Koniag: Values first and poised for growth.

• Author: Anderson, Tasha
• Position: TOP 49ERS SPECIAL SECTION / KONIAG

This marks the fifth consecutive year of profitability for Koniag, a record of success that Senior Director of Shareholder Services Stacey Simmons attributes to the effort of Koniag's Board of Directors and leadership team to work together to make informed decisions, weighing industry data and research with the input and opinions from the regional corporation's shareholders.

"Koniag does a phenomenal job communicating with our shareholders, but we are always looking to do more," Simmons says, an endeavor that she facilities through her role on a daily basis.

Born into Koniag

Simmons is a shareholder and the daughter of two of Koniag's original shareholders; as a youth she spent time in Anchorage, Old Harbor, and Sitka, where her father was a commercial fisherman. While in Sitka she connected with an international leadership program called Up With People, through which she traveled across the United States and to international locations including Canada, Europe, Mexico, and Japan. "[The tour group] was about 150 people representing twenty-two different countries, and it was this great force of young voices from all over the world that came together... promoting peace and understanding."

Like many who feel the subtle tug of the Last Frontier, while on the road she realized that she wanted to end up living on Kodiak Island. "When traveling I knew I wanted to come home," she says. After returning to Alaska, she worked for the Kodiak Area Native Association and the Sun'aq Tribe before pursing an education with the aid of a scholarship from the Koniag Education Foundation, graduating from the University of Alaska Fairbanks with a bachelor's degree in rural development. Shortly thereafter her current position at Koniag became available. "I was so excited at the opportunity. I've been at Koniag for three years and this is definitely a role that I take a lot of pride in. I feel like this was a long journey that started at birth and came full-circle."

As the senior director of shareholder services, the majority of Simmons' daily work revolves around building, improving, and maintaining various lines of communication with Koniag's shareholders. She organizes informational meetings for shareholders, attends shareholder committee meetings, organizes and attends events like holiday parties and picnics, oversees shareholder records, and coordinates community service projects within the region. On top of that, she manages Koniag's social media presence...