Dear Alliance Members,

It is with great privilege and heartfelt excitement that I introduce myself as your new Coordinator. The journey to this role has been both affirming and humbling, and I am profoundly inspired by the extraordinary commitment, energy, and passion each of you brings to building healthy communities. Your dedication is truly rare and transformative.

The Alliance is unlike any other space I’ve encountered. The innovative, collaborative, and boundary-pushing work here has been deeply moving to learn about. With a decade of experience in non-profit program management centering indigenous rights and most recently directing programs for ocean access and regenerative economic development in Prince William Sound and beyond, I am driven by a passion for listening, navigating complex challenges, and offering tangible support to the remarkable work happening within our communities.

My goal is to provide a level of service, transparency, and accountability that will strengthen our collective power and amplify our impact, both individually and statewide. This Alliance is yours and ours—we are here to engage with people and communities as partners, to promote wellness, and to prevent the harms associated with excessive alcohol use in Alaska.

I am deeply proud to join you in this meaningful work and am eager to get to know each of you better. I look forward to understanding how I can best support all our efforts and to building upon the powerful foundation we have together.

Let’s connect! Whether you’ve been with the Alliance from the beginning, are new like me, or fall somewhere in between, I am eager to listen, learn, and share with you: tbobrycki@recoveralaska.org. I am dedicated to understanding our current needs and goals and promise to offer clarity and support in our work moving forward.

In service and solidarity,

Tesia

Tesia Bobrycki

tbobrycki@recoveralaska.org

Cordova, AK | s/v Brise

P.S. Thank you to everyone who has already shared their experiences and feedback with me over the past few weeks and with the team over this last year. Your insights are invaluable as I take on this role. And a special and heartfelt thank you to Sara for her steadfast leadership during this challenging transition.

Network Updates: Strategic Design Workgroup

Members Tom Begich and Sarah Sledge supported the Strategic Design Workgroup to create the Navigation Graphic, "Where Do I Fit In," that will be used to support for new and existing Alliance Members on the website for the Alliance. Workgroup members, Karen Zeman and Katie Cornwall have been working on collecting feedback from Alliance Members to identify potential barriers to participating in the Alliance. Workgroup members, Linda Daney, Eva Gregg, and Aaron Osterback are currently working on recruitment for new Alliance members for regions that are lacking representation.

In the last workgroup meeting, members reviewed the workgroup summary and charter and decided that the workgroup summary needs to be changed to describe the workgroup in its current capacity. The workgroup charter is also being reviewed for changes and updates so that it can be incorporated into the "Where Do I Fit In" Navigation Graphic for the website.

About The Alliance

The Alliance is a collaborative effort of multiple and diverse partners across Alaska who recognize the impacts of alcohol misuse on individuals and communities. We are personally and professionally committed to working together to address this complex problem in our state.

Our primary goal is to connect and engage communities as partners — increasing protective factors, reducing risk factors, and changing social norms — to prevent underage alcohol use and eliminate adult misuse in Alaska.

Alliance Materials

• The Alliance's common agenda
• The Alliance's grounding document
• The Alliance's Resource Page
• The Alliance's network member portal
• Materials for new network members

Get Involved

Between starting new work and sustaining our progress, there are many opportunities to participate in The Alliance! All current workgroups are open to any member who would like to join. You can always read more about our workgroups and their purpose on the Get Involved page of our website. Our network practices an emergent strategy, and we update information based on our network's needs.

• The Communications/Social Norms Workgroup will be supporting the social norms campaign and The Alliance's various other internal and external communications needs. The Comms Workgroup meets on the second Tuesday of each month from 1-2 pm.
• The Data and Learning Workgroup will be supporting data equity conversations and practices.
• The Evaluation and Learning Workgroup is where members can participate in developing and overseeing the process of reflecting on the work of the network to identify what is working well and where more attention may be needed so we can continue to develop and grow.
• The Strategy and Design Workgroup builds structures and processes for the network to work in alignment with our values and theory of change.

You are welcome to ask questions about those workgroups or to ask to join any of them.

If you would like to submit content for The Alliance newsletter, please email Tesia at tbobrycki@recoveralaska.org and Blaze Bell at bbell@recoveralaska.org.