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Wesley James Furlong is a Senior Staff Attorney at the Native American Rights Fund. Wess practice primarily focuses on protecting Indigenous cultural resources and traditional cultural places and landscapes. Much of this work involves representing Tribal Nations, Tribal consortia and organizations, and Native Hawaiian organizations in large-scale and highly controversial natural resource development and infrastructure projects throughout Alaska, the Lower 48, and Hawai'i. Wes's practice also includes defending Tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, repatriation, environmental and natural resources law, voting rights and redistricting, and subsistence rights. Wes grew up outside Seattle, Washington, and lives in Anchorage with his wife Carrie and their dog Skadi.

Slides - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/hrnitfn9xv1lpqocr5qhe/AUUF-Presentation_Furlong.pdf?rlkey=riu56d81lnibyxk9fe0vqzpq3&dl=0

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Willie Hensley is an Alaska statesman and Native Elder. He was instrumental in the creation of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, which became law in 1971. He is a co-founder and currently serves as Chair of the First Alaskans Institute. Willie served as Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Department of Business and Public Policy at UAA. He also helped found, and headed, both the Alaska Federation of Natives, and the Northwest Alaskan Natives Association (NANA), an ANCSA regional corporation encompassing his home community of Kotzebue. Willie received his high school diploma from a boarding school in Tennessee, attended the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, and graduated from George Washington University with a degree in Political Science. Months after he graduated, he was elected to the Alaska State House of Representatives, where he served from 1967 to 1970. He also served twice in the Alaska Senate. His book, Fifty Miles from Tomorrow: A Memoir of Alaska and the Real People, recounts his childhood growing up in rural Alaska and his journey as an Alaskan politician and native rights activist. Willie and his wife, Abbe, have six children and fourteen grandchildren.

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Anna Taylor is the Executive Director at the Alaska Institute for Justice. She started working with AIJ as a staff attorney in March 2014 at the Juneau office. In February of 2018, she moved to the Anchorage office. Since joining AIJ, Anna has helped clients get U visas, as victims of crime; T visas, as survivors of human trafficking; green cards, as survivors of domestic violence; and asylum, as survivors of persecution. She regularly does presentations on working with immigrant survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking. Anna graduated from the Washington College of Law at American University. She spent five months representing detained immigrants in Harlingen, Texas, at the South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project (ProBAR), then moved to Juneau to work for AIJ. She received her bachelor's degree from the University of Vermont, majoring in anthropology and history. She enjoys exploring the trails around Anchorage with her retired sled dog.

Slides - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/6ndjvz0b3fasovu9jaqm6/UU-3.8.2026.pdf?rlkey=y2h6w1df4c0io5i3wsu3a9cjs&dl=0