For Immediate Release
January 25, 2019
Contact: Angela Gonzalez, [email protected], (907) 677-1700
Cheryl Pitiksuq Johnson. Photo courtesy of Cheryl Pitiksuq Johnson.
Anchorage, Alaska – First Alaskans Institute (FAI), a statewide Alaska Native nonprofit focused on advancing Alaska Natives for the next 10,000 years, is excited to share news about our team with our community. Cheryl Pitiksuq Johnson (Iñupiaq/Yup’ik) has been hired as our Indigenous Sustainability Advancement Director. She will play a critical role promoting the long-term sustainability and relationships of FAI. Anna Ts’aayeneekeelno Clock (Koyukon Athabascan) has been hired in our Alaska Native Policy Center as our Indigenous and Intergovernmental Affairs Coordinator. She will work across governance structures and communities to build relationships, connections, and unity in order to amplify the self-determination of our peoples through advancing and protecting Alaska Native ways of living, being, healing, and knowing.
Cheryl Pitiksuq Johnson was raised in Siqnasuaq (Nome). Her parents are Harvey Johnson from Bethel and Tina Henderson from Nome. Pitiksuq’s paternal grandmother is Hanna Stormo from Old Akiak and Bethel, and her maternal grandparents are Reba Dickson from Wales and Nome and the late Charlie Dickson, Sr. of Little Diomede and Nome. Pitiksuq holds a Bachelor of Science in Aviation Technology with an emphasis in Aviation Management and a minor in Business Administration from the University of Alaska Anchorage. She also holds several Human Resources credentials (PHR & SHRM-CP). Pitiksuq most recently worked at Northern Air Cargo in Human Resources and Community Engagement. Her interests include cooking, sewing, knitting, and spending time with family and friends. She also enjoys fishing and putting up fish, picking berries and greens, and canning foods.
Nina Clock, Monica Reidel, Anna Ts’aayeneekeelno Clock, Jasmine Clock, Grandma Regina Clock at a Kaltag Heeyo, in 2012. Photo courtesy of Anna Clock.
Anna Ts’aayeneekeelno Clock was raised in Seward. Her father’s family is Koyukon Athabascan from Kaltag and Eyak from Cordova, and her mother’s ancestors are from Germany and England. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Japanese Studies from Middlebury College. After college, Ts’aayeneekeelno worked for Crowley Marine Services in the Prince William Sound. Most recently, she was a 2018 First Alaskans Institute Summer Intern in the Office of Governor Bill Walker, and afterwards was hired to stay on the team as a Policy & Program Analyst and Special Assistant to Lieutenant Governor Valerie Davidson until the end of their term.Ts’aayeneekeelno’s favorite things are Native languages, traditional foods, snowboarding, beadwork, and being out on the land and water.
# # #
About First Alaskans Institute (FAI): At FAI weknow we are responsible for carrying more than 10,000 years of ancestral knowledge into the future with rigor, humor, resilience, vigilance, and love. To learn more visit our website at www.firstalaskans.org, contact us at 907-677-1700 or email [email protected].
Download a PDF version of this release.
