Teri Namtvedt is a Certified
Public Accountant
experienced in healthcare
operations and challenges,
nonprofit financial management, grant
management and was a representative on the
Mat-Su Rural Health Planning Network.
Ms. Namtvedt graduated from Dimond Senior
High in Anchorage.
She attended Oregon
State University in Corvallis, Oregon and
University of Alaska, Anchorage.
Her skills include financial statement analysis,
leadership, public speaking and presentations,
analysis of program proposals and financial
viability of proposal management and
fundraising.
She stated experience has taught her the value
of having not only affordable, quality health
care available but also the importance of
having the full continuum of healthcare
available in the community.
While working
for Mat-Su Health Services, Inc., she became
very familiar with the current healthcare
transitions taking place in our growing
community. She was involved in assessing
the current and future community needs for
primary and preventative healthcare, mental
healthcare, detox facilities and emergency
services. She would like an opportunity to
use the knowledge and experience gained to
contribute to the positive and exciting
transitions that are taking place in our
beautiful borough.
Cheryl Riggs Board Member
Cheryl Riggs has lived in the Mat-Su Valley for over 29 years. She has been a board member for numerous foundations and nonprofits involved with fundraising and finance in the community. She graduated from University of Oregon with a Master of Science in 1979.
She has worked for over 20 years in the education's mental health arena. She has worked for the Mental Health Services in the valley and University of Alaska Anchorage. She is a member of the National Association of Persons with Disabilities and the Greater Wasilla and Palmer chamber of commerce. She is presently a board member with the Salvation Army and Valley Healthy Communities.
Since 1982, she and her husband, John, have been partners in an established engineering firm in the valley. She and her husband have been involved volunteers in this community over the last 29 years. She states “As a civic minded person it is important to be an active community member.” She noted that the rapid growth occurring in the Valley has a direct consequence to our health care services and facilities. Therefore, it is imperative to be a good steward for our valley.
She was awarded patriotic employer supporting the national committee for Employer Support of the National Guard and Reserves in 2005.
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Andy Reimer
Board Member
Andy moved to Alaska in 1975 after receiving his Bachelors degree in Biology at Humboldt State University in Northern California. He has since continued his education with an MBA from Alaska Pacific University and the Certified Financial Planner designation in 1987.
He has provided investment advice and financial planning services in the valley since 1985 as an independent advisor and Certified Financial Planner. He currently owns several ongoing business concerns in the valley in addition to his investment advisory and financial planning practice.
Andy has been a director of the Boys and Girls Club of Alaska, United Way of Mat-Su, and the Wasilla Rotary Club, serving as President for two terms of the Rotary Club and one term as President of United Way. He was also one of the first members of the predecessor to the Mat-Su Borough Economic Development Commission.
Andy and his wife, Sandi, have made the Valley their home since 1983, raising two sons here, Andy and Alex, ages 26 and 17. They enjoy all the valley has to offer and look forward to all of its potential.
Linda Conover
Board Member
Linda Conover and her husband Dale have lived in Alaska 43 years, 30 years in the Valley. Ms. Conover has a Masters Degree from University of Alaska, Anchorage and a Bachelors Degree in Education from Western Washington.
Ms. Conover has worked as a teacher, licensed insurance agent, office manager and school administrative secretary in Mat-Su Valley. Linda previously owned an educational consulting company, and is currently owner/designer of a web design business.
She would like to improve the quality of health among Mat-Su residents and has a special interest in children’s health, senior health and substance abuse. Her organizational skills, managerial experience, as well as experience running her own business, web design skills and computer skills will be an asset to the Mat-Su Health Foundation.
Jerry Troshynski
Board Member
Jerry Troshynski has lived in the Mat-Su Borough for over 16 years with his wife and children.
His field of expertise is in public health, health promotion, health and human services systems, public administration, management, community health assessment and communicable disease prevention.
He attended Mount Marty College in Yankton, SD, graduating with a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing and later attended University of Alaska Anchorage, receiving his Masters of Public Administration.
He believes that it is every citizen’s responsibility to give back to their Community and this belief resulted in numerous opportunities to serve on many boards and committees. He comes from a family of community servants and as a younger professional in Wyoming he and his wife participated in their community. His father was school board president for over 32 years in the rural Nebraska community that he was raised in. His mom was a long time city council member there. Through their example he learned how important it is for each of us to give back.
He stated “MSHF offers an opportunity to serve the community using my knowledge and particular expertise. And, this board has a unique and real opportunity to improve the health of both individuals and the community as a whole. Alaska’s health problems are serious and complex. Solutions won’t come from government alone, and often can’t be solved only through individual effort. I understand both local needs and what the research and evidence tells us about community interventions that work. I know that, while individual interventions can impact the health status of individuals, we need a population based or systems approach if we really want to change the health status of the borough.”
Jerry worked for ten years as the Mat-Su Public Health Center nurse manager. He has served on the Mat-Su Borough Community Services Block Grant steering committee, member and chair of the Mat-Su Agency Partnership, board member of the Mat-Su Recovery Center, and board member and president of the Alaska Public Health Association.
He stated “Alaska has tremendous problems with alcohol and other substances. Our leading causes of death are still cancer and heart disease, symptoms of tobacco use. We have tremendous domestic violence and child abuse issues that have up until recently been “under the radar screen”. And we have a large number of both children and adults in Mat-Su who for many reasons have no access to primary health care. What this board does, or has the potential to do, is important and can really make a difference. Perhaps I can help.”
Jerry enjoys fly-fishing, golf and other sports as well as watching high school sports (Wasilla Warriors!) and professional sports. He also enjoys reading, history, travel and family.
Scott Johannes owns Criterion General, Inc., a construction company with annual sales of approximately $40,000,000 and has owned and operated businesses in Alaska for the last 27 years. In addition, he is the owner and managing partner of several real estate development partnerships with over $30,000,000 in real estate holdings. He has successfully developed financial plans and managed budgets for a wide range of organizations: two different construction companies, 6 different real estate development partnerships, two nonprofits, a recreational sport and fitness center and many large construction projects. He has experience with youth sports from many different angles and has been involved as a parent, coach, board member, board executive and as a supporter. He is currently the board president for Community Sports, Inc.
He has been heavily involved in youth sports in the valley. In 2008 he opened the AT&T Sports Center with a stated mission to "foster community wellness through physical activity, fellowship and sports". He graduated from Tok High School. His children have or do attend Wasilla High School. He has been very active in the basketball and soccer booster program at Wasilla High as well as supported the programs and individual athletes at Colony and Palmer High School and has a great interest in the physical and social health of the youth in our valley. His personal hobbies are Basketball, Flying, Hunting and Fishing.
He stated, “The Matanuska Susitna Valley is a great place to live and raise a family. As we grow and make decisions about what life in the valley will be like, there is the opportunity to nourish what is good, work to eliminate what detracts, and develop new and exciting enhancements to what we have. The Mat-Su Health Foundation has, and can continue to be a positive influence and catalyst on these decisions.”
Sally DuClos came to Alaska in 1957 as a 20 year old to teach Mathematics in Anchorage. She had just graduated from Monmouth College in Illinois with majors in Chemistry and Education. It is in Alaska that she met and married her husband of 50 years, Paul DuClos Jr. They raised 3 sons and have 9 grandchildren all who reside in the Anchorage area.
The family spent most summer weekends boating in the Mat-Su Valley particularly at Big Lake and in 1971 they bought a cabin on this lake. Subsequently, in 1983 they built a home adjacent to the cabin with an eye to having it as a retirement home. Upon retirement, they moved permanently to the valley in 1998.
Sally was very active for 24 years as a volunteer in the Anchorage area while she raised their three boys Among those activities she organized the Greater Anchorage Cancer Crusade in 1965-1966, served as statistician for the AHA PeeWee Hockey League, as a Den Mother, served as President of the Windemere Guild of the AK Treatment Center for Crippled Children and Adults, and in many other capacities as a volunteer in the local grade school working in the library, fund raising, and even teaching reading to first graders. She further served on the Anchorage Election Commission and the Anchorage School District Health Curriculum committee. In 1983 she went back to work part-time for the U.S. Census Bureau and in 1990 was one of the administrators for the decennial supervising the enumeration of eight boroughs including the Mat-Su Borough. She eventually worked as the Administrative Assistant at the Egan Convention Center and finally helped her son open his orthodontic practices in Anchorage, Wasilla and Barrow.
As a Mat-Su Borough resident, she further volunteered with her husband to do Water Quality Management of Big Lake for five years for the Mat-Su Borough and most recently worked as an AARP Tax Aide in the valley. Contributing of their time in various ways is a way of life for the DuClos as they hope to make a positive difference in the valley community.
Richard Stryken was born and raised in Alaska and has lived in the Mat-Su Borough since the mid 1980's. He is very interested in the community's health and well being and has worked through his own businesses to try to make this community a better place to live.
Richard has years of experience in the public and private sectors where he has developed a positive collaborative and imaginative approach to developing projects and problem solving. He stresses quality, environmental sensitivity and customer satisfaction. He has done many redevelopment projects in Wasilla and Palmer—the latter earning him Palmer's 2007 Business man of the Year Award. Richard believes that in order to strive you must give. He is known for being very active in the Valley community and supports many local activities and groups.
He is also involved with Alaska Green Energy as well as other small ventures. He is a landlord and has been working to advance rental space in downtown Palmer. Recently he opened Palmer Downtown Deli located in the downtown plaza. Instead of directly competing with other restaurants in Palmer, he and his wife developed a menu that that offers more variety for restaurants in this great little town.
Richard brings a strong business background and desire to make a positive difference in his community to the MSHF Board of Directors.
Susan McCauley Board Member
Susan has lived in the Mat-Su Valley for twelve years. She was born and raised in Pennsylvania and began her career in education as a teacher in Gettysburg before relocating to Alaska and teaching in the village of Hooper Bay for four years. She then moved to the Valley and has served in administrative positions including principal of Glacier View School, assistant principal of Colony Middle School, and Director of Education for the Mat-Su School District. In April Susan accepted the principal position for the new Birchtree Charter School. Susan has a Bachelor's degree in elementary education from Penn State, a Master's degree in educational administration from Western Maryland College, and a Ph.D. in educational policy and leadership from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Through her service on the United Way Board and the Health and Social Services Board, Susan has gained an understanding of the complex health care needs facing our growing community. She and her husband Kevin Del Duca, an emergency medicine physician, live on 10 acres near Hatcher Pass with their 3 dogs.
Fred Van Wallinga Board Member
Fred grew up on a dairy farm in California. After high school his parents decided that it was time for him to leave the dairy and find out what he wanted to do with his life, and they suggested going to Alaska. He arrived here on June 10, 1960 and never went back to the dairy. He attended the University of Alaska and after having way to much fun and politely being asked to leave the University, he finally took a look at life and went back to school and received his Bachelors and Masters in education and school administration. While at UAA, he was skilled enough to play basketball for the University and it allowed him to meet friends for life. He was lucky enough to teach in Homer his first two years, and after teaching there, taught in Fairbanks and Juneau and was a principal in Craig, Juneau, and the Mat-Su, where he was the principal of Big Lake Elementary School, Wasilla High School and Taniana Elementary School. He also coached varsity boys basketball in Craig and varsity girls basketball in Juneau. The biggest lesson he learned in all those years as an educator is that you never judge a student by how they were in high school and the youth of each year will wow you with their accomplishments if given the chance. Since then, he has retired and has taught at the University level; had a real estate sign hanging business; does accreditation of schools; worked for online universities; and taught classes at Prudhoe Bay for the oil companies. In his spare time he has served on various volunteer boards: Val/Gen Medical Board and the Children's Place Board of Directors. He is now serving on the Citizens Review Board and the Children's Justice Act Task Force. He stated, "I was lucky enough to be named Chair of many of these boards and vice chair of one."
His hobbies include carving diamond willow sticks into canes, and walking sticks; gardening; reading a lot; fishing and hunting the wily moose. He stated, "I am always looking for the next adventure. The big event that takes place each year is Stick Camp. It takes place in the winter and is looked forward to each year with great expectation.
Fred and his wife Linda live in Willow and their two sons live in Manhattan. He stated, "We have yet to figure out how that happened."
William H. (Bill) Hogan is currently the Interim Dean of the College of Health at UAA. Prior to this, he was employed by the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority as a Senior Fellow working on a Substance Abuse Initiative jointly funded by the Rasmuson and Mat-Su Health Foundations as well as the Trust. He was the Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services from July 2008 until early December 2010 after serving as Acting Commissioner since May 2008. He previously served as Deputy Commissioner from September 2005 to May 2008, and as the first Director of the Division of Behavioral Health from April 2003 to September 2005.
Bill has spent over 35 years in the mental health, substance abuse, developmental disabilities and social work fields, with experience as a clinician, supervisor and administrator. He has worked for community agencies in various capacities in New York, West Virginia, Virginia and Mississippi. Before joining the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services in 2003, he was Chief Executive Officer of Life Quest (now called Mat-Su Health Services), a private, nonprofit community mental health center located in Wasilla, Alaska.
Bill holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from State University of New York @ Buffalo and a Master of Science in Social Work from West Virginia University. He has served as chair of the Alaska Mental Health Board, board member of the Alaska Community Mental Health Services Association (now the Alaska Behavioral Health Association) and Executive Director of the New York State chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.
He has presented on the issues of suicide, children's mental health, community and organizational development and behavioral health planning nationally, internationally as well as throughout the state of Alaska.
Nathan Dahl Board Member
Nathan has lived in Alaska from the time he was 16 years old and is a graduate of Colony High School. He attended the LDS Business College and focused on Business Administration.
Nathan has worked for Colony Manor Assisted Living Homes as a part owner and administrator 9 years. His focus has been to work with other health agencies in the Valley to provide the best possible care for those in need. With the opportunity to work directly with those affected by physical and mental disabilities, he has learned just how important the need is for a quality health minded community.
Nathan's involvement with the community includes eight seasons as an Assistant Football Coach for Colony High, where he is now the JV Coach. He has served as a Scoutmaster in the Boy Scouts of America, and is active in the LDS Church.
Nathan and his wife, Cami have two beautiful daughters (Alexi and Bailey). As a family they enjoy all that this community has to offer, including fishing, softball, and spending time together as a family.
Jody Simpson Board Member
Jody Simpson has served the Mat-Su Borough and local communities for many years.
She is currently a legislative aide for Alaska State Senator Charlie Huggins. During her tenure with Sen. Huggins, Jody has worked as the senator's Chief of Staff and his Senate Finance Committee Aide, and has staffed several Senate Finance subcommittees.
Jody and her husband, Steve, have lived in Big Lake since 1985. Jody was born and raised in Alaska and has raised two children here while working and volunteering her time with numerous organizations throughout the area. She was elected to two three-year terms on the Mat-Su Borough Assembly and her past and current affiliations within the Mat-Su Borough include the Mat-Su College Citizens Advisory Committee; the Mat- Su Borough Board of Ethics; the MSB/Anchorage Regional Transportation Planning Organization; Mat- Su Borough School District Budget Advisory Committee; and both the Mat-Su Borough Library Board and Wasilla Friends of the Library.
During this same time, Jody also held leadership positions with these Big Lake organizations: Community Council, Chamber of Commerce, the Elementary Parent-Teacher Association, Library Advocates, and the Regatta Association. After the Millers' Reach Fire in 1996, she was a member of the Resource Coordination Team and the Miller's Reach Relief Fund Advisory Board.
Jody has received honors for her volunteer activities, such as Alaska's "Trail Advocate of the Year" by American Trails in 2005 and the Mat-Su Borough Mayoral Proclamation for Community Service in 1996. In 1998, she was the winner of the eighth Annual Bob Grosse Big Lake Community Service Award.
Ms. Simpson holds a BA in English Literature from the University of Alaska Anchorage and is a graduate of West Anchorage High School. When not working to make a difference in her community, Jody is interested in reading, beekeeping, cooking, travel, and needlework.
