Nicole Espe is the Special Assistant to the President. She grew up in Seattle, WA and was adopted through the Indian Child Welfare Act to parents Marchell (father, Fred Johnson, a fisherman from Cordova) and John Espe. She is Alutiiq, from Old Harbor and a shareholder of Chugach.
She obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Western WA University in Environmental Studies and minors in Anthropology and American Indian Studies. She has worked in the pet care industry since she was 18 and trained dogs in Seattle for over 4 years before moving to Alaska in 2022. Alaska has always been her other home and has spent many summers here with family and has been going to AFN Conventions her whole life.
She loves nature, animals, and photography. She took photography classes in Montana for a whole summer to hone her skills and is the de facto photographer for AFN in addition to role of Special Assistant to the President. She resides in Anchorage with her dog, Pojar, and cat, Biscuit.