground since 2014. Dick has lived in Alaska since 1980. He retired from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources in December 2010, where he had worked for 29 years. From 2004 until retirement he was Director of the DNR Division of Mining, Land and Water. The Division manages all state-owned land. Since retiring, Dick has done natural resources consulting, natural resources related training, and various volunteer activities.

Dick holds a BA in Geography from the State University of New York and a Master of Regional Planning from the University of Michigan, School of Natural Resources. He has two adult daughters. Dick and his wife Sally Gibert have been members of Alaska Common Ground since its founding.

Vice Chair

Stephanie Nicols

Stephanie Nichols

Stephanie joined Alaska Common Ground in 2018 and has worked as a Vice President and Attorney at GCI and was also the Founder and Executive Director of Seattle University School of Law’s Alaska Satellite Campus back in 2014. She created and taught courses in Alaska Native Law, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, and on Alaska’s Legal History.

Stephanie was born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska, and received a degree in Accountancy from the University of Notre Dame and her Juris Doctorate from Seattle University. Prior to her work at GCI and the Law School, Stephanie was in-house counsel for an Indian tribe outside Seattle. In 2019, Stephanie was selected to receive the Marshall Memorial Fellowship, the German Marshall Fund’s flagship leadership program. It was created in 1982 to introduce a new generation of European leaders to the United States and now prepares leaders from both sides of the Atlantic for transatlantic relations. Stephanie returned home from this fellowship loving the United States more than she thought possible and also more than she thought necessary – and believes that freedom depends on a healthy democracy.

Treasurer

Chuck Gilbert

Chuck Gilbert

Chuck arrived in Alaska in 1974 for a summer of adventure and never left. In the 1970s he worked for the National Park Service to help develop proposals for new park areas in Alaska, that culminated in passage of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act in 1980. He then became a planner, helping determine how the new parks would be managed, then the Lands Division, working on multiple lands issues—land exchanges, land acquisition, rights of way, title navigability, etc. Chuck has a great appreciation for the people and wonders of Alaska, and wants to work through ACG to make Alaska the best it can be.

Board Member

Janet Bidwell

Janet moved to Alaska in 1989 after receiving an undergraduate degree from SUNY Stony Brook. She married in 1998 and has three grown children all living in Anchorage.

Board Member

Kari Gardey

Kari Gardey

Kari was born in Alaska but grew up in England and California, finally to return to Alaska almost twenty-five years ago. She graduated from UC Berkeley with an undergraduate degree in geography and graduate degrees in City and Regional Planning and Landscape Architecture, with an emphasis on environmental planning. During her professional career, she has worked entirely with non-profits in a variety of roles, including educating advocates on how to use GIS datasets with Ecotrust; researching water conservation and recycling with the Conservation Law Foundation; managing volunteers for Earthwatch; coordinating programs for Alaska World Affairs Council; managing outreach for Partners for Progress; and for twenty years as Program Manager, managing membership, public programs, board support, databases, and grant writing for Alaska Common Ground.

Since leaving her program manager role in 2023 she has been honored to join the Alaska Common Ground board. She finds the mission compelling and something she has been proud to work towards for so long and plans to continue working on unbiased, nonpartisan programs that help inform an engaged Alaskan democracy.

Board Member

Cliff Groh

Cliff Groh is a lifelong Alaskan, a lawyer, and—since 2022—a State Representative. He is Vice President of the Friends of the Permanent Fund, a Captain in the Alaska State Defense Force, Theresa’s husband, and Kevin’s father. He enjoys reading, hiking, and travel.

Board Member

Mary Lu Harle

Mary Lu received her BA from Trinity University in Texas and MS degree from the University of Texas San Antonio. She worked for the Alaska Department of Natural Resources in water rights policy and administration followed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service as regional water rights and title navigability coordinator. In Texas she taught eighth grade science, and taught water resource management and environmental science at Alaska Pacific University. Retirement activities include playing button box accordion and traveling.

Secretary

Hannah Laird

Hannah Laird

Hannah is a lifelong Alaskan, raised in a politically diverse family that planted the early seeds of her passion for creating understanding across different perspectives. Her career spans the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, including roles with elected officials, vulnerable populations, and some of Alaska’s largest private industry leaders. This breadth of experience has provided Hannah with a unique perspective on the impacts of both good and bad policy in Alaska. With her master’s completed in 2023, she is now working as a social worker and contracting with the state’s court system.

Board Member

Janet McCabe

Janet worked as a planner for state and federal entities, including the Federal-State Land Use Planning Commission that guided the creation of Alaska’s National Interest Lands. She was Regional Director of the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service, Special Assistant to the Regional Director of the National Park Service, and retired from NPS in 2000. Since then she has been a full-time volunteer with community service organizations, primarily in fields of therapeutic justice, reduction of criminal recidivism, cultural and historic preservation and community organization.

Board Member

Likka McCauley

Likka grew up as a military child, living in various Air Force bases around the nation and overseas until the family moved to Alaska during her middle school years. Her professional educational career started with the Anchorage School District in 2001, working in roles to include: special education paraprofessional, elementary teacher, gifted program liaison, Title I school principal, and, currently, federal programs director. Highlights include endorsement as a National Board Certified Teacher, serving on the board for the Anchorage Principals Association, and being awarded the Alaska Children’s Trust Champion for Kids award. Likka has been inspired by many passionate educators in the past 20 years with the Anchorage School District, and credits these influences heavily for their deep impact on her life and worldview. She enjoys life with her husband, Matthew, and their 11 year old child, Madeleine. They also have a pet bearded dragon named Falcor. In addition to a passion for community issues related to well-being and equity, Likka enjoys reading, gardening, travel, and eating delicious food!

Board Member

John Parsi

John spent nearly a decade living and working in Alaska. He served as a law clerk to Justice Morgan Christen on the Alaska Supreme Court and Judge John Sedwick on the US District Court for the District of Alaska and as Special Assistant to two Alaska Attorney Generals. In addition, he worked for the Federal Public Defender for the District of Alaska and in private practice. His most meaningful legal work was with the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. He is now an Assistant Professor of Law at LSU Law in Baton Rouge, LA but remains passionate about Alaska at its future. He has been on the board of Alaska Common Ground since 201x. John was a member of Scared Scriptless Improv and involved in theater while in Anchorage and is still passionate about the performing arts.

Board Member

Katie Severin

Katie was born and raised in Anchorage. She has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Colorado College, and a master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Alaska Anchorage. She believes in the power of information to unlock community engagement and conversation – the path to great policymaking. Katie relaxes with her kitty, knitting, or getting in some hard-earned bike miles.

Board Member

Peg Tileston

Public policy has been a passion for Peg since college. She was raised on a large farm, attended college and taught in Indiana, moved to Colorado, and Maryland before arriving in Anchorage in 1972 where she quickly became involved in environmental advocacy. This led to service on the Alaska Water Board from 1976 to 1991, the Chugach Electric Association Board of Directors from 1981 to 1991, and several municipal and state advisory committees. Peg helped reorganize the Alaska Center for the Environment, co-founded the Alaska Conservation Foundation and Trustees for Alaska. 1991 Peg joined Esther Wunnicke and several others to found Alaska Common Ground to encourage Alaska citizens to become more knowledgeable and involved in state policies. She has served on the Alaska Common Ground board since the organization began. Peg was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Law Degree from the University of Alaska Anchorage in 2009, and the Alaska Women’s Hall of Fame in 2010. She and Jules have three daughters, Nancy, Anna and Gloria and two granddaughters, Erin and Emily.

Board Member

Danielle Williams

Danielle Williams

Danielle has a strong conservation ethic and sense of social and environmental justice. She joined ACG’s board in 2016 because their vision is consistent with her values. She holds a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Michigan and a BA from the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to starting her own consulting business in 2018 to support nonprofits to achieve their fund development and communications goals, she worked for nearly a decade for Alaska Conservation Foundation where she served as Director of Philanthropy and Communications. Before that, she held a long-term position as Director of Grants and Justice Partnerships for Boys & Girls Clubs of Alaska. Danielle is proud to call Anchorage home since 1993 where she lives with her husband Steve and superdog, Spencer. Her interests include hiking, biking and constantly challenging herself to live more sustainably.

Program Coordinator

Jess Braunlich

Jess is ACG’s contracted program coordinator. She has spent nearly all her life in Alaska, growing up in Fairbanks with stints in Washington State and Washington, DC. As a consultant, she has supported Alaska nonprofits, communities, and governments by providing facilitation, planning, research, and organizational support and development and has a deep appreciation for ACG’s mission. She holds a master’s degree in Public Management from Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor’s degree in Communication and Conflict Management from Pacific Lutheran University. When she’s not supporting Alaska Common Ground or other Alaska organizations she and her husband are usually chasing their three kids around on the trails and in the woods, and she enjoys volunteering and serving on the Alaska Huts Board of Directors.