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Brenda Holden

Senior Consultant - Fairbanks

Brenda brings expertise in the areas of group facilitation, conference and event planning, project management, training, nonprofit and volunteer management. She holds an M.A. in Community Education and a B.A. in Home/Community Service.

Recent facilitations include several meetings of Tanana Chiefs Conference and the Tanana Chiefs Conference Health Department, Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly planning retreat, Catholic Schools of Fairbanks, regional FAS Summits, and several nonprofit board and/or staff retreats. She provided planning and logistics support for the Alaska Tobacco Summit on behalf of the Alaska Tobacco Control Alliance, and the Alaska Health Summit on behalf of the Alaska Public Health Association. She conducted evaluation of the Statewide Mentoring Demonstration Project, telephone interviews for statewide and local research projects, and conducted focus groups for Tanana Valley Campus.

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The most recent project coordination was the banner project. Banners representing Interior villages, designs from each village and local sponsorships are displayed at the Fairbanks Airport. In 2003, Brenda finished a two year term chairing the Borough's Health and Social Service Commission.

Prior to working for Information Insights, Brenda served as the school district's Coordinator of Family and Community Involvement. As the Volunteer Action Center Director for the United Way, she consulted with nonprofits, schools and civic organizations on aspects of organizational development and community involvement, developed volunteer management systems for a variety of projects and programs, won national recognition for a volunteer recognition media campaign, and facilitated meetings and retreats for nonprofits and civic organizations.

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Our Approach

We know that information is everywhere, but insight is not. We approach projects by forming teams of highly skilled and professional staff working in an open office environment that allows us to draw on our collective expertise in:

  • Alaska public policy
  • public health
  • housing
  • education
  • energy policy
  • economics
  • public finance
  • process facilitation
  • community development
  • organizational development

One of our strengths is our breadth of experience with different organizations. We have completed over 450 engagements in twelve years of consulting for local, state and tribal governments, Alaska Native organizations, and a wide cross section of nonprofit and for-profit companies throughout the state.

Our experience allows us to design a project or process to reach the client’s unique objectives. We never use a cookie cutter solution. A high proportion of our clients return to us because of this ability and commitment.

Being a family friendly workplace is a key component of our corporate culture. In 2005, we were awarded a “Family Friendly Workplace Award” by the Fairbanks North Star Borough Early Childhood Development Commission.

If you have questions, please contact us.

Recent Projects

ProjectClient
Ch’eghutsen’ Phase IIFNA
AK DHSS OCS Citizen Review Panel IIAK DHSS OCS
Conference of Young Alaskans 2009UA
Doyon Ltd Management Consulting
AK Club Facilitation
AK DOT Scenic By-Ways Communication PlanAK DOT
Mini-Grant Program AdministrationAMHTA
AMHS Long-term Operations ModelUA UAF MIRL
TCC CP Report PreparationTCC
Doyon Web Template Design
CCHRC Weatherization DatabaseCCHRC
ANTHC Sanitation Subsidy WhitepaperANTHC
Fairbanks Compass Update
BBBS Business PlanBBBS of AK
ALPHA Business Services
View All Projects »

Information Insights' Staff

Barb BrantonCoordinator907.450.2462Email
Brenda HoldenSenior Consultant907.450.2452Email
Brian RogersCo-founder and Former Principal Consultant907.474.7112Email
Cady ListerSenior Consultant907.272.5074Email
Chris RogersConsultant907.450.2463Email
Debbie MowreyAccountant907.450.2457Email
Ellen GanleyCo-founder, CEO and Principal Consultant907.450.2454Email
Indra ArriagaSenior Consultant907.272.5074Email
Jana PeirceSenior Consultant907.450.2482Email
Nancy LoweProject Coordinator907.450.2458Email
Rick LonnGrant Admin, Consultant907.450.2484Email
Sherry ModrowVP, Senior Consultant907.450.2450Email
Susan PruittAccounting Technician907.450.2488Email
Sylvan RobbSenior Consultant907.450.2456Email

News

First day for UAF’s new Chancellor

July 1st, 2008

Brian Rogers began his two-year interim appointment as Chancellor of the University of Alaska Fairbanks today with a message on the Chancellor’s web page and a lemonade social for faculty, staff and students on the lawn of the Chancellor’s residence on campus. Brian and Sherry will move into the Chancellor’s residence later this month. Information Insights’ staff wish Brian the best in this new endeavor. Our loss is UAF’s gain.

Brian Rogers named UAF’s Interim Chancellor

April 25th, 2008

Information Insights Principal Consultant and CFO Brian Rogers has been named the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Interim Chancellor. He will be stepping down from his position at Information Insights to take the two year position, replacing outgoing Chancellor Steve Jones.

In a press release, University of Alaska President Mark Hamilton said of his choice for the position, “Brian’s background in management and finance at the statewide level and as a former regent and state lawmaker make him particularly well-suited for the interim chancellor position. Ultimately, I chose Brian because I believe he’ll do the best job leading this institution.”

Hamilton said the two-year period is necessary to ensure the interim chancellor can fully focus on the 2010 budget process, already under way. It also allows for flexibility to conduct a national search, a process that can take up to a year to complete.

Brian attended UAF himself from 1970-72. As a student, he served as editor of UAF’s student paper, the Polar Star, for fall 1972, and ran a lemonade truck, the Lemon Tree, on campus during the summers of 1971-73. He dropped out of UAF but later went on to attend Trinity College and Brown University, then received a Masters of Public Administration from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Brian was elected to the State House in 1978, and served as chair of the House Finance subcommittee on the UA budget from 1979 to 1981, and was a member of the same in 1982. He was Budget Director at UA from 1984 to 1987, and Vice President for Finance from 1988 to 1995. He served on the UA Board of Regents from 1999 to 2007, and was its chair for 2004, 2005 and 2006. Of these roles, he says, “I’ve been committed to higher education throughout — there is a thread that connects them all. Each had an influence on my ability to do this job [as interim chancellor].”

Brian says he is excited to serve an institution he’s been involved with now for four decades. He said he intends to solicit ideas and involvement from faculty, staff, students and the communities UAF serves. Though there is a limited amount that an interim chancellor can accomplish, Brian believes he can effectively make an impact on connecting campuses to the communities they serve in the next two years.

“I’ll rely heavily on UAF’s outstanding faculty to ensure we maintain our high standards in research, teaching and public service,” Brian said. “UAF is a complex enterprise, with an amazing diversity of faculty and staff. I plan to work with these groups to ensure we receive the financial and community support needed for the quality education and workforce training our students deserve. Our state, nation and world also depend on the important research conducted here, in a wide variety of disciplines, including energy and global climate change, the biological sciences and many other areas specific to the circumpolar north.”

He cites his work in his 12.5 years at Information Insights as particularly valuable to his new position for the experience it has given him in working with many stakeholders and understanding a variety of information flows.

New Senior Consultant, Indra Arriaga

March 1st, 2008

Indra Arriaga joined Information Insights as a Senior Consultant on March 1st, 2008. She holds an MA in Political Science from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas. Prior to joining Information Insights, Indra supervised the Division of Community and Regional Affairs, Research and Analysis section, under the State of Alaska, Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development (DCCED).
While at DCCED, Indra was responsible for community information systems and analysis on a wide range of topics, from demographics to the impacts of the high cost on energy on communities, and state level industry dynamics. Indra’s work experience includes working as an equity research analyst for investment boutique firms in San Francisco in the area of semiconductor capital equipment and software infrastructure. Indra arrived in San Francisco while still a graduate student with previous research experience working as a teaching assistant abroad, working out of the British Museum Library, London; she also spent a year in Mexico conducting proprietary research in the area of changing land ownership and its affects on the social and political fabric of rural communities.