For Sitka Assembly
Sherri Blankenship
Alaskan. Business Owner. Community Advocate.
Meet Sherri
Sherri was born in Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, and Alaska has shaped nearly every chapter of her life. Her career has taken her across industries and through different roles as a business owner, employer, educator, mother, and advocate for Alaska's workforce and economy.
Along the way, she has learned from both successes and challenges, shaping an approach grounded in curiosity, adaptability, and a willingness to keep learning.
Those experiences have taught Sherri that there is rarely one path forward. She believes good decisions start with asking questions, understanding different perspectives, and doing the work to find practical solutions.
A Career Built in Alaska
For 27 years, Sherri has worked in Alaska's fishing and seafood industry, including seafood marketing, business development, consulting, grant-funded projects, and commercial fishing. She also built a career in clinical nutrition and nutrition education and successfully built and grew her own health company.
More recently, Sherri purchased Highliner Coffee Co., a longtime Sitka café with deep roots in the community. As its owner, she takes pride in maintaining what has made Highliner a familiar gathering place while continuing to grow the business for the future.
Her experience across industries, as both an entrepreneur and employer, has given Sherri a firsthand understanding of how closely connected Sitka's businesses, workforce, infrastructure, and community really are.
Sitka Is Home
Sherri moved to Sitka in 2005. More than twenty years later, it is where she and her husband, Justin, have raised their family, built businesses, and become deeply invested in the community.
Together, they own the F/V Defiant, a seiner, longliner, and crabber, keeping their family closely connected to Sitka's commercial fishing industry and the people and businesses that depend on it.
Sherri's commitment to Sitka also extends beyond her ownership of Highliner, she also serves on the Sitka Chamber of Commerce Board and the Tourism Commission and as Vice President and a Director of the Southeast Alaska Business Alliance. Through these roles, she works alongside local and regional leaders on issues affecting businesses, workforce development, tourism, and Southeast Alaska's economy.
Why She's Running
Sherri is running for Assembly because she wants Sitka to remain a place where people can realistically build a life.
She believes housing, childcare, schools, workforce, infrastructure, and a strong local economy are interconnected, and that addressing Sitka's challenges requires looking beyond individual issues to understand how decisions affect the community as a whole.
Sherri doesn't claim to have every answer. She asks questions, does her homework, seeks out people with different expertise and perspectives, and is willing to change her thinking when better information emerges.
After more than twenty years in Sitka, she is ready to bring that approach and her experience as a parent, business owner, employer, and community leader to the Assembly.
Make your voice heard