Our Team
Meet the Info Insights Team
Jamie Hansen
(she, her, hers)
Principal Consultant & Chief Executive Officer
Jamie is an economist by training with a background in data collection, evidence-based planning, and economic analysis. With over nine years of experience designing and managing research projects for Information Insights, Jamie brings a strong set of management and analytical skills to research and organizational support projects. In recognition of the quality of her work and her dedication to community, she was selected as a 2020 Top Forty under 40 by the Alaska Journal of Commerce. Jamie’s work with the firm is varied, including projects synthesizing social and economic data to craft regional strategies and tell a compelling story to federal funders, developing feasibility studies and business plans for community organizations, and supporting clean energy campaigns in Fairbanks and Juneau. She is leading the firm's grant writing work for rural infrastructure, small businesses, and energy efficiency. She is also excited to build out the firm’s research and facilitation work on clean energy and broadband infrastructure development. Prior to joining Information Insights in 2013, Jamie worked for the University of Alaska’s Center for Economic Development on several projects for businesses and nonprofits in urban and rural Alaska, including business plans and feasibility and market studies. Jamie holds an M.S. in Resource and Applied Economics from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and an M.A. in Arab Studies from Georgetown University, which she put to use working in the field of international development in the Middle East for four years. Outside of work, Jamie enjoys biking, gardening, and exploring with her husband and two young daughters.
Sue Libenson
(she, her, hers)
Consultant
Sue brings over thirty years of writing and research experience focused on Alaska and northern communities. She has worked with partners across the state, including arctic, southcentral, southeast, and western Alaskans in both rural and urban settings.
She has had the pleasure of working across cultures writing for leaders ranging from circumpolar Indigenous arctic hunters to President Jimmy Carter and authors for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Her writing and story-crafting has been featured numerous times in high-profile national and international media such as New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Economist, New Yorker, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and Journal of Commerce. She has received awards from the Advertising Federation of Alaska and Environmental Protection Agency among others for her work in Alaska and national public service campaigns and public policy investigative reports.
Sue’s past work includes technical writing and research across multiple topics including infrastructure, climate, energy, air quality, international maritime policy with a focus on the Arctic, and more. For example, a report she coordinated and authored for the Alaska Legislature addressing the burden of energy costs and prices in Alaska was selected for presentation to the International Association of Energy Economics.
Sue is a long-time resident of Haines and continues to be based there. She loves spending time outdoors, especially skiing and camping, with occasional stints as a guide and commercial fishing. Sue has never made a pie and doesn’t plan to start now.
Alyssa Quintyne
(she, her, hers)
Buildings UP Coordinator
Alyssa Quintyne is a Bajan-American community organizer, multidisciplinary artist, and musician in Fairbanks. Her grandparents and parents immigrated to the United States from Barbados in the 1980’s. Her father joined the Army, she and her parents were stationed at Ft. Wainwright in 2001, and Alyssa and her mom have been in Fairbanks ever since.
She currently focuses on community engagement, art activism, and advocacy work. She received a BA in Political Theory and Violin Performance from University of Alaska Fairbanks and has spent the majority of her professional career working in a myriad of campaigns, initiatives, and research - locally to internationally.
Alyssa focuses her community organizing on equity, access, and community resiliency. She is a founding and active leader of the Solarize Fairbanks campaign and comes to Information Insights as the coordinator for expanding these efforts through Solarize BRITE in Fairbanks and the Interior on a larger scale. She is a holistic thinker and strategist, understanding that both systems and individual actions have ripple effects. Within her work as a community organizer, she collaborates with local organizations and creatives to coalesce community exhibitions and resources in order to make creative spaces and opportunities in the Interior more equitable and accessible.
As an artist, she’s a contemporary portraitist. Her incorporation of flora, life cycles, figure, social and cultural movement art history are common themes in Alyssa's work that tie her subjects to the tangible and intangible. Alyssa is the curator of Black Alaskan Art Matters (BAAM) with exhibitions and events featured across the state.
Otherwise, Alyssa can be found playing instruments, working on art, gathering in community, or napping in her porch hammock.
Alli Harvey
(she, her, hers)
Project Consultant
An extraordinary facilitator with a passion for connecting people and supporting teams, Alli uses deep listening, analysis, and empathy to help clients identify underlying needs and design solutions. Clients consistently describe Alli’s facilitating style as effective and inclusive, generating clear action steps with buy-in from everyone and supporting positive group dynamics. Alli brings over a decade of experience working with nonprofit organizations, coalitions, businesses, and local governments on strategic planning, community outreach, stakeholder engagement, and organizational development. Her enthusiasm for working with people is sincere, and contagious.
Alli is also a skilled writer, communicator, and planner. She frequently supports clients in writing clear, compelling, story-based calls to action, whether through grant writing support, fundraising copy, written human-interest style profiles, or testimonials. Alli’s interest in facilitation dovetails with planning when it comes to strategic planning or organizational assessment. Alli works with every client individually to determine their goals, customizing a strategic planning, visioning, or assessment process that suits the need, often drawing on other areas of expertise at the firm. She then walks clients through every step until complete, keeping the process easy - and often, fun.
In addition to her work with the firm, Alli runs her small business, Alli Harvey Art, from her 19’ Airstream Mobile Art Studio, traveling across the Lower 48 with frequent trips to Alaska. She enjoys running, Scrabble, and pop culture podcasts. Alli holds a B.A. in Urban Studies from the
New School University in New York City.
Anna Sorensen
(she, her, hers)
Business & Accounting Director
Anna provides the financial and business administration oversight for the firm and serves on the firm’s Management Team. A thoughtful and detail oriented approach is the foundation of her methodology for the broad scope of work she is responsible for. Anna has accrued many years of experience in nonprofit accounting and administration. She has over a decade of nonprofit board experience that includes fiscal oversight, budget development, strategic and organizational planning, policy development, and executive hiring, oversight, and evaluation.
Her other finance credentials include experience with campaign finance reporting and operating a small bookkeeping business for 10 years. Early in her career, she worked as a legislative aide for several Alaska legislators and gained valuable experience in policy development and constituent relations.
Outside of her work with the firm, Anna owns and operates a competition events timing business in Fairbanks and enjoys skiing and mushing throughout interior Alaska. Anna holds a B.A in History from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Kerry Nelson
(she, her, hers)
Consultant
Based in Palmer, Kerry brings a unique range of skills with her, including her stellar communications and graphic design experience. Her writing style and ability to distill information into engaging, digestible stories and eye-catching imagery for a wide range of audiences greatly enhance her work across many applications. Kerry’s work at the firm is varied, but focuses on communications and outreach, graphic and report design, and data analysis and storytelling. She also loves to build and design story maps in the ArcGIS platform; one of her most notable tells the story of Alaska’s first thermalize campaign in Juneau.
Prior to her time with Information Insights, she worked with nonprofit organizations focused on food sovereignty and security, sustainable agriculture, and public education. She brings experience with community outreach and is excited to further broaden and strengthen her skills while working with nonprofits, businesses, and tribal governments.
Kerry holds a B.A. from Mount Mary University Milwaukee in Interior Design, and a B.A. from University of Wisconsin Milwaukee in Conservation and Environmental Science with a certificate in peace studies. In her spare time, she loves to get out on her road bike, hike the many mountains of the Matsu,cross country ski, bury her hands in the soil to cultivate any form of plant life, and spend time exploring Alaska with her partner.
Lizzi Makovec
(they, them, theirs)
Associate
As an Associate at Information Insights, Lizzi Makovec brings an ability to transform information into the best version of itself, providing clarity and functionality for any project. Their skill set includes effective and direct communication, significant attention to detail, and process streamlining. Lizzi's areas of focus at the firm are grants administration, logistics and organizational support, and designing and implementing online surveys. Before joining the firm, Lizzi worked a variety of positions, strengthening their core skills that are utilized across the firm. Lizzi holds a BS from University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in Sociology with additional focuses on anthropology and international studies. In their personal time, Lizzi enjoys birding, foraging, cross-country skiing, and other outdoor activities. When the weather isn’t welcoming, you’ll know they’re watching animated movies, playing board games, and probably reorganizing something. They explore Alaska in a built-out stepvan named Tank with their partner during the summer and embrace house life during winter.
Laura Grage
(she, her, hers)
Senior Associate
Laura has a background in nursing and public health in Alaska. Laura’s public health experience involves work on oral health and vaccine-preventable disease research projects. More broadly she works to understand how social and economic factors impact health outcomes, with data. Laura believes in collaborations with unique partners and has seen rich and creative outcomes develop from such work.
Prior to joining Information Insights, Laura has worked as a nurse for more than a decade in many settings from acute care, to community nursing in both Fairbanks, and rural communities.
Laura has a masters degree in public health and a bachelor's degree in nursing from the University of Alaska Anchorage. Outside of work, she enjoys nordic skiing, biking, hiking and backpacking, gardening, potlucks, and paddling.
Sonya Seniva
(she, her, hers)
Bookkeeper & Office Manager
Sonya maintains the firm's financial records, offers client and project support, and keeps the office running smoothly. She approaches her work with a laser focus and excellent organizational skills. Prior to starting at Information Insights in 2021, Sonya operated and owned her own small business for 12+ years while also acting as school teacher and domestic manager for her family. She also served in many roles in previous employment with large and small businesses and nonprofits including bookkeeping, administration, childcare, teaching, typesetting, and graphic & website design.
Life outside of Information Insights is very full with family life and responsibilities. In her spare time, she loves to read, put together large puzzles (minimum of 1,000 pieces), or pound a tune out on the piano.
Lisa Baraff
(she, her, hers)
Associate
Lisa brings a broad and varied background, a diverse skill set, and strong community connections to her role as Associate with Information Insights. She approaches her work (and life, really!) with integrity, sincerity, incredible attention to detail, curiosity, and a willingness to continually grow and learn. She loves diving into details and seeking answers that help weave together the threads of larger goals, visions, and projects.
Prior to Information Insights, Lisa had a long and circuitous “career path.” She spent nearly half of her life studying marine mammals and marine ecology from the Dominican Republic to Greenland in the Atlantic and from Peru to Utqiagvik in the Pacific and Arctic oceans. Pursuit of a master’s degree brought her to Fairbanks and Interior Alaska, with a couple of seasons of field work off of Kodiak Island. Remaining in Fairbanks eventually led to less field work and more technical, policy, and advocacy work with consulting companies, the North Slope Borough, and local nonprofit organizations.
Lisa holds a B.A. in Human Ecology from College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine and an M.S. in Marine Biology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Outside of work, Lisa frequently volunteers for local nonprofits and events, engages in community issues, and recharges at home, in the garden, and on the trails, especially during the winter, with her fur-family of Alaska huskies.
Brook Cinocco
(she, her, hers)
Senior Associate
Most often found frolicking in Southeast Alaska, Brook’s varied employment background includes busy bakeries, bustling art galleries, gillnet fishing grounds, and a local newspaper. These differing roles have all required kind, direct communication to succeed and have helped to shape the importance she places on relationship building. Most recently her efforts have been focused in the educational non-profit sector, where her project management skills have supported indigenous science-based overnight academies for middle and high school students as well as professional development workshops for educators.
Brook earned her B.S. in Natural Sciences from the University of Alaska Anchorage, with a concentration in Environmental Science and a minor in Environmental Studies. Humor and joy are key to Brook’s approach, both personally and professionally. She believes they cultivate a positive work environment and enhance the ability to work towards solutions that benefit all stakeholders. She values dynamic, creative solutions grounded in respect, simplicity, and efficiency. A lifelong Alaskan, Brook often proclaims that it is the first love of her life. Outside of her work tasks, she enjoys hiking with her canine companions, river rafting, practicing Yoga, snowboarding and laughing with loved ones.
Frana Burtness-Adams
(any pronouns)
Consultant
Frana came to Information Insights with a background in facilitation, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), leadership development, and solopreneurship. Her work with Information Insights is predominantly facilitation and project management, where she has worked in a variety of sectors including higher education, non-profit organizations, coalitions, State departments, guiding companies, and consulting networks.
Frana’s niche lies in asking thought provoking questions, approaching problem solving from different angles, creating a space for people to share and collaborate, and having a constant and continuous passion for improving Alaskans’ lives. Frana’s intent is to bring kindness, curiosity, and encouragement to every client interaction through engaged listening, asking of questions, and recognizing and honoring the trust each client gives us.
Frana is a born and raised Alaskan with life lived in both urban and rural communities. She is a founder of a leadership collective, an onboarding member for a global network of consultants, and a facilitator of white affinity spaces. She would always rather be outside and loves beading, cooking, cross country skiing, and lap swimming. She has a BA and MA from University of Massachusetts Boston in Applied Sociology and Conflict Resolution.
Betsy Young
(she, her, hers)
Project Associate
Betsy brings a variety of skills and interest in grant writing, facilitation, data management, and analysis to Information Insights. She has a variety of field experiences in the natural sciences and small group management, as well as expertise in geospatial data with experience on a variety of academic and nonprofit GIS projects. Previously she worked in environmental and outdoor experiential education and wilderness risk management all across Alaska and around the world. She has also worked for various federal forestry mapping and monitoring programs and in a variety of Alaska commercial fisheries, both biologist and crew positions. Betsy holds a B.S. in Environmental Science from Alaska Pacific University and Masters in Biology & Wildlife education with the UAF Resilience and Adaptation Program. She also operates a small business providing remotely-sensed data using drones and enjoys skiing, hiking, paddling and any kind of gardening and foraging activities with her family.
Information Insights’ staff are very well respected among partners for their inclusiveness and the respect they show others, while at the same time moving the group towards positive action and outcomes.
ADVISORS
Debbie Mowrey
(she, her, hers)
Accounting Advisor
Debbie Mowery supervised accounting and management systems at Information Insights for 20 years, providing revenue and expense forecasts and working with the management team to keep the company running smoothly. A large part of her work also included providing accounting support and conference planning services for the Alaska Public Health Association. During her tenure with the firm and in her own time, she provided accounting services to many Fairbanks-area businesses and statewide nonprofits.
Prior to joining Information Insights, Debbie worked as an accounting services specialist at Robinson & Sinz, CPA and provided accounting services and supervised administration for the Alaska Center for Children & Adults. She holds A.A.S. degrees in Business and Accounting from the University of Alaska.
Doug Toelle
(he, him, his)
Senior Advisor
Doug Toelle was a longtime owner with Information Insights, and he brought over a decade of experience in policy research, advocacy, management, and marketing to his work with Information Insights. Doug was also the founder of Third Sector Technologies.
Doug’s background includes 12 years as the Advocacy Director at Access Alaska, which is a federally recognized Independent Living Center serving older Alaskans and those living with a disability. In this position he analyzed, researched, drafted, and advocated for local, state, and federal legislation that impacted Alaska’s seniors and those with disabilities. Doug’s work with Access Alaska continues as an advisor to the organization’s Board and Executive Director.
These days Doug is a small business owner of the award-winning Running Reindeer Ranch. Doug holds a B.A. in Education from Pacific Lutheran University.
Ellen Ganley
(she, her, hers)
Senior Advisor
Ellen Ganley, Co-Founder of Information Insights, has an extensive background in public health and program evaluation. Ellen’s work at Information Insights focused on health workforce recruitment and retention, Medicaid billing, tobacco cessation, and health-related public opinion surveys. Ellen is a former member of the Alaska Alcoholic Beverage Control Board and served as President of the Alaska Public Health Association. She serves as the President of Information Insight’s Board of Directors.
Before founding Information Insights with Brian Rogers, Ellen worked as a substance abuse counselor and program administrator, a state health planner, and founded and managed an organization that conducted quality assurance reviews of human service programs. Ellen’s work on the Lost Alaskans: Morningside Hospital Project was honored with the 2011 Pathfinder Award by the Alaska Historical Society for uncovering and publishing records of Territorial Alaskans with mental illness and developmental disabilities who were institutionalized outside the state.
Ellen earned a B.A. in Anthropology and a B.A. in Urban Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh and a Master of Public Health from the University of Hawaii.
Jana Peirce
(she, her, hers)
Senior Advisor
Jana Peirce, Senior Advisor, is an experienced project manager, research analyst, and web and graphic designer who served as a Consultant and Senior Consultant with the firm for over 20 years. During her tenure with Information Insights, her work focused on economic analysis, research of all kinds, and graphic design. Jana also designed websites and helped develop public input processes and social media campaigns for many clients, including Alaska nonprofits, municipalities, and state agencies. She has conducted public meetings in over a dozen rural Alaska communities from Hoonah to (formerly) Barrow.
Prior to joining Information Insights, Jana served as the senior web developer for Third Sector Technologies and as production manager for Mushing Magazine. Jana holds a B.A. in Economics and B.A. in International Studies from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
Rick Lonn
(he, him, his)
Senior Advisor
Rick Lonn joined Information Insights shortly after its founding and is the corporate Secretary and Treasurer. For much of his career with Information Insights, he managed the Behavioral Health Mini-Grant Program and the Developmental Disabilities Mini-Grant Program through contracts with the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority. For both programs, grants are provided to Trust beneficiaries for services not covered by other funding sources.The Program Administrator is responsible for submitting grant requests on behalf of individuals and documenting the use of grant funds. Prior to working with the Trust, Rick provided technical support for MediTrack, a Medicaid online billing service.
Before working at Information Insights, Rick was a co-owner and bookkeeper of Northern Research & Planning, offering consulting services in the public health planning field. He holds a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Previous
Next