Birch bark texture.

Ahtna Kanas Summer 2022

Welcome Susan Taylor and Jessica Denny to the Ahtna Board

Susan L. Taylor (Sue) was elected to an At-Large seat on the Ahtna, Inc. Board of Directors. Sue is a member of the Udzisyu (Caribou) Clan and grew up in Lower Tonsina, Alaska. She currently lives in Anchorage and has two children and two grandchildren. Her parents are the late Al and Agnes Taylor, her maternal grandparents are the late Jack and Nellie Marshall, and her paternal grandparents are the late Harry Taylor and Dessie Hunsaker.

Sue has previously served on the Ahtna, Incorporated Board and various committees. She holds an Associate of Arts degree from Prince William Sound College. She was also a student at Alaska Pacific University. Sue has primarily worked in government contracting for the last eight years of her career. She is currently serving as St. Mary’s Native Corporation Chief Executive Officer. From 2007-2019 Sue was a President of Ahtna subsidiaries Ahtna Construction & Primary Products Corporation, Koht’aene Enterprises Company, LLC, Ahtna Technical Services, Inc., and AKHI, LLC. Sue also worked for Ahtna, Incorporated early in her career, beginning as the Receptionist and leaving in 1999 as the Chief Operations Officer. No stranger to a board room, she has served on numerous boards including Copper River Native Association (CRNA), Chitina Native Corporation, AFN (alternate), Alaska Native Utilization Act for Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, and Governor’s Trails and Recreational Access for Alaska Citizens’ Advisory.

Sue’s goals are to enhance the visionary leadership of the Ahtna Board and to help move the Corporation toward a future where all Ahtna shareholders thrive. “Education gained from Ahtna Elders will be drawn upon to balance the pursuit of profits while serving the cultural and traditional needs of our people. I am also a devoted supporter of shareholder development/hiring, memorial funding, dividends and scholarships,” says Sue.


Jessica L. Denny was elected to Seat D, Cheesh’na on the Ahtna, Inc. Board of Directors. Jessica is a member of the ‘Ałts’e’tnaey (One Way People) clan and grew up in Chistochina, Alaska. She still lives in Chistochina and has three daughters. Her parents are Agnes and Tom Denny, and her grandparents are Lena and the late Jerry Charley.

Jessica holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Alaska Pacific University and a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology with a minor in Linguistics from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She has previously served as a Chistochina Enterprise and Chistochina Fun Days Board Member and Vice President & Council Member for Cheesh’na Tribal Council. Jessica is the Chief Executive Officer and Changemaker of Alaska Leadership Group, LLC, an Indigenous resource management company that specializes in gathering, organizing, and sharing traditional ways of knowing in modern spaces and on the land. She previously served as Mount Sanford Tribal Consortium’s Ahtna Language & Culture Program Coordinator and as a Freelance Cultural Contractor. She volunteers in several capacities to teach the Ahtna language and traditional skills.

Jessica’s goals are for Ahtna to continue operating in a profitable and sustainable manner, to increase local economic growth in Ahtna’s villages by encouraging small business development, and to continue investing in Ahtna’s people through education and work opportunities.