Prior to her university service, Graham was appointed by Governor Sean Parnell as
Assistant Commissioner for the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic
Development. In that capacity, she directed the Divisions of Economic Development
and Community and Regional Affairs. She was responsible for the department’s work
on Arctic economic development including infrastructure development. She chaired the
Statewide Broadband Task Force, and served on the boards of the Alaska Housing Finance
Corp. and the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. She also handled the management
of department communications, managed tourism-related marketing and assisted with
legislative initiatives.
In 2009, Graham served as the special assistant for public affairs in the Office of
the Federal Coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects [OFC] in Washington,
D.C. She handled day-to-day public affairs for the Federal Coordinator including the
development of communication strategies, speech writing and industry outreach efforts.
She is a Senior Fellow at the Institute of the North and coordinated the creation
of the Warming Arctic Symposium convened by the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy/Tufts
University. Graham was a member at Alaska Pacific University Board of Trustees and
also served on the Board of Advisors to the Harvard Public Diplomacy Collaborative.
Prior to her tenure in public service, Graham was the CEO of the public relations
and public policy firm of Bernholz & Graham, Inc. with offices in Anchorage and New
York City. As agency CEO, she was the lead strategist in designing and implementing
campaigns for the agency’s myriad clients. She also enjoyed a freelance writing career
for TIME magazine and other publications.
Graham holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and an interdisciplinary minor
in U.S. – Canadian Relations from Michigan State University, East Lansing, as well
as a Master’s Degree in International Relations, with an emphasis on public diplomacy
from The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts.
