Meet the BrainWorks Staff

Jackie Stewart has been involved with small businesses in Alaska  for over twenty-six years.  In 1986 she founded The Great Alaska Catalog, a nationally distributed catalog which provided a market for Alaskan artists and crafters, attending the "Business School of Hard Knocks" for ten years. She honed her marketing skills with two Juneau based businesses; The Alaskan Brewing Company and Alaska Discovery.  She was hired in 1999 as Director of the Small Business Development Center (SDBC) Southeast Region and advised entrepreneurs throughout Southeast Alaska for nine years.  She was offered a contract with University of Alaska and served as business advisor for StartUp Alaska, a three year demonstration project administrated by UAA Center for Human Development and funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, which assisted twenty-five Alaskans with disabilities launch their businesses.

In October 2011 Jackie attended training and became a certified business coach with the Professional Business Coaches Alliance.  She is certified in Employment Services through the Association of Community Rehabilitation Educators to provide employment services for people with physical and mental disabilities.  She recently launched Business Works LLC, which helps entrepreneurs achieve their dreams.  She has counseled over 1,200 clients, assisting with their business endeavors, provided assistance with over 180 business start ups and helped her clients raise over $17 million in business development financing.

She currently provides private business coaching and consulting.  She works primarily on contract to University of Alaska Anchorage, Center for Human Development assisting individuals with disabilities launch their business ventures through various research and demonstration projects which include online business training, Microenterprise grants funded by the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority and now BrainWorks funded by the Kessler Foundation.

Ms. Johnson is a member of the Mohawk Nation of Kahnawake, Canada. Born to the Turtle Clan, she is a therapist, facilitator, educator, producer, motivator and leadership trainer of all ages. She has been an entrepreneur for over 25 years and has worked in the areas of small business development, counseling, education, prevention, program development, journalism/media, and multi-media production. Ms. Johnson has focused primarily on the creation and development of unique training and empowerment programs for both the non-Native and Native North American Indian communities; businesses/organizations (corporate, private, and non-profit); law enforcement and public safety organizations; educational institutions; city, county, state, federal and tribal governments; entertainment industry; special events and conferences. She spent several years in both California and Arizona, prior to coming to Alaska. Ms. Johnson was instrumental in the creation and implementation of the Interdisciplinary Cross Cultural Studies curriculum and instruction at Antioch University for the M.F.C.C. and Graduate Psychology Program in Santa Barbara, California as well as at UCSB. She has mentored Native American Indian graduate students for Arizona State University's School of Social Work in Tempe, since 1993.

Currently, Ms. Johnson is the Director of the YWCA Alaska's Women's Economic Empowerment Center, whose mission is dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all. The Women's Economic Empowerment Center is the only Small Business Administration (SBA) designated Women's Business Center in Alaska and provides entrepreneurial training courses, business counseling, marketing opportunities, mentoring and consultation for women-owned businesses.Ms. Johnson is the South Central Facilitator for the BrainWorks project funded by the Kessler Foundation and in partnership with the University of Alaska's Center for Human Development. Ms. Johnson is also the current President of the Board of Directors for the Alaska Mental Health Consumer Web. The Web is a Recovery-Based Engagement/Drop-in Center which provides peer support, resource development and consumer directed programs.