Our Team
Executive Director
Serena Fitka
Serena ‘Cuucitcuar’ Alstrom is Yup’ik and grew up in St. Mary’s. Her parents are William and Hilda (Heckman) Alstrom of St. Mary’s, paternal grandparents are the late Fred and Domitilla (Afcan) Alstrom of St. Mary’s, and maternal grandparents Tommy and Martina (Sipary) Heckman of Pilot Station. Serena and her family currently live in Valdez, Alaska.
Serena and her family have a strong connection to the Yukon River; both with the resources and the people who rely on them. Serena enjoys passing on her traditional knowledge to her 3 daughters. She graduated from the University of Alaska Fairbanks with a degree in Business Administration with Leadership Distinction.
Professionally, Serena has worked for Yupiit of Andreafski Tribal Government, Tanana Chiefs Conference, and Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium with extensive experience in non-profit, grant, and program management.
Serena enjoys fishing, camping, hunting, and basketball. When you don’t find her enjoying the outdoors she is likely beading and skin sewing.
Anthropologist
Catherine Moncrieff
She has been grateful for the enriching opportunity to work with YRDFA and Yukon River fishers since April 2002. Her first project was wrapping up YRDFA’s original Traditional Ecological Knowledge of Salmon project.
Since then Catherine has become the staff Anthropologist and her main goal is to help Yukon River fishers have a stronger voice in management of their fishery. Her previous work with the Anchorage Waterways Council introduced her to urban people who love rivers. The UAA Institute of Social and Economic Research took her to Kotzebue and Selawik, Alaska for a Living Conditions study during her work for her Master’s degree in Applied Cultural Anthropology from the University of Alaska, Anchorage (UAA). She also has a Bachelor of Science in Cultural Geography and Ecosystems from the University of Oregon.
Catherine lives in Girdwood with her fiancé and two teenagers. When not at work, you can find her on the slopes of Alyeska or hiking, biking, boating, or enjoying the great outdoors.
Project Manager
Rachael Kangas
Communications Manager
Mike McIntyre
Mike “Aucukuaq” McIntyre is Yup’ik who grew up in Eek, Alaska and moved to Bethel when he was very young. His parents are John and Agnes McIntyre. His grandparents are the late Tom and Elena McIntyre from Eek, Alaska; Julia and the late George Nevak from Toksook Bay, Alaska. Mike has recently moved to the Mat-su Valley to be closer to his family and new baby.
Growing up in and around the Kuskokwim River, commercial and subsistence fishing since he was a toddler. Mike has a close connection to salmon, growing up in the summertime at fishcamp helping his parents and grandparents fish, cut and smoke their most prized salmon strips.
Mike has been working in the Information Technology & Communications field for the past 20 years. Creating media through graphic design, publications, photography and videography, creating electronic form processes, developing websites and developing social media for organizations.Outside of work, Mike has been making art with Yup’ik mask carving, painting canvas, creating music and writing songs in Yup’ik for his band Frozen Whitefish.
Environmental Specialist
James Van Lanen
Finance Manager
Jo Ryan
Jo Ryan enjoys working with numbers and solving problems. While in the US Navy, she held a top secret security clearance and studied cryptology (numbers and codes) under the Commander In Chief of the Pacific and was awarded several commendations and was honorably discharged. Jo earned a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Finance from the Pennsylvania State University and a Master's Degree in Business from Texas A&M University.
Integrity within an organization is of utmost importance. Jo's experience includes: private, not for profit, and large corporations. "It is a passion to work remotely out of my current small village of Trapper Creek, and that is how I was led to YRDFA. I am originally from a small village and feel most comfortable outdoors, Alaska makes that easy. In addition to hunting and fishing, she enjoys traveling, meeting people and learning about other cultures and traditions. My goal is to leave a sprinkle of joy wherever I go. I am a lifelong learner on an amazing journey and am grateful for my current opportunity to contribute to the success of the goals of the Yukon River Drainage Fisheries Association as their Finance Manager."
Community Based Monitoring Project Coordinator
Grace Kirkey
Grace has lived all over the country but has spent much of her life in Alaska. She now resides on Dena'ina lands, calling Anchorage her home. Grace pursued studies in fisheries and aquaculture in Washington State before returning to Alaska, where she worked on a temperature network project focused on understanding the effects of temperature on salmon populations.
Grace has also spent time in Bristol Bay participating in the commercial fishery and taking part in state enhancement programs. She has enjoyed the opportunity to participate in many fisheries.
Fishing has always been a passion for Grace, rooted in her upbringing and continuing today as a cherished pastime. Beyond the riverbanks, she finds joy in trail running during the summer months and cross-country skiing the rest of the year.
Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) Technician
Jadon Nashoanak
Jadon ‘Qanikcaq’ Nashoanak is Yupik and Koyukon Athabascan. His family is ancestrally from the villages of Huslia, Stebbins, and St. Mary’s. He was raised in Fairbanks and currently resides in Anchorage. Jadon is currently attending the University of Alaska Anchorage studying to get his Bachelor’s of Science in Computer Science.
While working at the Morris Thompson Cultural Center, he learned how to process fish and how to prepare traditional meals. Being raised in Alaska, he grew up berry picking and would subsistence fish for Chinook and Sockeye salmon from the Copper River and going to Valdez for Coho salmon in the Fall. He would follow up the fishing season with moose hunting with his family.
Jadon’s role within the association is to go to various communities along the Yukon River and interview elders on their traditional knowledge of the salmon that make their way up to Canada and archiving this traditional knowledge through archives, so future generations can know the ways our grandparents caught and harvested salmon.
Field Technician
Matthew Lohrstorfer
Policy Coordinator
Olivia Hanaayee Irwin
Olivia Henaayee Irwin (Iñupiaq/Koyukon Athabascan) is the daughter of the late James Timony Irwin of Nenana, Alaska and the late Gretchen Sumpter Irwin. Her grandparents are the late Jack Irwin and late Jennie Suckik of Allakaket and Nenana, Alaska and the late Daniel Sumpter and Rebecca Hoover. Olivia goes by her English name as well as her Denaakk'e name, Henaayee (pronounced hen-aa-he) which means "the story teller".
Olivia spent her early childhood in her home village of Nenana, Alaska before moving to her mother’s home state of Missouri to complete grade school. After high school Olivia attended Pomona College in Claremont, California where she received her bachelors of art degree in Indigenous Studies in 2020. Following college Olivia moved home to Nenana, Alaska, resumed practicing our ways of life, and began her activism career.
In 2020 she began working for Alaska Native non-profits supporting the advancement of traditional ways of knowing and providing regulatory and policy analysis. In 2024 Olivia founded H.I. Impact, LLC through which she consults Native non-profits on topics relating to natural resource policy and hunting & fishing regulations. Olivia serves as the Co-Chair of the Minto-Nenana Fish & Game Advisory Committee advancing local and statewide issues through the creation of regulations and by testifying at the Board of Game, Board of Fish, North Pacific Fisheries Management Council, Federal Subsistence Board, and legislative hearings that relate to hunting and fishing. Outside of advocating, Olivia enjoys practicing our ways of life through processing fish, moose hunting, learning to tan moose hides, working at summer culture camps, beading, berry picking, and creating digital art.
Executive Assistant
Alitha McCarthy
Alitha McCarty is Koyukon Athabascan from Ruby and Hughes. She’s lived in Ruby all her life with her family. Her life revolves around her son Sidney McCarty and furbaby Phoenix. Her parents are the late Esther McCarty (Hughes) and Patrick McCarty (Ruby). Her paternal grandparents were the late William and Marie McCarty. Her maternal grandparents were the late Arthur and Alice Ambrose.
Alitha went straight to work after high school, working as a Teacher's Aide at M.A.K. School in Ruby for 5 years. She has been working at the Ruby Tribal Council for 20 years. During this time, she held the Education/Employment Director, Tribal Enrollment, and Administrative & Bookkeeping Assistant positions. While working, she received her Associates Degree in Tribal Management at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Alitha completed and received certificates from the Doyon Leadership Training and the Tanana Chiefs Conference Leadership for Results Training. Throughout her years of working, she took the opportunity to further her education by attending various trainings and conferences in education, human resources, bookkeeping and tribal enrollment.
Alitha and her family enjoy living a traditional, cultural and a subsistence lifestyle. Although Alitha isn’t fluent in Denaakke language she can moderately read, write and speak it. She had written and sang her first Native song in honor of her late mother when her memorial potlatch was held. Her favorite times are spent hunting, beading, cooking and fishing along the Yukon river with her family.
Edeyeedaaleelgots “hold on to your spirit, be calm within yourself”