2015-2017
Arctic Youth Ambassadors

Alex Jorgensen

Alex Jorgensen is a graduate of Polaris K-12 School in Anchorage, AK and has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Government.

Alex joined the program and used the opportunity to gain more knowledge about rural Alaskan communities and to make connections to his experience. Alex has experience with videography and photography and during his time as an Arctic Youth Ambassador he helped to produce a short film about the community of Shishmaref.

Byron Nicolai

Byron Nicholai is Yup’ik from Toksook Bay, Alaska. He became well known thorughout Alaska for his I Sing. You Dance. Facebook page where he shared songs from his culture. He’s since expanded to creating his own music, often rapping in Yugtun (the Yup’ik language).

Throughout his cohort, Byron advocated for his culture and spent time sharing it with many others. Through his growth and rise as a Yugtun musician, he made it a priority to share about his community

Chelsea Brower

Chelsea Brower is Iñupiaq from Kaktovik, Alaska. She was a member of the Kaktovik Youth Ambassadors where she taught others about her culture and polar bear safety.

As an Ambassador, Chelsea shared about life in Kaktovik and made connections with other Ambassadors, comparing the differences in their home communities.

Grace Garcia

Grace Garcia (Ongtowasruk) is Iñupiaq from Teller, Alaska. During her time in the AYA program, Grace was in high school and excelled in sports.

As an Ambassador, Grace pursued many opportunities to engage in other communities, including a basketball camp for Native youth.

Cade Terada

Cade Emory Terada is a Japanese-American from Unalaska, Alaska. He holds a BA in Political Science and Government from Hunter College with a concentration in Africana, Puerto Rican, and Latino Studies.

During his time in the program, Cade took advantage of numberous opportunities to learn about the Arctic and engage in conversations about how climate change is affecting his home community, specifically the fishing industry. He loves sharing about the time he met Sylvia Earle.

Christina Edwin

Christina Edwin is Athabascan from Anchorage, Alaska. She holds a Bachelor's of Arts in Rural Development from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where she is also enrolled in a masters program.

Christina has worked on projects around traditional hunting practices and has said she wants to work on more projects where environmentalism and cultural knowledge intersect.

Griffin Plush

From Seward, Griffin Plush spent his childhood on the trails of Exit Glacier and the waters of Resurrection Bay with family, where he later worked for eight seasons as a naturalist and park ranger in Kenai Fjords National Park. Inspired by grassroots activists around the state and the urgency of issues like the climate crisis, in high school Griffin became an organizer with Alaska Youth for Environmental Action (AYEA), where he found a passion for activism as a tool to build communities and protect their clean air and water. He worked with young people across the state to lead AYEA's statewide campaigns on local foods, Pebble Mine, and climate change which culminated in successfully convincing Governor Walker to instate a climate team with a designated youth seat. He was also one of the fifteen young plaintiffs demanding the State of Alaska acknowledge and address climate change in Alaska's most recent climate trust lawsuit, Sagoonick v. Alaska.

As he transitioned into his freshman year at the University of Alaska Southeast, Griffin joined the first cohort of AYA and had the opportunity to learn from and work with people around the state as they engaged in the first months of the U.S. chairmanship of the Arctic Council. He attended the early GLACIER Conference, hearing President Obama speak about the Arctic and helping program staff consider what the growing AYA program might look like. Along with other ambassadors with experience in youth-led activism, he was grateful to help the program become a principled, youth driven, effort to share young voices from around Alaska in addition to a great opportunity for personal growth and connection.

Since his cohort, Griffin has continued to stay involved in statewide work. He graduated from the University of Alaska Southeast in 2019 and worked several sessions in the Alaska Capitol; the same building where he first found his voice as an AYEA teen. At the 2021 Conference of Young Alaskans, he connected with other young people from around Alaska to discuss the issues facing the state. This growing interest in the importance of good and empowered local governance to building sustainable communities in the Arctic has led him into his current work as the Member Support Coordinator with the Alaska Municipal League.

Brianna Riley

Brianna Riley is Inupiaq from Kiana, Alaska. She is a graduate of Kiana High School and enjoys participating in cultural activities and sharing her knowledge with others (including her love for baking!).

Brianna used her time in the Arctic Youth Ambassadors Program to learn more about other communities similar to hers and to make connections outside of her community. She found a lot of similarities between different Arctic cultures.

Barae Hirsch

Barae is from Anchorage, Alaska. She is a fierce advocate for many issues she is passionate about. Barae is a graduate of West Anchorage High School and attended school at John Hopkins University.

During Barae’s time in the AYA program, she spent time buildng her network and advocating for issues prevalent to young Alaskans. She engaged in meetings specific to learn more about policy and utilized her experience growing up in Anchorage.

Carter Price

Carter Price is Unangax from the island of Unalaska. He is pursuing a degree from the Alaska Pacific University to study Place-Based Education. Carter is now married, and has a child who he gets to pass down his culture to.

During the first cohort, Carter participated in opportunities to learn more about his culture through sharing knowledge. He credits the program for his decision to study place-based education, so he can focus on Indigenous youth and protect the future of our cultures.

James Chilcote

James is Gwich’in Athabascan and was raised in Vashraii K’oo (Arctic Village). He moved to Fairbanks in the 8th grade, and graduated from Effie Kokrine Early College Charter School, a public school grounded in Alaska Native cultural beliefs and values for students looking for a small school focusing on rigorous academics, an early start to college, and individual and contemporary knowledge. He is happy he made the decision to get an education in Fairbanks, because, as he says, “living two different lives at such an early age has helped him a lot.” He is an advocate for his ancestors’ way of life and the Porcupine Caribou Herd stating, “My dream and goal in life is to keep this place safe.” James attended the Inter Tribal Youth Climate Leadership Congress at the US Fish and Wildlife National Conservation Training Center in West Virginia in 2015. He also played basketball in high school.

Jannelle Trowbridge

Jannelle Trowbridge is a musher from Nome Alaska. Born in Grand Rapids Michigan with her family of four, she sailed through the Northwest Passage on 30 foot wooden sailboat. By chance, they landed in Nome. In nome, Jannelle was involved within the Nome Native Youth Leadership Organization and Sister School Exchange. She holds a B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Alaska Anchorage, where she was involved in the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program (ANSEP).

Jannelle now works for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a Wildlife Biologist for the Togiak National Wildlife Refuge in Dillingham, Alaska.

Jonas Mackenzie

Jonas Mackenzie is Iñupiaq from Kaktovik, Alaska. He learned how to play guitar and sing and enjoys covering rock-n-roll or old country songs.

In high school, Jonas was a part of the Kaktovik Youth Ambassadors, a program designed for local teens to educate tourists on Kaktovik history, culture, and polar bear safety. He continued sharing about his culture and knowledge of polar bears throughout his time as an Arctic Youth Ambassador.

Keemuel Kenrud

Keemuel Kenrud is Yup'ik from Togiak, Alaska. He entered the AYA Program while he was employed as a Refuge Information Technician for the Togiak National Wildlife Refuge. He grew up learing to hunt from his grandfather, who also taught him how to respect the land that provides.

During his time as an Arctic Youth Ambassador, Keemuel shared his experience as a young Native man whose family relies heavily on subsistence hunting. On one trip to Washington D.C., Keemuel presented and broke down the cost of a moose steak versus a store-bought beef steak which amazed the audience and showed Keemuel's great talent of storytelling and getting information across to people of different cultures.

Kimberly Pikok

Kimberly Kivvaq Pikok is Iñupiaq fisher from Utqiaġvik, Alaska. She is the granddaughter of Tommy Nipik and Rhoda Kivvaq Pikok. She comes from a fishing family that loves to spend time inland hunting and camping. She enjoys camping and fishing at Pikok Camp, learning about Arctic vegetation, and traveling to different places to learn about different communities, ecology, wildlife, and culture.

Her love for nature and science inspired her to travel to different places and learn how to connect and build relationships with the people she meets and even with the land and animals around her. She graduated from the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) in 2021 with a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Biology and is now a graduate student at UAF in the Interdisciplinary Studies program researching Utqiaġvik’s seasonal changes in spring whaling by centering local hunter and whaler observations and knowledge from the Alaska Arctic Observatory and Knowledge Hub database (AAOKH), conducting interviews, and using community-based research methods. During her time at UAF, being a graduate student researcher for AAOKH, spending time camping and hunting, participating in the Fresh Tracks program, and interning at the North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management, she learned how important it is to have and center Indigenous people and youth in all aspects of research and in the decision-making process. Kim is always full of excitement, laughter, and smiles especially if she can teach people about camping, Arctic plants and animals, and Indigenous-led research.

Macy Kenworthy

Macy Rae Kenworthy (Iñupiaqsisiga Kikiktagruk) is Iñupiaq from Qikiqtagruk (Kotzebue) & Sisualik, Alaska. Her parents are Clara Henry and Otto Kenworthy Sr., both from Kotzebue.

Macy is a 2014 graduate of Mt. Edgecumbe High School, a boarding school in Sitka, Alaska. She is a graduate of the University of Alaska Fairbanks with her Bachelor’s in Psychology with a minor in Digital Journalism and works full time at the Alaska Conservation Foundation. Macy now works with the program as coordinating staff.

Macy grew up learning traditional ways of life with her family. Her family relies heavily on the land which has stemmed her interest in climate change advocacy. Macy is also an active advocate for culturally relevent and place-based education, which was her platform during her 2017 reign as Miss Arctic Circle. The Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) recognized Macy’s work, presenting her the Lu Young Youth Leadership award in 2017.

Marieana Larsen

Marieana Larsen is Unangax̂ from Sand Point, Alaska and is a part of the Agdaadux Tribe of King Cove. She studied at the University of Alaska Southeast and the University of Alaska Anchorage. She currently resides in Anchorage.

Rebecca Estrin

Rebecca Estrin is Tlingit from Ketchikan, Alaska. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Indigenous & American Indian Studies from Haskell Indian Nations University.

Rebecca showed her love for adventure and her community during her time as an Arctic Youth Ambassador. She often shared about her experience growing up Native in Southeast Alaska and was always excited to learn something new.

Reth Duir

Reth is a first generation American whose parents emigrated from South Sudan in 1994 to the United States. He spent most of his early childhood in the midwest and later moved to Anchorage, Alaska. Reth was a part of the Arctic Youth Ambassadors first program cohort, through his experience he was able to raise awareness of life and the challenges communities are facing in the US’s Arctic, “Alaska,” and has helped lead and grow youth programs with a goal of making public lands more accessible and relevant to all Alaskans.

He now lives in Tacoma, Washington and works for the Alaska Conservation Foundation as staff of the Arctic Youth Ambassadors program.

Sam Tocktoo

Sam Tocktoo is Iñupiaq from Shishmaref, Alaska on the Northwest coast of the Seward Peninsula. Sam has worked on a few projects to tell the story of Shishmaref, a village that is rapidly eroding.

Sam quickly became a friend to the AYAs through his humor. Sam always centered his experience and knowledge in his conversations and shared what he knew to others.

Willie Drake

Willie Drake is Yup'ik from Pitka's Point, Alaska. He graduated from Mt. Edgecumbe High School, a state-run boarding school in Sitka, Alaska in 2015. Willie attended the University of Alaska Anchorage and works for the Southcentral Foundation in Anchorage. Willie is known by his friends in the cohort for his smile and ability to bring joy into any space. During his time as an Arctic Youth Ambassador, Willie made many connections with everyone he met.