Dorinda has lived in Alaska since 1968 and graduated from Washington State University in 1987 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Language Arts. She lives in Port Lions, Alaska where she married Arnie Kewan, an enrolled member of the Native Village of Port Lions, and has four children of Alutiiq descent.

Dorinda has a long-standing history of support of her Port Lions community and her region.  She is an accomplished grant writer and was employed by the Native Village of Port Lions in a number of positions including as its grants manager.  Dorinda is a strong advocate of rural education as demonstrated by her years of service to the Port Lions Advisory School Board and the Kodiak Island Borough School District Indian Education Parent Act Committee.  She emphasizes the importance of investing in rural and Alaska Native education and was co-facilitator and author of the 2015 Kodiak Rural and Alaska Native Education Plan that was developed under KALI.

Dorinda served on the City of Port Lions Council between 2009 and 2013 and in 2017. She has served as Mayor since November 2018. As Mayor of Port Lions, she has partnered with the Native Village of Port Lions to work towards sustaining a better future. She and the city team oversee $20 million worth of infrastructure including the City’s water system, landfill, small boat harbor, ferry dock, and streets and road maintenance. She also assisted Port Lions to secure a public safety grant to own and manage ambulatory services as well as being one of the few small Alaska cities to participate in the US Department of Energy’s REAP program.

Dorinda served on the KALI board, including as its Secretary-Treasurer, until October 2022 when she resigned the board to become KALI’s Project Manager.