Print and prison. Those are two fundamental factors of Megan’s career. Both have shaped her life in and out of the office.
For seven years, Megan cranked out copy for local news organizations. During time with the local CBS affiliate, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News, she dove deep into local issues, state politics, crime and courts, homelessness, rural Alaska, military affairs and even the Iditarod. No matter the topic, Megan loved any story that gave people a chance to be heard and educated the public.
Her career took an unexpected turn in 2017, when she left the news business to work under Governor Bill Walker and former DOC Commissioner Dean Williams as the Alaska Department of Corrections Public Information Officer. This was an eye-opening experience, as it gave her a unique opportunity to understand the correctional system, criminal justice and the drivers of mass incarceration.
Most proudly, she held community dialogue events in prisons across Alaska to explain the complexities revolving around incarceration – such as substance abuse, rural challenges and reentry. She also helped maximum-security inmates create a podcast that shed light on day-to-day life inside and the road to redemption.
Perhaps her strongest belief is that we’d all be a lot better off if everyone had a chance to be heard and if all of us were willing to listen. That was a lesson the news business taught her, but one reinforced by the prison system.
