Tuesday, June 9 – Walking to Connect

9:45-10:00 AM             Connect to Zoom

10:00-10:10 AM           Welcome & Introduce Ana Lucaci & Nicole Huguenin — Doug Osborne

Doug Osborne, M.A., works as a Health Educator at the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC). He is President of the Sitka Cycling Club and a League of American Bicyclist League Certified Instructor. Since 2004 Doug has been promoting walking and biking as an economical and environmentally responsible way to simultaneously meet needs for transportation, physical activity, and fun … all in one.

10:10-10:55 AM           Engaging Communities Through Walking — Ana Lucaci, MPH

Ana Lucaci, MPH, has used walking as a means of transportation for many years, particularly while growing up and working in Romania. After a pedestrian/car crash, she became a walking advocate, helping others experience walking as a means of staying healthy and speaking out to make walking accessible and safe for all. She is a core-owner of Walk2Connect Cooperative, founder of Made2Walk and a mentor in the 2020 Walking College program. Ana is a member of the American Public Health Association, and a Commissioner on the City of Longmont’s Planning and Zoning Commission. Ana is a specialist in Pedestrian Safety, Walking for Health, Public Health and Urban Design. Click this link to hear Ana interviewed on the Health Chat program on KCAW-Raven Radio on Sunday, May 31, in Sitka.

Walk2Connect is an innovative, socially-focused cooperative that envisions strong, resilient, and healthy communities that are rooted in connection to others, the places they call their own, and to themselves. Through connection-focused walking, communities become resilient voices that advance the importance of their own health, connection to their own community, walkable community design, and their unique pedestrian/mobility experience that eventually leads to increased physical activity.

10:55-11:40 AM           Kodiak Walks Story (AK example) — Nicole Huguenin

Nicole Huguenin is a former high school teacher turned generosity entrepreneur. She’s a community organizer, meaning she’s involved in a lot of efforts that liberate, regenerate, and recalibrate how we bring more good into the world. Some of her initiatives and projects include, Walk2Connect Co-op, the Trailer of Trash, Dream Together Crew, The Teacher Village, Chilis on Wheels. In 2015, she walked with a different person every day and her favorite walks are a mile in your shoes and glow-in-the-dark dance walks.

Learn more about how Walk2Connect’s Kodiak Walks chapter started, program events throughout the years, and local stories of increased physical activity and connection. The Kodiak Walks program is a partnership between Walk2Connect and the Kodiak Area Native Association.

11:40-11:50 AM            Chat Room ‘Engaging Communities’ & ‘Kodiak Walks’ — Doug Osborne

Introduce Sarana Schell  — Doug Osborne

11:50 AM-12:05 PM           AARP Community Challenge Grants – Make Positive Ripples! —Sarana Schell, MA 

Sarana Schell was born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska, where she grew up cross-country skiing, riding horses, taking summer river boat rides, hiking, biking and generally enjoying being outside. After working in journalism for almost seven years, she worked for 12 years with the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services as a public information officer. She is now the associate state director of communications for AARP Alaska, and is excited to share information and resources to help Alaska communities boost their daily physical activity and livability quotient. Sarana has a bachelor’s degree in biology and foreign languages (French and Russian) from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Apply to be a spark for physical activity in your community! AARP offers grants in several categories to promote livable communities – namely, to make our communities more conducive to getting around by person-power for fun, necessity and profit (i.e., biking to work, walking to the grocery store, playing Frisbee golf). How organizations propose making personal mobility safer and more accessible can range from small-scale and low-tech to larger scale and high-tech (simple trail signage to data-mapping). This talk will give examples of past grant projects, large and small, in communities around the state and encourage you to dream up ways AARP could help you spark positive change in your community.

12:05-12:15 PM           Wrap up Day 1 — Review Today, Preview Tomorrow, Chat Room — Doug Osborne