Ventures
We’re starting a change reaction.
Where bold ideas meet the tools and resources they need to get off the ground. Ventures vary from project to project but are united in their commitment to strengthening Alaskan communities, the environment and the economy, together. Below are featured examples of our current ventures.
Global Leadership in Climate and Clean Energy
Alaska is one of the great overlooked philanthropic opportunities in climate action today. With its extraordinary renewable energy potential, abundant carbon stores, and vast intact landscapes, few places on Earth are better equipped to power and accelerate the climate transition. Working with a wide range of business, agency, tribal, utility, NGO and community interests, Alaska Venture Fund is driving this transformation by developing a clear pathway to realize Alaska’s clean energy potential, mobilizing resources and expertise to support this shift, and aligning stakeholders around a vision of Alaska as a leader in climate and clean energy. (Image: naql/Flickr)
Igiugig Sustainable Future
The Village of Igiugig is a small, self-sufficient, rural community in southwestern Alaska. Igiugig Village Council strives to create a prosperous future for the community by fulfilling its goals of sustainable social and economic development while carefully stewarding the lands and waters that support a subsistence way of life. Igyaramiuni Ciunerkaput or The Igiugig Sustainable Future Project is a comprehensive approach to achieving these goals, covering land management and protection priorities, policy recommendations, and sustainable economic investments. Learn more here.
Bristol Bay Defense Fund
The Bristol Bay Defense Fund is a coalition of business, tribal, nonprofit, and community organizations dedicated to protecting Bristol Bay and its people from the threat of the Pebble Mine. We work to ensure that the people most impacted by the mine have access to scientific, technical and legal experts, and that their voices are heard by decision-makers in Alaska and Washington, DC.
Alaska Native Birthworkers Community
The Alaska Native Birthworkers Community is a grassroots group of volunteer Alaska Native reproductive justice advocates, full circle birth helpers (doulas), childbirth educators, breastfeeding counselors, healers, caregivers, public health researchers, scholars, parents, aunties, and a midwife organizing to reclaim Indigenous birth practices and support families from preconception through postpartum with culturally-matched care.
Jilkáat Aani K_a Héeni (Chilkat River Watershed) Fund
Jilkáat Aani K_a Héeni (Chilkat River Watershed) Fund supports Indigenous-led stewardship of lands and waters in Southeast Alaska’s Jilkáat (Chilkat) valley led by the Jilkáat Kwaan and community allies. We are protecting the Chilkat River Watershed and promoting sustainable futures for our home communities through civic engagement, advocacy, community education, and conservation. To learn more, click here.
Aywaa Storyhouse
Indigenous oratory, dialogue, and artistic expression have transformative power and are the soul of Alaska Native sovereignty. The Aywaa Storyhouse project supports the reclamation of Indigenous cultural values in Alaska by elevating the narrative of Alaska Native peoples through stories, art, and dialog that informs and inspires.
Indigenous Peoples Ecosystem Stewardship Exchange Program
Indigenous people around the world are successfully creating area-based stewardship initiatives that provide social, ecological, and economic benefits to people and ecosystems while formally recognizing Indigenous values and sovereignty. The Indigenous Peoples Ecosystem Stewardship Virtual Exchange Program will convene Alaska Native leaders to learn from these initiatives and generate ideas for what is possible in Alaska. This program seeks to realize sovereignty, stewardship, healing and prosperity for Alaska Native peoples and their lands and waters on their terms. To read the report, click click here.
Alaska Outdoor Alliance
The Alaska Outdoor Alliance is made up of individuals, businesses, and community leaders who recognize that we have an unparalleled opportunity for a booming and beneficial outdoor economy that works for Alaskans. Working with partner organizations across the state, we endeavor to make Alaska the most equitable, inclusive, and sustainable outdoor recreation economy in the world.
Seacoast Trust
AVF is supporting the efforts of Spruce Root to create the Seacoast Trust and realize a $10 million matching contribution from Sealaska. The Seacoast Trust will support the Sustainable Southeast Partnership’s work on Indigenous-led stewardship efforts and sustainable, community-based economic development for Southeast Alaska in perpetuity. Once established, the Trust will support a range of programs weaving Indigenous values into new approaches for resource management, ecological revitalization, and economic resilience.
Opportunities Fund for Alaskan Arctic Marine Stewardship
The Opportunities Fund for Alaskan Arctic Marine Stewardship supports existing and emergent opportunities that further marine stewardship and protection and sustainable fisheries in Arctic and sub-Arctic Alaska (Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas). The fund provides a responsive mechanism for identifying and funding opportunities in the region, increasing the capacity of leadership in coastal communities for co-management of marine resources, and facilitating opportunities for collaboration and collective impact among local Alaska Native leadership, scientists, and policymakers.
Iliamna Sustainable Communities Initiative
The goal of the Iliamna Sustainable Communities Initiative is to ensure the next 100 years of the Iliamna Lake region is marked by cultural, economic and ecological prosperity and resilience. The initiative seeks to focus philanthropic and public funding on supporting and building opportunity within these communities.
Alaska Wild Salmon Fund
The Alaska Wild Salmon Fund exists to ensure that Alaska’s wild salmon thrive, now and for future generations. The Fund provides businesses that rely on Alaska’s wild salmon for their bottom line an impactful and efficient means to contribute to their protection. We use our funds to protect the clean water and habitat wild salmon depend on – from the headwaters of Alaska’s pristine rivers down to tidewater.
