Leadership
Vivian Korthuis
CEO
“We know best how to serve our people.”
Vivian Anginran Korthuis became the Chief Executive Officer of AVCP in October of 2016. In her first year as CEO, Vivian launched an organization-wide Quality Improvement Process (QIP), to improve service delivery at the expressed request of the AVCP Executive Board and tribal delegates of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (YK Delta).
Prior to her appointment, Vivian served AVCP for 18 years in several capacities including Vice President of Programs. Before that, she worked in a leadership capacity at the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation and as a school teacher Vivian has been a lifelong advocate for the Y-K Delta region and has more than 30 years’ experience working to improve education, health care, and social services delivery within the region. Currently, Vivian serves on several boards including the Inuit Circumpolar Council Executive Board, the Alaska Federation of Natives Board of Directors, and the Yuut Elintuarviat Board of Directors.
Vivian’s Yupik name is Anginran is Yupik. She was born in Bethel and raised in Emmonak. She graduated from Mount Edgecumbe High School in Sitka, holds a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College, and a master’s in education from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Martha Whitman
CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER
Martha Whitman, Chief Administrative Officer
Martha Whitman “Tanqeralria” currently serves as AVCP’s Chief Administrative Officer (CAO). In this role, she works closely with the Executive Team and has oversight of AVCP’s administrative departments. Martha’s responsibilities include working with the Executive Board Convention Resolutions committee and ensuring a smooth administrative process across AVCP.
She has served AVCP since 2011 in a few different roles, which include: Tribal Operations Specialist, Tribal Services Director, Program Administrator, and more recently Director of Compacting. Martha is also an adjunct professor at UAF, teaching Tribal Governance classes to students in the AVCP region. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from UAF in Rural Development with a concentration in Tribal and Local Government Administration.
In her personal time, she is focused on her family of five boys and four grandchildren. She is a sports mom and can often be found cheering on her children at sporting events and especially loves time spent in nature. She enjoys living a subsistence lifestyle and working out at the gym.
Coralette Denesha Waite
GENERAL COUNCIL
Coralette Denesha Waite, General Counsel
Coralette Waite currently serves as AVCP’s General Counsel. Coralette works closely with AVCP’s Executive Board and guides the work of AVCP’s Legal Department. Coralette is a member of AVCP’s Executive Team. Coralette’s job responsibilities include managing and collaborating on advocacy priorities for AVCP, with an emphasis on public safety, MMIP, and subsistence initiatives. Coralette is originally from the island of Jamaica, where she was born and spent a large portion of her childhood. She migrated to Florida and completed her high school studies at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and her undergraduate education at Florida State University. Coralette’s family primarily resides in Florida but is no stranger to Alaska and the Y-K Delta, where her parents and siblings lived and worked for many years. Coralette has lived in Bethel and the AVCP region and has served the region since 2017 through her work with AVCP as a previous Associate General Counsel and Director of Legal Compliance and with the Alaska Court System as a former Circuit Court Magistrate Judge for Aniak, Hooper Bay, and St. Mary’s. She is a Southern Illinois University School of Law graduate, licensed to practice law in Alaska and Indiana. In her free time, Coralette loves reading non-fiction books and enjoys writing. She is a published children’s book author and plans on continuing work in publishing books to support the health and wellness of children.
Liz Pederson
CHIEF PROGRAMS OFFICER
Liz Pederson, Chief Programs Officer
Liz has been with AVCP since 2015 in several leadership roles, first as AVCP’s General Counsel and later stepping into the role of Chief Operations Officer. As the Chief Programs Officer, Liz has overseen the development of AVCP’s six division structure, a major achievement of the Quality Improvement initiative launched in 2016.
Prior to working at AVCP, Liz was the Southwest Regional Supervisor with the Alaska Public Defender Agency, overseeing both the Bethel and Dillingham Offices. In her eleven years as a public defender she represented hundreds of clients from all over the AVCP region.
Joe Martin
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Joe Martin, Chief Financial Officer
Joe Martin is serving as AVCP’s Chief Financial Officer. Before taking on this role, he spent the last four years as AVCP’s Comptroller. He is a member of AVCP’s Executive Team and oversees AVCP’s financial and accounting, grants, and compliance operations, as well as grants and compliance processing. Joe is a native Arkansan who spent four years in the US Navy during the Vietnam conflict. After service, he returned to Arkansas and graduated from the University of Arkansas with an accounting and finance degree. He is a Certified Public Accountant and holds an inactive license to practice public accounting. Out of college Joe worked for two of the “Big 4” international accounting firms, eventually going to work in industry for a variety of companies that ranged from large publicly traded NYSE and NASAQ companies, large to mid-sized privately held companies, startups, to nonprofits. His previous job responsibilities include Controller, Comptroller, Assistant Treasurer, Director of Treasurer and Taxation, Chief Financial Officer, Vice President of Finance, Senior Executive Vice President, and President. He has three daughters spread across the lower 48 and two grandchildren. He enjoys cooking, traveling, photography, hiking and the peace found only in the outdoors.