Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins to Speak at Chamber Luncheon Elaine Strelow - Alaska Day Festival Events Update

Weekly luncheons are held on Wednesday at noon. Enjoy great food, dynamic speakers, and exciting networking opportunities. Chamber luncheons are open to the public. Chamber members receive special member-only pricing.

Executive Lunch
Upgrade to the Executive Lunch and receive VIP treatment including cookies and special prize drawings.

Executive Lunch Sponsor
TBD

Menu
Seared Salmon, Basmati Rice Pilaf, Grilled Asparagas, Salad Bar

Speaker
Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins

Bio
Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins represents Sitka, Petersburg, and much of rural Southeast Alaska in the Alaska House of Representatives. At twenty-seven years old, he is the youngest member of the legislature. He cares deeply for rural Alaska and the issues its small communities face. His current legislative focuses include sustaining rural fishing economies, revitalizing Alaska Native languages, and reinstating a public process for state pesticide spraying operations.

Jonathan was born and raised in Sitka, and achieved the rank of Eagle Scout while growing up. He attended Yale College for three years before leaving school early and without a degree to run for the Alaska Legislature.
A mountaineer, Jonathan summited El Muertito, a remote volcano on the Argentine-Chilean border, the highest unclimbed mountain in the Western Hemisphere, in 2011. He also coordinated an expedition that conclusively measured two previously unmeasured peaks on the Argentina-Chile border. He spearheaded research to quantify glacial retreat on Baranof Island as a means to gauge the impact of climate change on temperate-region glaciers.
Jonathan has started three programs that inject young people and energy into Sitka. Together, they have brought well over 100 people to volunteer, work, or live in Sitka. He helped found the Sitka Fellows Program, a multidisciplinary residency that brings up-and-coming artists, scientists, and entrepreneurs from around the world to Sitka for seven weeks to work on their projects.

Last year, Jonathan was recognized by the Washington Post as one of its “40 under 40” up and comers in state and local politics.
Jonathan is also a musician. As part of a classical music trio, he has toured Southeast Alaska twice with funding awarded by the Rasmuson Foundation and has also performed as a soloist with the Juneau Symphony. Prior to the legislature, among other odd jobs, Jonathan worked as a substitute teacher, deckhand on various trollers, and interim manager of Sitka's recycling program.