2026 Conference Speakers

Polly McKenna-Cress is a leader in the museum field with more than 35+ years of experience in exhibition design, interpretation, and both formal and informal education. Her work is grounded in civic-minded, socially responsible creative practices and emphasizes meaningful community engagement at local and international levels.

She has managed and collaborated on more than 60 exhibitions worldwide and spent over 25 years as an Associate Professor, where she provided academic leadership and mentored students across multiple disciplines. An accomplished author, lecturer, and workshop facilitator, McKenna-Cress is widely recognized for her contributions to the field.

Her international work includes presenting papers and leading workshops in the United Kingdom, Colombia, Poland, China, and Argentina. She is also a frequent speaker at national museum conferences and has served on numerous professional boards.

In 2019, she was awarded a Fulbright Specialist appointment, collaborating with the Maloka Interactive Center in Bogotá, Colombia. She serves on the Senior Fellowship team at Drexel University’s Lenfest Center for Cultural Partnerships and has been a faculty member in Drexel’s Museum Leadership graduate program for over six years. She was also a Noyce Leadership Fellow (2014–2015).

McKenna-Cress is co-author of “Creating Exhibitions: Collaboration in Planning, Development, and Design of Interpretive Experiences” (Wiley, 2013; Mandarin translation, Fudan University Press, 2019), a widely influential text in the field.

For the past 5+ years she has been the Revenue Liaison for the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. She is currently based in Philadelphia and focusing her time as Principal at Alusiv, Inc., a branding, communication, and exhibition design firm and consulting in the field for multiple clients.

Fairbanks has been my home for the past 17 years, and I’m passionate about connecting visitors with the stories, cultures, and nature that make Alaska unique. As the Director of Visitor Services at the UA Museum of the North, I work to create welcoming, engaging experiences through visitor services, events, and community partnerships. I’m excited to share what I’ve learned, exchange ideas with colleagues from across the state, and explore new ways museums can strengthen their connections with Alaska’s tourism industry.

Sherri (she/her) provides architectural services throughout Alaska with atelier corbeau – art & architecture. She also contracts with EquityWorks Accessibility Alliance, LLC (EWAA) as an accessibility consultant and architect, offering site and facility accessibility assessments, training, technical assistance, and program development.

Her career has included roles as a licensed architect with extensive experience in interior architecture and Universal Design, as well as positions as an Independent Living Advocate, community accessibility specialist, aging in place consultant, and pediatric physical therapist. This interdisciplinary grounding informs a lifespan based understanding of how people move through and interact with the built environment and fuels her commitment to advancing access, equity, and belonging through inclusive design.

Outside of her professional practice, Sherri is an active participant in and supporter of the arts in her community.

Rebecca Pottebaum is the Director of Programs at the Anchorage Museum and oversees the development and facilitation of a wide slate of public programming connected to exhibitions, special events and community partnerships. She manages the Anchorage Museum’s Seed Lab project and loves being a community connector.

Melissa Nenantaxnen Shaginoff is an Ahtna and Paiute person, a tribal citizen of Chickaloon Village Traditional Council and the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, and a member of the Udzisyu (Caribou) clan. She is an interdisciplinary artist, language warrior, poet, and museum professional who currently serves as the Alaska Specialist for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.

Her artistic practice explores conversation as medium and land-based materiality as a guiding and relational reflection. In her museum work, Melissa focuses on expanding community accessibility and reimagining the future of cultural belongings within institutional collections.

Melissa studied at the University of Alaska Anchorage and the Institute of American Indian Arts. She is a recipient of the Rasmuson Foundation Individual Artist Award and the inaugural Governor’s Humanities Rising Award.

She lives and works on Dena’ina lands in Dghayitnu (Anchorage, Alaska).

Patricia Relay, Grants Administrator 2 with the State of Alaska’s Department of Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation, brings more than 25 years of executive museum leadership and arts administration experience, with recognized expertise in financial stabilization, organizational restructuring, strategic fundraising, and multichannel advocacy. An accomplished administrator and former museum executive, she has led multiple Alaskan museums through operational revitalization, strengthened community and funder relationships, and secured major federal, state, and foundation funding. In addition to her public service, she is the founder of Seaview Consulting, supporting museums and cultural organizations in financial sustainability, governance, and longterm strategic planning. She holds an M.A. in Arts Administration from Goucher College and a B.A. in Art History from Western Washington University.

Joshua Albeza Branstetter is a documentary storyteller based out of Alaska. He has worked in the film industry for nearly a decade, receiving international acclaim for his directorial work including collaborations with PBS, the University of Aberdeen, and the Alutiiq Museum. Josh is also a published photographer whose work has been exhibited in museums across the state. Josh’s films have featured stories on efforts to save 500-year-old Yup’ik artifacts from coastal erosion, childcare reform, Filipino history in Alaska, and more. Josh is a co-founder and the Creative Storytelling Director of Mana, a Filipino Alaskan media collective preserving Filipino history through mixed media storytelling.

Sheila Hernandez grew up in Juneau, Alaska and has spent more than 20 years working in the local tourism industry. Since 2023, she has served as the Museum
Services Manager for both the Alaska State Museum and the Sheldon Jackson Museum. The work continues her long-standing collaboration with Alaska’s tourism community, partnering with local tour operators and small cruise operators to welcome visitors to the museums each summer. Her work helps provide guests with meaningful opportunities to learn about Alaska’s history, cultures, and the communities they will encounter during their travels.

Eva L. Deleon, MA, CRC, ADAC, is the CEO and Founder of EquityWorks Accessibility Alliance, LLC (EWAA), a consulting firm specializing in accessibility services for public agencies, education systems, healthcare, cultural institutions, and correctional facilities. With more than 25 years of experience in accessibility, employment services, and disability-related programs, Eva provides expertise in architectural accessibility, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Self Evaluation and Transition Plans, Universal Design and inclusive practices, program and policy compliance, and customized training.
Before launching EWAA, Eva served in multiple leadership roles at the University of Washington’s Center for Continuing Education in Rehabilitation, including Assistant Director of the Northwest ADA Center and Director of Accessible Design and Innovative Inclusion. She has led regional and national projects focused on ADA compliance, vocational rehabilitation, traumatic brain injury in corrections, and systems improvement across government and community partners.

Mell (she/her) worked for over 15 years in blind rehabilitation and low vision therapy, including at the Washington State Department of Services for the Blind and at the Veterans Administration Puget Sound Health Care System. She served as assistant director for the Northwest ADA Center, where she helped people to learn about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). As a contractor for EquityWorks Accessibility Alliance, LLC (EWAA), Mell conducts accessibility evaluations, provides training and technical assistance, and remediates Word and PDF documents. She specializes in making events, meetings, websites, and digital products accessible.

Emily Galgano is the Archives and Collections Department Director at Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI). She has a MLIS degree with a concentration in Archives Management from Simmons University and holds a Digital Archives Specialist certification from the Society of American Archivists. She has been at SHI since 2019 and manages the highly successful archives internship program there every summer.

Adriana Botelho Alvarez was born and raised in Juneau, holds a B.L.A in Anthropology and Biology (University of Alaska Southeast 2017) and has been working with museum collections since 2016. She has been the Curator of Collection Access at the Alaska State Museum since 2022.

Monica Garcia-Itchoak is a nationally recognized museum and cultural heritage leader known for envisioning, building, and igniting large-scale projects that transform institutions and expand community impact. Across more than three decades in the nonprofit, museum, and arts sectors, she has advanced results-driven initiatives in organizational development, education, philanthropy, and partnership-building at institutions including the Anchorage Museum, Rasmuson Foundation, The Foraker Group, The Field Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Alaska Museum of Science and Nature. She was also recently appointed to the Municipality of Anchorage 1% for Public Art Committee. Her leadership is defined by bold vision, measurable outcomes, and a deep commitment to equity, cultural stewardship, and creating lasting opportunities for communities to see themselves, their histories, and their futures reflected in the institutions that serve them. She currently serves as Executive Director of the Chugach Museum, where she is leading the development of a new 12,000-square-foot cultural heritage museum for Chugach Alaska Corporation as part of the Village in the City initiative, with groundbreaking set for June 2026.

Anjuli Grantham has recently returned to Alaska after receiving her doctorate in museum and heritage studies in Derry, Northern Ireland. There, Anjuli identified ways heritage enables the new regenerative paradigm. Anjuli has been active in Alaska’s heritage sector for 15 years, working as a public historian, curator, consultant, grant maker and producer. In addition to her work as a consultant, Anjuli worked at the Kodiak History Museum and the Alaska State Museum. She received the 2020 Museum Champion Award from Museums Alaska and has received a President’s Award from the Alaska Historical Society.

Dr. Caren S. Oberg is the Curator of Collections and Interpretation at the Valdez Museum and Historical Archive in Valdez, AK. She has a Master’s in Museum Education and a Doctorate in Design with an emphasis on the interaction between clothing and lived history. Her career began in 1999 at the Smithsonian Institution, and she has been moving west ever since. She arrived at the VMHA in 2022. Her day-to-day work at the Museum includes updating current exhibitions, managing the Collection to ensure its preservation for the future, and responding to research requests. Her latest projects include collecting stories and video from Valdezans who work and live in Prince William Sound and developing Sled 2026, an exhibition on snowmachining.

Ellen Carrlee holds a Ph.D. in anthropology (University of Alaska Fairbanks 2020), M.A. in Art History and Conservation (New York University 2000), and B.A. in Art History (University of Wisconsin Madison 1995). She has been the Alaska State Museum conservator since 2006, specializing in care and repair of Alaskan material culture.

Flipping through old editions of the Juneau Empire for one of her first jobs, Tasha Elizarde learned early how stories can connect us to the people who came before us. Raised by a family of Filipino immigrants in Juneau, Tasha strives to produce stories that bring her community of Filipino Alaskans together. Her storytelling projects – which blend community engagement, journalism, and curation – have received recognition from the Signal Awards, the Asian American Journalists Association, and the Alaska Press Club. As co-founder and Curatorial Director of Mana, Tasha builds space for communities to celebrate what it means to be a Filipino in Alaska.

Dawn Biddison works in equitable collaboration with Alaska Native Elders, Knowledge-Holders, artists, educators, learners, and cultural organization staff on Indigenous heritage projects. Her work began with community-based museum research, exhibition, and website work, and continues through museum outreach, collections access, research, fieldwork, artist residencies, workshops, public programs, and shared interdisciplinary documentation and resources that respect Indigenous protocols and goals, support intergenerational learning and teaching, and facilitate accessibility.

Dawn has worked at the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center in Alaska since 2003. She is the recipient of an Outreach Achievement Award from the National Museum of Natural History, a Smithsonian Institution Secretary’s Research prize and the “Award for Excellence in the Museum Field” from Museums Alaska. Examples of her work with communities are available online at the Smithsonian Learning Lab website “Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center in Alaska” https://learninglab.si.edu/org/sasc-ak.

Bob “CJ” Curtis-Johnson is Sole-Member and Principal Consultant of SummitDay LLC, which specialize in museum services and audiovisual media preservation across Alaska and for select collections around the US. His 40+ year career includes preservation and digitization planning, storage environment and collection assessment consulting, as well as serving as editor/producer/director of documentaries, commercials, promotions and artistic and sponsored films for clients including PBS Frontline, National Geographic Explorer, and Discovery Channel. He has volunteered with the ISO, the Association of Moving Image Archivists, and numerous arts organizations and non-profits.

Christine Carpenter is passionate about museums. As a designer, artist, and project manager, Christine uses her skills to work collaboratively with museums to find opportunities and limit challenges. After completing her MFA in Museum Exhibition Planning & Design, she relocated to Juneau to work with the exhibit design firm, ExhibitAK, and is now one of the owners. In collaboration with the communities she serves, she has designed exhibits, websites, interpretive panels, and master plans all over the state.

John Hagen is an Alaska Native curator, photographer, and cultural advocate based in Alaska. He currently serves as Curator of Indigenous Art and Initiatives at the Anchorage Museum, where he works on exhibitions and programs focused on Indigenous art, living cultures, climate change, and connections across the Arctic and Indigenous world.

Hagen is of Iñupiaq, Unangax̂ (Aleut), Irish, and Danish heritage. He was born in Sitka and raised in Haines, Alaska, where he became involved in cultural programming and adult education work with local tribal and community organizations. His experiences growing up between cultures have strongly influenced both his curatorial approach and his artistic work.