By Acee Agoyo
Shareholders of
Sealaska, an
Alaska Native regional corporation, elected four people to the board of directors at their annual meeting on Saturday.
Jodi Mitchell, Michael Beasley, Richard Rinehart and Barbara Blake earned the most votes at the meeting, which took place at the Dena’ina Center in Anchorage. The winning candidates will each serve three-year terms, Sealaska said.
Blake's victory is notable in that she is the
first shareholder descendant to win a seat on the corporation's governing body. She's also the youngest ever to serve on the board.
“It is an incredible moment in Sealaska history to witness the first shareholder descendant elected to the board. It’s been twelve years since we voted in Anchorage to enroll the descendants into Sealaska,” Sealaska Chair Joe Nelson said in a
news release.
Mitchell, Rinehart and Blake were among the candidates endorsed by the Sealaska board. A fourth endorsed candidate, Jackie Pata, did not secure enough votes to retain her seat.
“I am forever grateful for outgoing director Jackie Pata’s 20 years of service and guidance to Sealaska,” said Nelson. “I know her leadership will continue to positively impact our Native communities.”
Pata, who is a citizen of the
Tlingit and
Haida Tribes, recently
resigned as executive director of the
National Congress of American Indians following an internal investigation into her
handling of a #MeToo scandal and other complaints of employee misconduct. She held the position for a record 18 years, a term that coincided with her
service on the Sealaska board.
After her announcing her departure from NCAI, whose headquarters are in Washington, D.C., Pata was hired as the president and chief executive officer of the
Tlingit-Haida Regional Housing Authority in Alaska.
"It is my time," Pata said during the
Tlingit-Haida's 48th annual assembly in Juneau in April . "It is my privilege to come home."
A sufficient number of shareholders in Sealaska, representing the
Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian peoples, did not appear to share the same sentiment. Pata came in dead last in the election on Saturday.
Following the vote, the board met and reaffirmed the positions of Chair Joe Nelson and Vice Chair Jodi Mitchell.
With more than 22,000 shareholders, Sealaska is the largest Alaska Native regional corporation in terms of shareholders. Its
business portfolio focuses on natural resources, land management, environmental services and seafood.
The firm
distributed nearly $32 million in dividends this spring, an increase of 72 percent from the year prior. Sealaska forecasts continued growth for the next few years.
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