Jennifer Quinto

Jennifer Quinto, Saan Jeen, is a Tlingit artist, educator, and cultural speaker from Juneau, Alaska. She is L’uxnax.adi, Raven Coho, and a child of the Shungukeidí. She is also Athabascan of the Bedzeyh Ti Xwt’ana (Caribou Tail) clan of Minto, Alaska, and Iñupiaq with family ties to Utqiaġvik and Point Hope.

Born in Fairbanks and raised in Juneau, Quinto is an adoptee, artist, and community educator whose work focuses on cultural resilience, community wellness, and strengthening connections between people, place, and identity. Her work centers on how cultural knowledge and traditional practices support healing, belonging, and personal empowerment.

Quinto began her career in theater as a teenager performing with Juneau’s Teen Xpress Theater and Perseverance Theatre. She later returned to Perseverance Theatre as Assistant Director for the debut production of Devilfish by Vera Starbard. Over the years she has worked as an educator, Arts Education Director, cultural interpreter, artist, and public speaker.

Her work explores how cultural teachings support strength of mind, body, and spirit. Quinto practices the traditional cold-water immersion of her Tlingit people and shares how cultural practices can help individuals reconnect with resilience, balance, and community.

Quinto’s first speaking opportunity came unexpectedly on Elizabeth Peratrovich Day, where she was invited to speak without a prepared script. The talk resonated with community members, leaders, and legislators, opening the door to future speaking engagements.

She has since appeared on a Season 14 episode of PBS’s "Pati Jinich Explores PanAmericana," hosted cultural presentations aboard Celebrity Cruises, Princess Cruises, and Cunard’s Queen Mary II, and spoken internationally at gatherings including the GatherVerse SHE Summit and the Diputació de Barcelona’s Global Summit of Science, Nature & Health.

Quinto also voiced an off-stage character in the Perseverance Theatre production Cold Case.

Through storytelling, cultural teachings, and lived experience, Quinto invites audiences to explore how cultural identity, community relationships, and shared responsibility can help individuals and organizations build stronger and more resilient futures.