Jaylene Peterson-Nyren is a life-long Alaskan (Yupik and Athabascan) from the Yukon-
Kuskokwim region. She grew up in the villages of Holy Cross on the Yukon River and Aniak on the Kuskokwim River.

She began her healthcare career at Southcentral Foundation (SCF) 28 years ago as the
Executive Assistant to the President/CEO and Board of Directors. She has a passion for
problem solving and helping people and organizations reach their full potential, and create
sustainable opportunities for success and prosperity.

She relocated to the Kenai Peninsula with her family from 2006 – 2017, where she served
as the Executive Director of the Kenaitze Indian Tribe, building and expanding integrated health, social service, justice, tribal government and educational programs and services in partnership with an elected tribal council.

During her time in this role, Kenaitze Indian Tribe grew in assets from $1M to over $65M, raised over $20M to construct the landmark $36M Dena’ina Wellness Center, improved, 3rd party collections from $2M to over $6M annually, increased the annual operating budget from $9M to over $30M, was awarded one of 3 projects nationwide in 2011 for an Indian Health Service Joint Venture Award, adding over $200M in healthcare revenue to the Tribe over a 20 year period of time, and established Kahtnuht’ana Development Corporation, a for profit entity owned by the Tribe to provide economic development, income and employment opportunities for the tribe and its membership.

Jaylene understands the role of local, tribal, state and federal governance and their impact on individuals, families and communities they serve. She was elected by her peers and served several years on the Indian Health Service Tribal Advisory Committee to advocate for the needs of the Alaska Native Tribal Healthcare System through regular meetings with the Director of the Indian Health Service. She negotiated compact agreements on behalf of Kenaitze Indian Tribe, resulting in redefining wellness through the integration of justice, food security, social services, mental health, environmental, education, elder, employment and housing programs with primary care/dental/pharmacy/eyecare, with the objective that a system-wide response and approach to the social determinants of health contribute greatly to overall wellbeing.

In 2017 she returned to SCF to complete an MBA program as a recipient of the SCF Presidential Scholarship Award. While at SCF she was responsible for administrative oversight of Information Technology, Special
Assistant Program, Corporate Counsel, and Corporate Office support staff in her role as Senior Director. In her role as Administrator in the Behavioral Health Division she oversaw outpatient behavioral health and psychiatric services at the Valley Native Primary Care Center, Fireweed Adult Outpatient Clinic and the integrated psychiatry team at the Anchorage Native Primary Care Center. She was appointed by the SCF Board of Directors to serve on the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium Board – a statewide board serving the interests of the entire Alaska Tribal Healthcare System, on behalf of Southcentral Foundation.
She started Nyren Solutions, LLC to bring her passion for sustainable leadership and change to communities and organizations. She is partnered with Professional Growth Systems and has 14 years of experience using the tools and methods developed by PGS, which played a critical role in aligning vision, strategy, and systems improvement, which allowed her to focus on achieving goals and pivot as needed when opportunities or risks presented themselves. She has a passion for engaging individuals, communities, organizations and tribal/state/federal/local governance to create solutions that benefit current and future generations.

She holds a BA in Organizational Management from Alaska Pacific University and an Executive MBA from
Washington State University.
She lives in the communities of Anchorage and Kenai with her husband and their three children.