| Hello Friends, |
It’s difficult to comprehend just how vast Alaska is. We are one-fifth the size of the continental U.S. and could swallow Texas two and a half times over. A single State House district in western Alaska is larger in area than the smallest four states combined—and yet is home to just 17,000 people. That’s fewer than one person per square mile.
What does this mean for the people living here? For many, it means continuing to live close to the land, following a subsistence lifestyle, and feeling a deep sense of place. But it can also make it challenging for communities to make their voices heard.
Increasingly, small Indigenous communities in Alaska are working with neighboring communities—often a plane-ride away—to build power together. Partnerships like the Kodiak Archipelago Leadership Institute, Sustainable Southeast Partnership, and Nila Vena Sustainability Forum are charting a path for community-based leadership and self-determination through collaboration.
Alaska Venture Fund is investing in several of these locally driven partnerships, because we believe the path to a thriving Alaska begins in place, with the people who know it best. In this month’s newsletter, we highlight three communities in western Alaska exploring collaboration through the Kuicuat Sustainability Forum.
We also share updates on Alaska’s Indigenous birthworkers, a partnership helping Klukwan residents make their homes safer, a coalition advancing Alaska’s clean energy future, and new tools to build wildfire resilience. A thread running through all of this work is love of the remarkable people and places of Alaska, and a vision for a vital, healthy future in Alaska and beyond.
Please reach out if you would like to learn more about our work—we would love to hear from you.
The Alaska Venture Fund Team
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| News & Views |
| Updates, stories, and perspectives shaping our work. |
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| Kuicuat Sustainability Forum: Building Power Through Collaboration |
“Sustainability was not in the Yup’ik language the way it is in English,” says Nalikutaar Jacqueline (Jacki) Cleveland. “It was how you lived, it was how you behaved, it was the culture. You were meant to be there for thousands of years.” Jacki and other organizers are bringing together leaders and tribal members from three remote Indigenous villages as part of a nascent movement in Alaska to bolster local Indigenous self-determination by strengthening collaboration between neighboring communities.
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| NREL Partners With Chilkat Indian Village To Improve Housing in Klukwan, Alaska |
The National Renewable Energy Lab is partnering with the Chilkat Indian Village in Klukwan to improve the village’s housing stock - including indoor air quality, safety, and energy efficiency - and to build a workforce that benefits local economies. “This project is about housing and jobs,” says Shawna Hotch, a Tribal Council member and Alaska Venture Fund’s Tribal Liaison for Strategic Initiatives.
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| Fire Adapted Alaska |
| Fire Adapted Alaska is a statewide initiative to equip Alaskans with the tools, knowledge, and partnerships to adapt to and mitigate Alaska’s increasing wildfire impacts. Hosted by Alaska Venture Fund, the project recently launched a website to share the project’s vision and opportunities to partner and engage. |
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| Caring with Courage: Birthworkers Supporting Remote Alaskan Communities |
A new short video produced by BBC StoryWorks spotlights the Alaska Native Birthworkers Community, a project of Alaska Venture Fund. “Collectively, we’re understanding the power of culturally matched care all across Alaska,” says Abra Nungasuk Patkotak, a co-founder of the Birthworkers Community, doula, and midwife-in-training.
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| Op-ed: Alaska is Upholding our End. Congress Must Protect Federal Energy Commitments |
Alaska has a long history of leadership in renewable energy, say senior advisors for New Energy Alaska, an Alaska Venture Fund hosted coalition; we need Congress to uphold federal clean energy promises.
Keep up with New Energy Alaska on LinkedIn and Facebook! |
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Welcome Ryan Morse!
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| Alaska Venture Fund is excited to welcome Ryan Morse to our team as Creative and Digital Communications Specialist. Ryan is an artist, graphic designer, and storyteller based in his hometown of Sitka, Alaska (Sheet’ká Kwáan) with a passion for shining a light on community-based solutions. When not working, Ryan can often be found hiking and foraging in the woods, mountains, and muskegs with his dog Penny. |
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| In case you missed it |
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Congress’s Fight Over Trump’s Agenda Runs Through Alaska – The New York Times visited rural Alaska, where hope for locally generated energy is threatened by a move to repeal federal clean energy incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act. “[N]owhere has the law had a more profound effect on everyday access to power than in Alaska, where energy companies have sought to leverage the tax credits to build out renewable energy infrastructure in isolated communities.”
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| Video: Bristol Bay Guardians |
| The Bristol Bay Guardians initiative, a partnership supported by Alaska Venture Fund, is centered on the transformative power of Indigenous-led stewardship and collaborative partnerships to enhance regional resilience and well-being. Learn more in this 6-minute video. |
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