Influencing public policy: Alaska nonprofits inspire, educate and advocate.

• Author: White, Michele
• Position: SPECIAL SECTION: Philanthropy in Alaska

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Alaska's many nonprofit organizations are not limited to charitable foundations. In a state rich in natural resources, there are many groups whose work is to feed the minds of Alaskans and represent their interests in relation to those resources.

Two such nonprofit institutions were founded by former governors. Governor Walter Hickel founded the Institute of the North, which is an international organization that participates in activities around the circumpolar north.

"Currently our mission is to inform public policy and cultivate an engaged citizenry consistent with our focus on the north and belief that commonly owned resources should be managed for individual and community prosperity," says Nils Andreassen, executive director of the Institute of the North.

To that end, the institute frames its work within three programs.

The first is focused on Arctic policy and infrastructure and development.

One example is its work with the Pacific Northwest Economic Region Arctic Caucus--a collaboration between Alaska, Yukon and the Northwest Territories.

PNWER Arctic Caucus meets annually as a means of identifying those three jurisdictions' priorities in terms of northern living and economic development.

"People come away more informed," says Andreassen, "and that education goes into pubic policy at the same time there's an action attached to the priorities."

The Institute is also involved with Arctic Council projects with all eight of the other arctic nations: Russia, Canada, Denmark, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland.

"We're working on a project that looks at marine and aviation response capacity for emergencies and also for community and economic development," he says.

Its second focus is on Alaska resource governance and economic development.

"One of our interests is how do we use great energy wealth to address energy poverty," says Andreassen.

To foster conversations that address this and other critical issues facing the state, the Institute hosts an Alaska Dialogue every fall.

The Institute's third focus is providing civic engagement opportunities for the next generation of Alaska leaders. One of its future projects is called an Investment Inquiry. It's an outreach to young leaders between the ages of 21 and 40 who are interested in Alaska's competitiveness and investment environment.

The institute will bring together a group of about 20 professionals from all industries in order to inform them about these issues and discuss their questions.

Commonwealth North

The Institute of the North's sister organization is Commonwealth North, which was founded by former governors Walter Hickel and William Egan in 1979.

"Traditionally...