about us
PRINCIPAL
DIANNE BLUMER
“The right relationships don’t happen by accident. They’re built over years, in every office, on both sides of the process.”
Dianne Blumer is a homegrown Alaskan with 28 years of executive and legislative experience. She most recently served as Chief of Staff and Senior Policy Advisor with the Alaska State Legislature, and previously as Commissioner of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
EXPERIENCE
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Chief of Staff and Senior Policy Advisor, Alaska State Legislature
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Commissioner, Department of Labor and Workforce Development (appointed 2012)
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Developed grant funding and educational programs for workforce development and postsecondary education.
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Worked with several communities to build apprenticeship programs for individuals who had been incarcerated, a program that substantially changed lives.
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Regularly lobbied the legislature and testified on programs and the Department’s budget, drawing on an extensive understanding of legislative and state administrative processes.
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Alaska Workforce Development Board: worked closely with local governments so program funding met the state’s workforce development needs.
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State Director of Personnel and Labor Relations (appointed 2006)
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Responsible for human resources, payroll and benefits, employee classification, and collective bargaining agreements with all State of Alaska unions.
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Previously a Labor Relations Analyst for many years, serving as chief negotiator on state labor contracts and chief advocate in arbitrations.
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Deep knowledge of state employee relations, retirement benefits, labor laws, and negotiated agreements.
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SENIOR POLICY ADVISOR
ELIZABETH SHEA
Elizabeth Shea is an Alaska-based government affairs strategist and communications professional with more than 20 years of experience at the intersection of federal and state policy, tribal governance, technology, and rural Alaska community development. She advises tribal, nonprofit, and private-sector clients on state and federal funding, procurement, and compliance, helping them navigate shifting regulatory landscapes. She is known for turning complex policy and technical issues into clear, persuasive strategy.
Before entering the private sector, Ms. Shea managed multimillion-dollar federal grant programs and worked with local, state, tribal, national, and international partners across Alaska and the Arctic. She represented the United States in bilateral meetings with international counterparts on conservation, cultural preservation, and subsistence issues, and worked directly with tribal leadership across the Alaskan and Russian Arctic. Having worked on both sides of the funding process, she brings an insider’s understanding of how agencies make decisions and how organizations can position themselves to win.
EDUCATION & RECOGNITION
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Master’s in Strategic Communication and Innovation
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B.A.s in Political Science and Russian Studies from Vassar College.
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Gates Cambridge Fellowship awardee
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Technology of Participation (ToP) Certified Facilitator
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GOAL Leadership Academy delegate
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Alaska Journal of Commerce’s 2016 “Top 40 Under 40.”
