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POSITION DESCRIPTION
Indigenous Stewardship Fellow
Location: First Alaskans Institute, Statewide & Anchorage (Office and Remotely) Reports to: Director, Alaska Native Policy Center FTE / Wage: 2.0 Temporary (1-3 year) Full-Time Equivalent, $45,000 – $62,000 annual ($21.63-$29.81/hr), DOE FSLA Designation: TBD, DOE
Core Purpose of this Role
The work of First Alaskans Institute (FAI) with and for our Native community is rich and varied, from uplifting and growing the leadership of our peoples to targeted advocacy to protect our ways of life at all levels by advancing racial equity, social justice, and inter-generational healing. As the original and perpetual stewards of the Alaska and throughout the Pacific, Alaska Native and Indigenous peoples’ knowledge and leadership are critical to continued protection of our homelands. Wherever Alaska Native leadership and decision-making authority has been severed from Native peoples, the wound created has negatively affected the entire ecosystem– including the health and wellbeing of our Native peoples – this is further amplified through institutions and beneficiaries that continue to cause further severance. We seek to end this separation with a new pathway for healing the ecosystem with solutions driven by Native peoples. Healing these places and our peoples requires a unique approach focused onsystems change through the amplification of Native voices and leadership.
To fulfill the critical work needed to advance the Native community and the ability to protect and advance Alaska Native Ways of Life, the Indigenous Stewardship Fellow will bring a strong cultural foundation, advocacy experience and focus on protecting our ways of life across local, state, national and international Indigenous communities. The primary focus of this position will be to create a network of Indigenous and other entities supporting Indigenous-led stewardship; create a replicable model for Indigenous stewardship; identify geographies in Alaska in which there is a need, Tribal support, and Native leadership for expanding this work.
A strong Indigenous Stewardship Fellow has an inquisitive mind and culturally grounded spirit, deeply loves ourpeoples and helps in developing and implementing projects in service of our work. This position requires adaptability, and foresight to proactively plan for project timelines, while being responsive to evolving or emergent needs throughout our communities.
We look to the Indigenous Stewardship Fellow for a positive and professional attitude, as well as a strong work ethic that exemplifies the high expectations of our Native values. Essential to our team approach is finding members who are the right fit and bring the flexibility, capacity, passion, and experience necessary to contribute to the work we are honored to do for our Native community.
All FAI staff members are expected to grow their understanding of and advocacy for our Native peoples, includingaddressing social justice issues that face our communities, intergenerational trauma and healing, and uplifting ourrelationships, cultures, and languages. It is imperative that candidates for any of FAI’s positions be aware of andwilling to do their own personal work in this area in order to be prepared and ensure their work for FAI is culturally and professionally grounded.
Duties and Responsibilities
Develop groundwork (i.e. research and interviews) for strengthening Alaska Native stewardship of Alaska’s resources, such as through compacting, co-management, and other collaborative government-to- government relationships, private partnerships with natural resource development businesses/ organizations and/or environmental/conservation organizations or land-stewardship programs, etc.;
Develop alternative organizing entities or structures to harness Indigenous political and/or racial status opportunities (i.e. creating a nonprofit to harness the power of international Indigenous voices of the Pacific). The focus of this entity will be to advocate for Indigenous ways of life to cultivate, protect, and honor theirhomelands. The fellow will conduct research and create written documents as needed to share the work being done, create advocacy items, etc., that may be shared or distributed based on FAI’s parameters; the format(s) of that work will be decided along the course of this fellowship;
Advocate, educate and outreach about Indigenous stewardship and mechanisms to enhance these opportunities; FAI will guide the Fellow on what is appropriate to share from the study, other research and other knowledge and insights learned in the process to ensure protection of our Native community from misuse or possible misunderstandings that may be used to harm the Native community; the Fellow will follow FAI’s guidance and engage accordingly;
Travel, as approved by FAI, to other Indigenous territories to learn how others are confronting or innovating around similar challenges, enhancing relationships that are thousands of years old with other Alaska Natives, other Native groups in British Columbia, Canada including Haida Gwaii, other Indigenous peoples along thePacific Ocean or impacted by the health and wellbeing of the Pacific Ocean, such as Washington State, Hawai’i, Canada, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Japan, and Australia. Participate in and/or create a cohort of Indigenous peoples aligned with this work, identify potential cohort members as needed to achieve this work;
Coordinate cohort engagement, help with travel and logistics, and relationship building opportunities as needed and as appropriate under the scope of work;
Identify a component that is specifically connected to the employee’s interests to create a “passion project” that advances the project and also enlarges the employee’s future plans and opportunities;
Participate in all scheduled program meetings and activities;
Provide weekly status updates either by phone or in writing; remain in regular contact with supervisor;
Co-host FAI trainings, dialogues, and gatherings; and
Other duties as assigned or necessary to support and sustain success for FAI.
General Performance Capacities Needed for Position
Perform varied tasks to ensure follow-through and completion, effectively multitask and prioritize;
Strong written and oral communication skills;
Work well across multiple initiatives and projects, in a team environment by understanding how to help contribute to the best possible outcome by working well with all other team members;
Be organized, friendly, and efficient;
Perform miscellaneous office duties in a professional and proficient manner including typing, filing, faxing, copying, and collating and distributing materials, etc.;
Be proactive in identifying and carrying out tasks needed to support the success of our work;
Be proactive in setting goals and deadlines to achieve efficiencies in work and service support;
Occasional travel as necessary to support the work; and
Be adaptable to a changing work environment in order to best support the collective work of FAI.
Skills/Knowledge
Strong commitment to the organization’s vision, mission, values and purpose and doing what is necessary to achieve it through this role and as a member of the FAI team;
Seeks opportunities to Indigenize our approach to projects, and finds ways to incorporate Indigenous values and ways of being into all aspects of our project-based work;
Highly organized and detail-oriented, able to manage and prioritize multiple tasks;
Exhibits excellent judgment and positive attitude in all aspects of this role, is tactful, ethical and trustworthy;
Comfortable with trying new approaches and flexible with organizational needs;
Strong writing, engagement, interpersonal and communication skills with a variety of audiences;
Self-starter with strong time management skills – must be able to work well both independently and as an integral member of a team;
Proficient with standard software such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook;
Open to humbly receiving direction, incorporating feedback, and working well under pressure;
Able to nurture relationships with other FAI staff and supporters, members of the community, other organizations and institutions;
Strong knowledge, appreciation, experience, and commitment to working with and for Alaska Native people and statewide Native organizations;
Strong knowledge, connection, and networking with entities and policy that impacts our Indigenous Ways of Life;
Knowledge of political, social organizations and the cultural ways of life of Alaska Native peoples and the communities and cultures we live and work in is preferred;
Willing to engage in personal inter-generational healing as it directly impacts the ability to be prepared for and do the work this role requires, and
Ability to work in and add to an Indigenous environment focused on perpetuating Alaska Native knowledges, identities, ways of life, spirit, languages, as well as other areas of indigenizing and decolonizing our organization and our outcomes through our vision and mission.
Education/Work Experience
Bachelor’s degree in relevant fields for the role is required as well as a minimum of 5 years of experience in project management, program creation and implementation, administrative, and experience in general coordination and team-based projects is necessary. We prefer experience and connection with Alaska Native communities, understanding of our unique political status, governance structures, cultural and language efforts and programming, inter-generational healing, racial equity and social justice experience or interest and ability to learn, as well as advocacy and organizing skills to help coordinate across a dynamic statewide Alaska Native organization and the work we do for and on behalf of our Native peoples. Strong creative, technical writing, and presentation skillspreferred. Equivalent experience and skills may be substituted for the bachelor’s degree and other requirements as deemed appropriate by FAI to fulfill the requirements of this role.
Equipment and License needs
All FAI staff must have reliable access to a personal cell phone, internet, and a valid state driver’s license to effectively work wherever they are.
To Apply
Submit a complete* application packet that includes the following:
Letter of interest
Current resume
Contact information for 3 professional references
*Incomplete application packets will not be considered. Please email your complete application packet to [email protected]with the subject “Indigenous Stewardship Fellow”.
Applications accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis until position is filled.
FAI is a dynamic organization changing as needed to best address its goals. This job description is representative of duties at a moment in time and is intended as a “living document” updated periodically to reflect changes in job responsibilities and/or emphasis. It is not intended or implied to be an employment contract but isa method of communication to explain responsibilities, advertise the job, identify performance measures and potential training needs.
