11/18/2025
With November being National Native American Heritage Month, we are celebrating the Indigenous voices that lead Spruce Root’s work across Southeast Alaska.
Ashley Guthrie is from the community of Sheet’ká, Sitka and is Inupiaq (Inuit) and Aleut. She now lives in Juneau, working for in the role of Client Services Coordinator, where she provides administrative support across the Business and Client Services team. Along with this important “behind the scenes” work, Ashley also serves as the project coordinator for the Alaska Native Resilience Circles program, a year-long cohort based program to support Indigenous entrepreneurs.
Now in its second year, the Resilience Circles program embodies holistic approach to entrepreneurship, recognizing that healthy communities rely on strong local businesses, and business success is deeply connected to personal and cultural well-being. Participants engage in a series of workshops that cover a wide range of topics from a trauma-informed, culturally responsive lens.
Ashley sees her background in human services and a values-based approach to leadership as core parts of what drives her passion for building relationships and showing up for community in her role at Spruce Root.
“Spruce Root cares so much about the region… and we can tie all those things back to our Indigenous values, which is so important,” Ashley shares. “This work has taught me so much about what it means to be centered in my own values to lead with purpose, both personally and professionally.”
In addition to her work as Client Services Coordinator, Ashley enjoys traveling and spending time with her family and friends. She is also a writer and poet, with pieces published in The Yellow Medicine Review, an Indigenous journal of literature, art, and thought.
Photos by Andrés Camacho and Scott Burton
