Thea Agnew Bemben

Thea Agnew Bemben is a principal and founding partner of Agnew::Beck Consulting, a thirteen-person community planning and development firm based in Anchorage, Alaska. Thea has extensive experience working with very rural, predominantly Alaska Native communities to build local capacity to plan for and implement community development projects. She has assisted with developing comprehensive plans for rural villages, small towns and urban districts. Thea works with communities and organizations to develop sustainable business plans for a variety of initiatives such as affordable and supportive housing, rural vocational education, and community facility development, including health clinics, recreation centers, family resource centers, domestic violence shelters and cultural centers. Thea has successfully worked to raise millions of dollars for program development, facility design and construction. Thea has facilitated public dialogue on a wide range of topics including community planning, non-profit organizational development and public policy initiatives. Thea holds a Master’s Degree in History, focusing on the cultural history of western Alaska. She is a lifelong Alaskan who grew up in Anchorage. Thea spent ten years living in the rural community of McCarthy, serving three terms as president of the local area council.

Thea's Resume

Chris Beck

Chris Beck has more than twenty years of experience in land use planning, community development and urban design. He first came to Alaska in 1979, where he worked with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, and helped set up DNR's regional land planning process. In 1993, Chris established Christopher Beck & Associates, focusing on community tourism issues, working in communities such as Girdwood, Cordova, Homer, McCarthy, Talkeetna and Dillingham. In 2002, Chris joined with Thea Agnew to form Agnew::Beck Consulting, LLC. Chris holds master's degrees in city planning and in landscape architecture from the University of California at Berkeley.

Chris' Resume

Ellen Campfield Nelson

Ellen came to Agnew::Beck in 2004 with several years of project management, graphic design work, teaching experience, and history and language study. She utilizes these diverse skills frequently in her planning work – facilitating discussions, designing informational materials, encouraging public involvement, and researching and writing. Working with communities to find common ground and determine their own future are the elements of her job she most enjoys. She has won minor writing, teaching and graphics awards, including a national design award for work on a product development campaign. Ellen is an ardent reader, decent telemark skier, and dabbling artist. After living in Anchorage through eleven winters, she relocated to Boise, Idaho in 2008 and now staffs the Agnew::Beck office there.  She is a proud mother of Elias Burke (born September 3, 2008), a supportive spouse of her firefighting husband Derek, and the harried caregiver of her energetic pudelpointer puppy Oberon.

Ellen's Resume

Beth McLaughlin

Beth first came to Agnew::Beck in 2004, with eight years experience in the arts and education arenas and a passion for working with small Alaskan communities. Originally from the rainy islands of Southeast Alaska, she understands the strengths and challenges involved in developing projects in rural communities.

Tomas Jensen

Tomas joined Agnew::Beck in 2006, driving up to Alaska from Madison, Wisconsin where he earned his master’s degree in agricultural & applied economics from the University of Wisconsin. With Agnew::Beck he enjoys working on the wide array of community development projects available through the firm. His work interests are in community economic development and rural viability, sparked by a year in rural Washington with AmeriCorps. When not at work, Tomas tries to mesh his Midwest sensibilities with his new Alaska lifestyle. In addition to that lofty goal Tomas enjoys being an avid reader, skier and biker, as well as trying his hand at many of the other activities that Alaska has to offer.

Tomas' Resume

Melissa Rodriguez

Melissa joined Agnew::Beck Consulting as a Program Associate in 2006. She was born and raised in Alaska and has worked in various capacities at the state and local level in Anchorage for the past seven years. She graduated from Brandeis University with a B.A. in sociology and has completed coursework toward a master's in public administration. She has worked in the affordable housing, transitional housing, advocacy, and substance abuse fields in Anchorage. Melissa has extensive experience providing proposal development and grants management services for state and local organizations. She has worked with organizations to secure millions of dollars for program development and capacity-building efforts. Melissa has also provided research, planning, and program evaluation for behavioral health programs. Melissa enjoys traveling and spending time outdoors. She is also a boxing enthusiast and enjoys putting the gloves on. Melissa and her husband Neil have two beautiful daughters, Mariella and Marcelina.

Melissa's Resume

Heather Stewart

Heather came to Agnew::Beck in October of 2006, after completing a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Prior to that, she lived primarily in New England, with interludes in places around the world, including Russia, China, Europe and the Middle East. Heather enjoys exploring new places and the fascinating people who inhabit them, and is excited to experience all of the professional and personal adventures that Alaska has to offer.

Heather's Resume

Tanya Iden

A lifelong Alaskan, Tanya joined Agnew::Beck in 2006 after spending a few years living and working as a community planner in Honolulu, Hawaii and in San Diego, California. Tanya is excited to return to the state that she knows and loves with more planning experience and a fresh perspective. In addition to her planning work, Tanya has a broad range of experience providing technical assistance and strategic planning support to nonprofit associations and government agencies. She excels working with community groups and coordinating public meetings and most enjoys listening to Alaskans and developing planning strategies that reflect the values and strengths of their communities.
Like her grandparents who sought adventure by coming to Alaska from Illinois in 1958, Tanya's pursued adventures of her own and loves to travel. She has explored Europe, North Africa, and Southeast Asia in addition to many Alaskan and U.S. communities. She holds a master's degree in urban development planning from the University of London, England and a B.A. in anthropology from the University of Washington. Spending time with her family is her favorite pastime.

Tanya's Resume

Shelly Wade

Shelly hails originally from North Pole, AK, and has deftly explored other parts of the world as Peace Corps volunteer serving as an English teacher in China. Since returning to the state in 2001, She's worked on a wide variety of community development, local government and planning projects and has completed community and economic development plans for rural municipalities and tribal entities throughout the state. She enjoys traveling to and working with rural communities. Out of the office, she's most likely hiking, skiing, backpacking and biking the trails of Southcentral Alaska or in the gym teaching group fitness classes. She earned an M.S. degree in community and economic development and sociology from Illinois State University Peace Fellows Program, and a B.S. in anthropology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Shelly's Resume

Kelly DuFort

Kelly uses her background as a photographer, journalist and graphic artist to create elegant products for Agnew::Beck’s community planning, development and communications projects. She enjoys sculpting complex ideas into simple and attractive explanations with images or words. She specializes in offering clear, clean, concise content in user-friendly formats out of a sense of service to the people and communities who use our products. This is evident in all of her work from website design and maintenance, document layout and editing to coordinating print production, advertising and marketing strategies. Her experience with internationally diverse people includes a year of cross-cultural immersion, freelancing and public relations work in Central America and Philadelphia, which brings a rich perspective to her work at Agnew::Beck. Outside of the office, she enjoys coaxing her puppy, Flag, into obedience school and then back out onto the trail to be a gentleman.

Kelly's Resume

Greg Schwab

Greg first came to Alaska from Kentucky in 2002 and was quickly drawn to the vast beauty of the state. He spent the next four summers working in the tourism industry in Cooper Landing. Joining Agnew::Beck in 2008, Greg brings a well-rounded range of skills to our team. He received a bachelor’s degree in fine art from the University of Dayton in Ohio, where he studied visual communication design. Working as a freelance graphic artist for several years, he's also been involved with the progression of tourism in Alaska and is eager to contribute more to the community. Greg is an enthusiastic hiker, a moderate musician and can often be found out on the soccer pitch.

Greg's Resume

Michael T. Howard

Michael recently returned to his hometown after earning a community development degree at Portland State University in Oregon where he also served a term as an AmeriCorps volunteer building grassroots support for city parks through a nonprofit. He interned for Action Without Borders and worked through the Community Development Network bolstering efforts to provide affordable housing. Michael also spent his time in Portland with his band (on guitar), traveling throughout Central America, and studying and teaching Spanish. His interests often converge in civic involvement, organizational development and strategic planning as well as rock climbing, thrift shopping and volunteering to get out the vote. Michael’s excited to learn more about the Last Frontier while contributing his experience and enthusiasm at Agnew::Beck. At home in Alaska, he and his wife Mirna enjoy getting outdoors and planning their next adventure.

Michael's Resume

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View Agnew::Beck's current job opening for a Senior Land Use Planner.