Cook Inlet Tribal Council

I believe that demonstrating how to honor the spirit of, give voice to and work in partnership with Alaska Native people offers the world a new and effective model for scaling change and enforcing the value of strong partnerships. The pillars of success at CITC are People, Partnership, and Potential. We know that when we bring together a committed team, resources, and a Mission to serve, we can create real change. We saw this when we partnered with MIT to build one of Alaska’s first Fab Labs, creating a hub of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) learning for thousands of Alaska Native/American Indian (AN/AI) youth. Partnerships like this produce scalable opportunities that drive potential for AN/AI people. 

We’ll use the Elevate Prize funding to:

• Make technology more accessible to Alaska Native people, especially youth in remote villages/communities.
• Expand service capacity with our Tribal partners to support sustainability of Alaska Native cultures, languages, and self-determination.
• Build technology-based models of education that inspire our youth to become tomorrow’s global leaders.

 In addition to the financial resource, partnering with a world-class leader will amplify the successes of AN/AI people, promote equality, and be a catalyst for culturally inspired innovation and leadership. 

I was born and raised in Alaska, of Scots-Irish, Yup’ik, and Sami descent. Growing up on a commercial fishing boat in the famed waters of Bristol Bay, I learned to channel the relentless independent spirit of Alaska into my life’s work: Serving Alaska Native/American Indian (AN/AI) people. My grandmother’s extraordinary life, from traditional subsistence living into the modern world inspires and influences me; her example teaches me to be tenacious and bold in advancing Our People. When I became CEO of Cook Inlet Tribal Council (CITC) in 1998, CITC was a small Tribal non-profit providing limited social services for AN/AI people in the Anchorage area. Since then, we’ve grown into a comprehensive family of organizations, providing holistic wraparound services to thousands of AN/AI individuals and families per year through more than fifty integrated programs. I’ve grown alongside CITC and my mission to serve has never wavered. Our purpose is to walk alongside Our People to work in partnership with them to fulfill their endless potential, using both technology and tradition to move forward. We serve AN/AI people at every stage of life with innovative, culturally responsive programs promoting community, culture, and family to build a thriving future.

Cook Inlet Tribal Council (CITC) in Anchorage, Alaska exists to advance the endless potential of Alaska Native/American Indian (AN/AI) people. For thousands of years, Our People have survived in the most unforgiving environments of Alaska, and the road to a thriving future is still marked with many challenges. Alaska has high per-capita crime rates, including the highest rates of sexual assault in the nation. Alaskan communities often experience widespread substance abuse, behavioral health issues, and homelessness. Access to education and employment is uneven and infrastructure, housing, and household costs remain an obstacle to many families. Against this backdrop, CITC serves approximately 20,000 people annually with integrated programs, including early childhood education, employment training, youth education, substance recovery services, and justice support. Today, CITC is creating innovative services to make housing, substance use support, and job training more accessible. We’re developing education models of the future, using micro-credentialing and digital badging to drive student success. We’re extending STEM learning into remote communities, introducing Fab Lab technology to teachers and students by deploying advanced “Innovation Stations” into rural schools. We’re partnering with Tribes through our Living Culture fund to support the vitality of Alaska Native languages, cultures, and self-determination. 

There is no road map for addressing the unique challenges of Alaska. As a service provider, CITC charts its own course, guided by a Mission to advance the endless potential of Alaska Native/American Indian(AN/AI)people. We look for new revenue streams, such as through our for-profit subsidiary, CITC Enterprises, Inc. (CEI), which partnered with E-Line Media to produce Never Alone, an award-winning video game extending and sharing authentic Alaska Native culture to a global audience while providing unrestricted revenue in support of our Mission. In developing Never Alone, CITC pioneered an inclusive process, infusing the wisdom and knowledge of elders, culture-bearers and other members of our community. We now hold a 30 percent stake in E-Line Media, working together to develop a robust consumer games portfolio. Through CEI, we are building data-driven software that will reshape our work, expand accessibility for program participants, and create a market-ready product for CEI’s customers. We’re infusing technology into our services, building an online statewide careers portal, and developing education models of the future. Our board challenged us to be bold, so we created ThriveAbility 2025, an ambitious strategic plan that guides our vision of a limitless and thriving future for Our People. 

CITC is fueled by our Alaska Native culture, traditions, and a commitment to our community.  These foundational elements, firmly grounded in our past, are also the keys to our future and lasting change.  We use the resilience, interdependence, accountability, respect and humor of our traditions to fuel the innovative future, both for individuals and for our models of delivery, relying always on the wisdom of our participants and Board to drive our self-determination.

• Nearly 60,000 individuals served across all CITC core services and affiliates (FY17-20)
• Nearly 10,000 individuals served through Recovery Services (FY17-20), with an average satisfaction rate of 94% (FY17-19), and 79% reporting social connectedness six months after outpatient treatment.
• Approximately 20,000 individuals worked towards self-sufficiency through Employment & Training (FY17-20), with 3,000 obtaining employment and earning an average wage increase of $10.14 per hour, and 17,000 receiving training, vocational rehabilitation and GED services.
• More than 12,000 youth served through Education Services (FY17-20), with 100 % graduation rate for HS seniors in CITC classes (2018-19), compared to 57% of all AN/AI students in the school district.
• 1,800 individuals served through Child & Family services (FY 17-19), with a 56% reunification rate (exceeding national benchmark of 50%).