Regional
Association
laska Native corporations (ANCs) are as diverse as the Alaska Native shareholders and communities they represent, all with varying interests. An organization works behind the scenes to support ANCs in areas where those interests intersect; it started to come together after the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was half as old as it is now.
In 1997, a group of Alaska Native regional corporation leaders came together to discuss the unique advantages of creating a forum where they could collaborate on issues they had in common. They agreed that, given the differences in purpose, structure, and mandates among ANCs and other organizations representing Alaska Native people, they must discuss and respond to the common challenges faced by Alaska Native regional corporations.
This group included Carl Marrs, Cook Inlet Region, Incorporated; Michael Brown, Bristol Bay Native Corporation; Oliver Leavitt, Arctic Slope Regional Corporation; Dennis Metrokin, Koniag; and Morris Thompson, Doyon, Limited. These Alaska Native leaders understood that while the twelve regional corporations operated different businesses, they also had similarities and there were many common issues that affected ANCs and Alaska as a whole.
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The original five worked to bring in the other Alaska Native regional corporation presidents and CEOs. In 1998, the Association of ANCSA Regional Corporation Presidents and CEOs held its first official meeting. In 2011, the organization rebranded as ARA to better reflect the organization’s purpose and membership.
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The original five worked to bring in the other Alaska Native regional corporation presidents and CEOs. In 1998, the Association of ANCSA Regional Corporation Presidents and CEOs held its first official meeting. In 2011, the organization rebranded as ARA to better reflect the organization’s purpose and membership.
Reitmeier has led ARA since 2011. Reitmeier is Sugpiaq; a shareholder of Koniag and Ouzinkie Native Corporation; and a member of the Sun’aq Tribe of Kodiak. She also served as a co-chair of the PFD Voter Registration ballot initiative effort.
Get Out the Native Vote encourages Alaska Native people to exercise their right to vote and connects them with resources to register and stay informed on issues. ARA also seeks to educate the public and business communities in Alaska and the rest of the country about Alaska Native regional corporations and the unique purposes they serve.
ARA continues to be the primary forum for the Alaska Native regional corporations to unite on key issues, bringing together CEOs and management teams to discuss the problems of crucial significance. With the resources and expertise of twelve diversified corporations to draw from, ARA helps lead the way in finding solutions to complex problems.
More recently, a considerable misinterpretation of law led lower courts to deny ANCs from receiving COVID-related aid, which would have resulted in many Alaska Native people and communities not receiving crucial assistance this year.
“ARA helped build a multifaceted coalition of advocates, including the Alaska Native Village Corporation Association, to fight for recognition of Alaska Native people in the distribution of CARES Act pandemic relief funding,” Reitmeier says.
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Fifty years ago, ANCSA corporations formed in the absence of a forum for cooperation. But moving forward, they will have ARA behind the scenes, continuing efforts to benefit Alaska Native communities, shareholders, and descendants.
“Over the next fifty years, ANCs will face many new challenges, and the ANCSA Regional Association provides a powerful, flexible framework that we can use to advocate on behalf of our shareholders, descendants, and communities,” Reitmeier says. “We are excited to see what new opportunities lie ahead and look forward to learning from one another and collaborating to advance the wellbeing of Alaska Native people everywhere.”