2014-2015 Protégés
Graduate Students
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Marvin Anunciacion
Marvin Anunciacion is a results-oriented marketing and sales professional with over 10 years of experience. In his role as Denali Alaskan Federal Credit Union’s Marketing Strategist, he facilitates departmental alignment to enhance member utilization of products. Marvin spent his childhood growing up in Kodiak, AK; attended West Anchorage High School and received his Bachelors of Business Administration in Marketing and Management at the University of Alaska Anchorage. This spring he will be graduating from UAA with a Masters in Business Administration with an emphasis in Business Intelligence and Business Analytics. He plans to use these experiences to continue growing as a leader in the Alaska Community. After graduation, he plans on fishing the Kenai with his basset hounds Merlin and Guinevere, attending San Diego Comic-Con with his wife Ashley, and preparing for the 2015 fantasy football season.
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Peter Arlein
Peter grew up in upstate New York and attended Colby College. In 2007, he graduated with a degree in Neuroscience with all intentions of going onto to medical school. However, after being offered a job and place to stay in Aspen, he decided to move to the mountains of Colorado. He lived there for three years where he worked as a ski patroller and raft guide. In 2010 he continued his journey west, all the way to the Pacific Ocean. He started working on sailboats, first delivering a boat from San Diego to La Paz, Mexico and later becoming the head educator aboard an 82-foot schooner in San Francisco Bay. Three years ago he followed a girl, now fiancé, to Alaska. After a stint as a commercial fisherman, he decided to start business school in hopes of turning his love of the outdoors into a career. Peter is expecting to graduate in May and looking forward to more adventures in Alaska.
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Laura Cameron
Laura Cameron is the Project Lead at NANA Management Services and currently works in their Camp Services division. Laura develops strategic partnerships in the oil and gas sector in support of exploration and production. Her project work includes the North Slope, Cook Inlet, and Chukchi Sea.
Laura holds a Masters in Business Administration and Bachelor’s degree in economics and business management from the University of Alaska. Since graduating, she has worked in areas of transportation logistics, finance, nonprofit development, and energy.
Laura spent her elementary years abroad, with such life and work experiences bringing both perspective and strength to her decision making in today’s competitive markets. Laura has negotiated many successful contracts and finds working towards Pareto efficiencies to be challenging and fulfilling.
She is married to Will Cameron and has one daughter.
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Heather Karwowski
Heather Karwowski is a full-time MBA student at the University of Alaska Anchorage pursing an emphasis in leadership. She’s thrilled to be in the inaugural class of Leadership Fellows and values the opportunity to work with fellow students and local leaders through the program. Heather earned a BA in communication with an emphasis in public relations at Washington State University and has work experience in the areas of non-profit development, alumni relations, and executive search.
Heather’s student involvement includes membership in the UAA chapter of the National Society of Leadership and Success and she is a chartering member of the UAA Human Resources Club. When not involved at UAA, Heather enjoys serving her local community through volunteer projects with the young professional organization, Anchorage Rotaract. She also enjoys staying active on the local trails through horseback riding and cross-country skiing and exploring new places through travel. Heather, who grew up in Anchorage, looks forward to graduating in Spring 2015 and applying her MBA studies to serve and grow Alaskan organizations.
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Kevin Mihm
Kevin is an MBA student at UAA and plans to graduate in May of 2015. Kevin has a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Finance with a minor in Accounting from Oklahoma State University. He works for BP Alaska in their Production Tax and Royalty Compliance accounting group as a financial analyst. Before moving (back) to Alaska to work for BP, Kevin worked for ConocoPhillips in Oklahoma, Alaska, and Texas in finance and accounting roles. He also worked in New York City for a Wall St. brokerage firm for a short period on the New York Stock Exchange floor. He was born and raised in Borger, Texas and has been married to his wife Tara for 7 years. They have 2 kids, Claire (2 years old) and Isla (newborn). Kevin enjoys spending time with his family and the Alaskan outdoors.
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Amy Miller
After 15 years in public relations and communications, Amy Miller is now a full-time student in the University of Alaska Anchorage MBA program with graduation expected in summer of 2015. Miller started her career as a reporter in Fairbanks after receiving her bachelor’s degree from Western State College of Colorado. After a few years as a reporter, she joined an Alaska public relations agency and rose to the position of vice president over the course of approximately 10 years. During that time, she worked on live shoots for NBC’s Today Show, coordinated production of two episodes of “Top Chef “in Juneau, led a successful statewide ballot initiative campaign and helped plan a reception for legislators and the governor welcoming BP’s first double-hulled tankers to Alaska, among many other projects. Miller has discovered a passion for data and statistical analysis during her MBA education and is looking forward to applying data-driven solutions to public relations and marketing campaigns upon completion of her degree.
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Nick Morrill
Born in San Diego, CA and raised mostly in St. Louis, MO, Nick Morrill moved to Alaska in 2007. He graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BBA in Management and Economics from UAA in 2010. After finishing his undergrad, he worked for the Anchorage School District as a 21st Century Community Learning Center Coordinator before taking a ministry position with the Great Land Christian Church. In addition to pursuing his MBA, he currently continues his work with the Church, as well as serves as a Program Director for the Alaska Chapter of HOPE worldwide. He is passionate about community engagement and volunteerism in Alaska.
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Lauren Riley
Lauren Riley has worked for the Alaska Small Business Development Center since 2012 as the Marketing and Program Specialist. Previously, she was in the Peace Corps and served as a Small Business Development Volunteer in Morocco. She became interested in the Leadership Fellows program after taking Applied Leadership with Al Bolea. Lauren has a Bachelors in Business Marketing from the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and is pursuing her MBA at University of Alaska Anchorage.
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Misha Sajjad
Born and raised in Saudi Arabia with parents from Pakistan and friends from all around the world, Misha truly values diversity and culture. After earning an Honors Bachelor of Commerce from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, Misha got married and moved to Anchorage. Currently in her first year of the MBA program, she is concurrently taking undergraduate level accounting courses to help her prepare for the CPA exam. When she is not busy with school, Misha enjoys reading, traveling, and spending time with her family.
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Sarah Warrington (Henry)
Sarah Warrington (Henry) is in her final year of the Masters in Business Administration program at the University of Alaska Anchorage and is set to graduate in 2015. Sarah has a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Economics with a minor in Accounting from Saint Mary's College of California. She has a strong background in finance, economics, accounting, and financial modeling and analysis. Sarah has been working at Donlin Gold since 2009 where she has held a supervisory role since 2012. Sarah was chosen to take part in temporary assignments for Barrick Gold in Toronto, Canada and Santiago, Chile as part of her financial expertise and knowledge of capital projects. Prior to joining Donlin Gold, Sarah worked at iPass, Lehman Brothers, and Barclays Capital. She was born and raised in Anchorage and enjoys hiking, figure skating, traveling, and spending time with her family and husband, Lindon.
Undergraduate Students
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Bridgette Coleman
Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to high sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.
Bridgette has always enjoyed filling leadership roles in girl scouts, school, sports, and at work. She looks forward to further refining her leadership skills through the Leadership Fellows Program. Bridgette is double majoring in Business Management & Marketing, with commencement in December of 2014. Her love for her community has carried over to her job as the Business and Economic Development Attaché at the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation where she works to expand and diversify Anchorage’s economy. Bridgette enjoys spending time with her husband Zeke, Great Dane-Rigby, and French Bulldog-Rhino and enjoying all that Alaska has to offer.
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Chantae Kochuten
Chantae Kochuten is overwhelmingly thrilled to be a member of the 2014 cohort of the Leadership Fellow Program at the College of Business and Public Policy at the University of Alaska Anchorage and is even more thrilled to be the protégé of UAA’s Director of Diversity and Compliance, Ms. Marva Watson.
Ms. Kochuten is an undergraduate protégé in the Leadership Fellows Program. She grew up in a in a small rural fishing town located in southwest Alaska. As a daughter of a commercial fisherman, she learned the value of hard work, punctuality, honesty, and respect, consequently developing the drive to excel in her academics.
She attended four years at Mt. Edgecumbe High School and graduated in the top ten percent of her class. She is currently a business student majoring in management with a minor in communications. She works for APICDA Joint Ventures, a subsidiary of the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Community Development Association, where she intends to continue to work for the foreseeable future. Ms. Kochuten is compassionate about her family, culture, and community. Her goal is to combine this compassion with her strong work ethic to better the environment she lives and works in.
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Xavier A. Mason
Xavier A. Mason is a junior at UAA earning a double major in Management and Marketing and has a passion for social entrepreneurship and learning. He was selected as a Truman Finalist and is a Founding Father of the Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity. Outside of campus, Xavier has founded three organizations—HandMade, VisualAid, and CurrentEnergy—that benefit underprivileged people in Alaska and Africa. An avid traveler, Xavier has studied abroad in Prague, learning about different philosophies of leadership, and aboard ship through the University of Virginia’s Semester at Sea program, studying the effects of globalization. Xavier also sits as President of the NAACP Youth Council, board member for the Anchorage religious nonprofit Chessed Alaska, and serves on the Membership Committee of the Alaska World Affairs Council. In his free time, Xavier enjoys reading and cooking.
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Alexandra Weill-Marsolais
Alexandra graduated from New Prague High School in New Prague, Minnesota in June of 2011. During high school, she held leadership positions in the 4H club as Secretary, Vice President, and President. She also was inducted to the National Honor Society and volunteered 50 hours of community service in her junior and senior year. After high school, Alexandra began to pursue undergraduate education from the University of Alaska Anchorage. She is set to graduate in May of 2015 with a BBA in marketing and a BBA in management. Outside of UAA, Alexandra works as an Assistant Transaction Coordinator for the largest real estate company in Alaska. She hopes her leadership inspires others to take leadership in their own lives.