About Us

Veronica A. Slajer - Community and Government Relations Advisor
Ms. Slajer started North Star Group in 2002. The former in-house Alyeska Pipeline Service Company lobbyist, Ms. Slajer helped promote the 30-year extension of the federal right-of-way for the Trans-alaska Pipeline, and worked in tandem with other company representatives, key regulators and trade associations to improve the industry's outreach to the public. Ms. Slajer also worked for the State of Alaska in several key posts including the staff director of the Rural Governance Commission, assistant to the commissioner of Commerce and Economic Development and legislative aide to the house majority leader. She also provided consulting services to many rural communities over the years, including the City of Kotzebue, Community of Saxman and the Bristol Bay Borough. Ms. Slajer was raised in Ketchikan, Alaska and received her degree in business administration from California Lutheran University. Ms. Slajer is active in her community of greater Washington, D.C. as a member of the Fairfax Trails and Streams. Ms. Slajer is also the treasurer for the Alaska Native Arts Foundation, a non-profit that promotes arts for the preservation of culture in rural Alaska, and serves on the board of The Nature Conservancy of Alaska.

Karl Ohls - Policy Analyst
Before Mr. Ohls joined the North Star Group as a senior policy advisor, he worked in a variety of key positions in Alaska state government and the nonprofit sector. He was a special assistant for jobs and the economy in the Office of the Governor, a special assistant to the Commissioner of the Alaska department of Labor and Workforce Development, a program manager for the Division of Trade and Development in the Alaska Department of Commerce and Economic Development, a fisheries development specialist for the Bering Sea Fishermen's Association, and a legislative aide for the Alaska State Senate. A former journalist, he also worked for the Alaska Public Radio Network, the Alaska Fisherman's Journal, KTOO-TV in Juneau, and the Anchorage Times. Mr. Ohls also provided consulting on northern policy issues in the Washington, D.C. Mr. Ohls was raised in Anchorage, Alaska, where his parents still reside. He studied English and communications at Alaska Methodist University and the University of Puget Sound.

Mary E. Hiratsuka - Management Associate
Ms. Hiratsuka is Yupik, and was born and raised in Dillingham, Alaska. She recently completed her Bachelors of Arts degree at Dartmouth College with a major in Native American Studies and a minor in Moral Philosophy. Upon graduation, she was awarded a post-graduate fellowship to conduct research on the role of Inuit languages within contemporary Greenlandic society. While on her fellowship she shared her experiences with Dillingham and the greater region by writing a bi-monthly column for the Bristol Bay Times and the Arctic Sounder.

Priscilla Naungagiaq Hensley Holthouse - Research & Writing Associate
Priscilla Naungagiaq Hensley Holthouse has provided writing and editorial assistance for the North Star Group team since 2007. A graduate of the University of Alaska Anchorage with an interdisciplinary degree in dance and anthropology, Ms. Hensley is a writer and artist with a commitment to Alaska and Alaska Native life, people and communities. Her previous work includes serving in the Public Information Office at the Alaska Native Medical Center/Tribal Health Consortium, several years as a Research Associate with the Alaskool.org project at UAA's Institute of Social and Economic Research, and time as Development Director and interim Executive Director with the Alaska Native Arts Foundation. A NANA shareholder, Ms. Hensley currently lives in Montgomery, Alabama.

Victoria Barber - Research Associate
Victoria Barber has provided research, communications materials and logistics support for the North Star Group Team since 2005, leading the in-take team for the first-ever Alaska Marketplace and contributing articles to the North Pacific Marine Report. Ms. Barber graduated from the University of Victoria, BC, with degrees in literature and journalism. Ms. Barber is a fourth-generation Alaskan who was born and raised in Anchorage, where she currently resides.

Christine Peters - Consulting Senior Associate
Christine Peters provides research and client assistance for the North Star Group. Previously, Ms. Peters worked with Northwest Strategies, an Anchorage-based advertising, marketing and public relations firm. In 2005, Ms. Peters worked with the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and the Alaska Native Arts Foundation to coordinate the Alaska Native Arts & Culture Festival in Washington, D.C. In May 2007, Ms. Peters joined the marketing department of Integrated Concepts and Research Corporation (ICRC). ICRC, formerly a subsidiary of Koniag Development Corporation, is a diversified technical services company serving the government market in areas such as aerospace engineering, military vehicle technology and transportation infrastructure.

Ms. Peters was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska. She is Tlingit Indian and a shareholder of Koniag, Inc. Ms. Peters earned her bachelors degree in communications, with an emphasis in advertising from Washington State University.