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I’m really concerned for Alaska’s economy and the fiscal uncertainty of our state, that it
might mean more pressure or less funding or fewer programs – or larger classroom sizes that can essentially take away the beauty and the spirit of the
importance of good education.
Top and Middle: Originally from Aniak, Ellie Wright is the camp administrative assistant for the Donlin Gold project, where she’s responsible for purchasing, coordinating travel schedules, and assigning living quarters.
Bottom: A member of the Orutsaramiut Native Council and a Bethel Native Corporation and Calista Corporation shareholder, Donna Bach has worked on salmon escapement and weir projects on the tributaries
of the Kuskokwim for the Alaska State Department of Fish & Game, as a schoolteacher in the Lower Kuskokwim School District, and for the Yukon- Kuskokwim Health Corporation in Bethel.
climate change and limited job opportunities. And although Donlin can’t do anything about climate change directly, there are opportunities that arise from the project.
One of the things that I am hoping for is that our young men and women of the Calista region will take advantage of our employment opportunities – not only at Donlin, but all of the opportunities that exist out there. One of the means of achieving that is to gain knowledge – education – because education will open the doors for meaningful employment.
Some of the advice that I give young people is to be perseverant. Figure out what you want out of life and work towards it. Stay away from drugs and alcohol. Choose a good life, get that education, and work. It’s maybe stepping out of your comfort zone, but it’s worth it in the long run.
I have two small children, three and five, and I want to ensure that the future is bright for them.
When we talk about what we’re doing to make our shareholders’ lives better, we’re thinking not only in the present, but also in the future. What can we put in place to make sure that they can be whoever they want to be?
When I think about potential development and potential opportunities, I’m really thinking about my boys’ future, the future of my niece in Bethel, or my cousin in Stony River.
It’s our opportunities, it’s all of our joint opportunities that we think about every day, and the decisions we make every day not only for our Corporation, but
also with our partners, because it’s so important to provide them with a better world than we came into. It’s through opportunities and ensuring that they have that strong connection to their past, but also a really bright future, because it’s that foundation in the past that will make them strong and give them a path into the future.
NG 45
VOICES
Nelson Angapak, Sr.
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Donna Bach
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Andrea Gusty
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Gage Hoffman
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Teresa Simeon-Hunter
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Ellie Wright
I think a lot about our future, especially for our kids and grandkids. I want them to still have what we have today, all the foods and all the berries and all the fish.
I see a lot of hardworking Alaskans skilled in all sorts of trades. They’re carpenters, heavy equipment operators, airplane pilots; they’re putting in lighting or windmills, they’re technicians working on fiber optics. I think that there’s just a lot of potential, especially in our infrastructure-strapped state. There’s such a need in growing career fields like journeymen, electricians, welders, plumbers. There’s a plethora of vocations that a young person can choose that shouldn’t be limited to just an academic degree.
I’m concerned for the future of the villages in this region. Two major things that are affecting them are