The First Alaskans Institute has announced a change in leadership for next year. Its current president and CEO, Roy Agloinga, plans to step down at the end of May.
First Alaskans is a nonprofit founded in 2000 as a think tank for Alaska Native policy. The Institute also organizes the popular Elders and Youth Conference, held just before the annual Alaska Federation of Natives Convention.
Agloinga took over the helm of First Alaskans two years ago. In a statement, the Institute thanked him for his dedication and service. It also praised him for launching an initiative to assess village economies and find ways to help them survive.
Willie Hensley, chairman of FAI’s board of trustees, said Agloinga’s leadership has strengthened important relationships and supported the Institute’s commitment to Alaska Native leadership and self-determination.
“I feel like so much of the work we do with our elders and youth covers a lot of the ground that we later see really being developed into policy at AFN,” Agloinga said, just before the start of this October’s Elders and Youth Conference.
Agloinga said building relationships is what he has enjoyed most, and the connection between elders and youth is especially important because it helps cultivate leadership.
“I love being in this learning situation that elders and youth is, where you have all this mentorship, and you have so much idea and creativity generation happening, and then you move that week right into AFN,” Agloinga said. “I think it's really important to see how that generation of ideas and creativity culminates into this strong political force.”
Agloinga is Inupiaq and grew up in White Mountain, northeast of Nome. He has a long history of working in Native health and philanthropy.
He says he is stepping down from First Alaskans for mostly personal reasons, mainly to spend more time with elders in his family. He also plans to serve on the Bering Straits Native Corporation Board
In the First Alaskans announcement, Agloinga reflected on his service and said it had been a profound honor to serve the Institute and “the people who inspire its work.”
FAI’s board of trustees will oversee the leadership transition in the coming year.
