Education and Empowerment: Alaska Native scholarships and training advance culture, heritage, future.

AuthorBohi, Heidi
PositionALASKA NATIVE BUSINESS

A self-described geek, Blake Beatty was always a solid student. Even in his free time, he was more likely to play computer games with his other academic friends than hang out in one of the local Kenai parking lots. "It's who I was," he says.

When a near-fatal car accident left him with a broken back and other health complications, Beatty was forced to drop out of Kenai High School his freshman year; he earned his GED a year after his classmates graduated and began working in Soldotna. He was ashamed of not graduating with his class, and the ensuing series of odd jobs were doing nothing to build his selfesteem as he bounced from pizza and furniture delivery to big box retail, all while watching as his friends began graduating from college.

"I have to move on," he remembers saying to himself one day. "I have to do something more."

Not knowing about scholarships and training programs, Beatty never thought he would be able to afford a four-year degree. He registered for school full-time at Kenai Peninsula College and bartended at night to pay for his classes. But it had been years since he had been in a classroom. Terrified, and with no other financial or emotional support, his self-fulfilling prophecy was realized and he dropped the computer electronics class that was going to be the springboard for his career in computer electronics.

The CIRI Foundation

"Always ask for help. If you feel like you are floundering, not understanding, stuck--ask someone. You aren't in this educational journey alone."

As President and CEO for The CIRI Foundation (TCP), Susan Anderson has been offering this advice to TCF shareholders and direct lineal descendants like Beatty for eighteen of the organization's thirty-five years. Established by Cook Inlet Region, Inc. (CIRI), one of Alaska's twelve Alaska Native regional corporations with more than 8,800 shareholders, TCF is one of several programs offered through Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs) and other Alaska Native entities that provide educational and training scholarships to high school graduates. Anderson, who has a master's degree in education, is a program alumnus herself, as are all TCF staff. She likens her job to being a "fairy godmother every day" as she connects individuals and organizations to both raise and distribute TCF money.

In addition to creating jobs for shareholders, one of the long-term goals of many ANCs is to be Alaska Native-managed. To help meet this goal, all twelve of the regional corporations and many of the other ANCs have some form of trust like the foundation, though CIRI's $60 million endowment, which funds the foundation, is the largest and one of the oldest. Last year, TCF distributed $2.1 million to scholarship applicants, and this year it is expected to award just over this amount. Since CIRI's inception, it has awarded more than $30 million in 16,000 awards to individuals, organizations, and businesses that advance Alaska Native people.

"Education is the best dividend you can pay anybody," Anderson says of the original thinking behind the program's development. "It is one of the most lasting benefits for individuals because nobody can ever take that away from you--and it changes your personal and family trajectory."

Money is just part of the story, though. Aside from contributing to...

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