Janissa is Alutiiq by birth and her family has longstanding ties with the Kodiak Archipelago villages of Karluk and Larsen Bay. She is the youngest daughter of the late James (Jimmy) Jacob Johnson and the daughter of Darlene (Malutin) Johnson. She is a mother of three and divides her time between Anchorage and Larsen Bay.

Janissa’s education includes a Master’s and Bachelor’s in Business Administration from the University of Alaska as well as lessons learned from her late father, a long-serving and highly respected Alaska Native leader. Janissa cares passionately about her region and people as demonstrated by her service on boards such as the Kodiak Archipelago Leadership Institute, Koniag, Inc. (our region’s Alaska Native Regional Corporation), the Koniag Education Foundation, Junior Achievement of Alaska, and the Alaskan Bowhunters Association. She has also utilized her education and experience in service on key Koniag committees such as the Shareholder Benefits and Relations Committee, the Finance and Investment Committee, and the Lands and Natural Resources Committee

Janissa has been self-employed as a commercial salmon fisherman and has worked as a Corporate Communications Associate with Alutiiq, LLC and an External Affairs Associate with Arctic Slope Regional Corporation. Since 2015, she has worked as the Operations Manager for In and Out Automotive, a family-owned business.

Janissa spends part of each year in Larsen Bay visiting family, practicing the Alutiiq subsistence harvesting skills she learned from her Elders and handing them down to her children. She brings this awareness of the need to support and maintain traditional Alutiiq knowledge to her work with the KALI Board.