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)

Image of fishing boat in Bristol Bay Alaska

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 forever. We work to ensure that the people of the region have access to the expertise and resources required to secure full protections for Bristol Bay and that their voices are heard by decision-makers in Alaska and Washington, DC.

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.

Igiugig Sustainable Future

The Village of Igiugig is a small, self-sufficient, rural community in the Bristol Bay region of 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. 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. The trailblazing work of Igiugig’s citizens allows it to serve as a peer leader and learning laboratory for other communities in Alaska and beyond. Learn more here.

Iliamna Sustainable Communities Initiative

The goal of the Iliamna Sustainable Communities Initiative is to ensure the next 100 years of the Iliamna Lake region in Bristol Bay 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.

Arctica Podcast

Arctica is a monthly podcast exploring Northern culture and Indigenous perspectives on everything from identity to land stewardship. Centering Alaska Native voices, knowledge and values, Miaraq, Warren Jones invites his guests to join him in taking a deep dive into the issues shaping lives, communities and futures across the Arctic region. Arctica is produced by Alaska Venture Fund and is part of the Aywaa Storyhouse Project. Listen to the latest episode and learn more.

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.

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 convened Alaska Native leaders to learn from these initiatives and generate ideas for what is possible in Alaska. This program was developed to help 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.

Seacoast Trust

AVF is supporting the efforts of Spruce Root to establish and develop the Seacoast Trust – a perpetual funding source for the Sustainable Southeast Partnership. The Sustainable Southeast Partnership promotes the collective well-being and economic prosperity of Alaska Native tribes stewarding one of the world’s most ecologically important places — the coastal temperate rainforest of Southeast Alaska.

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.

Image of salmon leaping at falls in Katmai

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.