This weekend we’re celebrating two incredible, hard-working female leaders at SEACC — outgoing board chair Katie Ione Craney and incoming board chair Natalie Watson!
Katie Craney joined the SEACC board in 2019 and stepped into the board chair role after the departure of Wrangellite Stephen Todd in early March of 2020. Katie has done an exceptional job of leading the SEACC board and supporting our staff through the pandemic, which began just a week after she stepped into her first board leadership role. I’ve deeply appreciated Katie’s calm rationalism and steady hand over the last two years. She has been a sounding board through some extremely challenging moments in human history and I will miss spending time with her virtually during our weekly check-ins.
After helping SEACC navigate the tumultuous seas of 2020 and 2021, Katie is stepping down from both the chair and the board to focus on her art. She is one of the 2021 recipients of a prestigious Rasmuson Foundation Project Award for a study examining human sight and hearing. To find out more about Katie’s body of work, check out her website, or follow her on Instagram at @decipheringchange.
Thank you for all you have done for SEACC, Katie!
Following Katie’s departure, we’re now welcoming our new board chair, Natalie Watson, with gratitude and excitement.
Natalie grew up in Juneau and, after traveling the world, returned to town in 2016 to be closer to family, nature, and clean air. Natalie works at AWARE, which provides shelter and supportive services to survivors of domestic or sexual violence, here in Juneau. An experienced nonprofit leader and team member, we’re incredibly grateful to have Natalie stepping into the board chair role at this time of transformation for the workplace — for nonprofits and for SEACC. Natalie has been a member of the board since 2017 and most recently collaborated closely with Katie as part of our two-person board chair/vice-chair leadership team. Thank you, Natalie, for your leadership. We look forward to working with you in the years ahead!
Interested in joining our board yourself? We’d love that!
SEACC is about to begin a process of recruiting more people to help to steward the organization during the years ahead. The SEACC board is seeking new board directors committed to doing the work to uplift our shared values around justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion, and is particularly seeking to recruit members of underrepresented groups who have strong ties to our organization, mission, and vision.
The process will begin with a get-to-know-you and info session in late October.
Seem like a good fit? Shoot an email to Conor Lendrum, our Development and Outreach Associate, at conor@seacc.org to express interest in the board and learn more about our process, or to nominate someone who you think would be a great fit for our team! Have questions, or wanna chat? Reach out to Conor to set up a time to touch base on all your board-related questions.
And our warmest thanks, again, to Katie and Natalie for their leadership and care. Without you, we could never have become the organization we are today.
