The AKPIRG Advocate, December 2023
A Year in Review:
Our 2023 Impact & End of Year Reflections
This year at AKPIRG, we’ve focused on building strong teams. Our organization continues to grow, and we’ve developed systems and practices to stay connected and foster meaningful working relationships with each other. In our 2023 Impact Summary, we present just a few of AKPIRG's highlights from this year — each of our programs has accomplished a lot, and we’re so excited to share some of our wins with you. And, be sure to check out our upcoming 2023 Annual Report for a full breakdown of our year!
Veri di Suvero
Executive Director
As 2023 draws to a close and the dark winter begins to sink its teeth in, AKPIRG staff and board members have been reflecting on our year and solidifying our visions for the year to come. 2023 has been a year of remarkable growth for our humble organization, and we are all so grateful to continue earning your trust and your support as we strive for a more just and equitable Alaska together.
From writing public comments, to showing up at events, to donating — we could not do this work without you. This year alone, contributions from our Alaskan neighbors have been crucial to settling dozens of payday loans, shaping the vision of internet access locally and nationally, taking on corrupt actors in our state and local government, starting bilingual citizenship classes and far more. If you chipped in this year, thank you! If you haven't yet made a donation to AKPIRG in 2023, there's still a few weeks left to contribute!
Thank you for being with us in this movement.
To make a donation, visit:
From the AKPIRG Archives:
"Buying Green for the Holidays"
In the spirit of Giving Season, we want to share a holiday message from the AKPIRG Archives. In 1994, we joined with USPIRG to distribute a guide to “Buying Green for the Holidays.” Tips included buying organic ingredients for your holiday feast, recycling the Sunday comics for wrapping, and gifting memberships to environmental organizations.
As the era of globalization rapidly expanded and consumers faced more one-time use products than ever before, AKPIRG guided consumers toward eco-friendly choices amid the consumerist holiday rush. Today, we recognize the key to reducing our carbon footprint lies in holding government and corporations accountable, rather than placing the biggest focus on individual consumers.
We hope that this year, you support organizations like ours, speak out against systems contributing to the climate crisis, and if possible, continue to "buy green."
Stay tuned for more highlights from the AKPIRG Archives during our 50th Anniversary year in 2024!
To learn more about how we're working toward a reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy future in Alaska, visit:
AKPIRG Staff Retreat
Last month as the snow piled up, AKPIRG staff gathered in Anchorage for our annual Staff Retreat!
For three whole days, we learned about who we are as people and as an organization, we celebrated last years' wins, and we looked ahead to our goals for 2024 and beyond. We shared many meals, we went through a massive number of sticky notes, and we emerged feeling more grounded in our values and supported by each other in our work.
AKPIRG staff are feeling reenergized to work toward:
✅ transparent and accountable government systems
✅ robust language accessibility
✅ affordable and reliable broadband for all
✅ compassionate, people-centered economic policy
✅ an affordable, reliable, and renewable energy future
Let's get to work! To learn about our work and to get involved, visit:
Comment on Alaska's Digital Equity Plan by Dec. 9
What is digital equity, what is in Alaska's Digital Equity Plan, and what can YOU do to help make digital equity a reality in Alaska? 📡🙌
The Alaska Broadband Office recently released their draft Digital Equity Plan for the state of Alaska, which outlines how the state will distribute the billions of dollars in federal funding to achieve digital equity in our state.
The digital divide in Alaska is dramatic. Alaska ranks 51st in BroadbandNow’s annual rankings internet coverage, speed and availability, and 80% of Alaskans cannot get broadband at an affordable price ($60/month or less excluding promotions and government programs). In a world where access to internet is increasingly necessary to navigate education, health care, and social connection, this disparity is unacceptable and must be corrected.
The Digital Equity Plan affirms that the state of Alaska has a responsibility to take action to protect your Digital Equity Rights. We have to hold them accountable to this.
To read the full Digital Equity Plan and make a comment, visit the Alaska Broadband Office website:
AKPIRG Language Champion:
Qaivaralria Rosalie Lincoln
It’s time to celebrate another AKPIRG Language Champion! In this series, we are highlighting the abundant work being done around the state to maintain, preserve, and revitalize Alaska Native Languages. This month, Qaivaralria Rosalie Lincoln is AKPIRG’s Language Champion!
“Kituuciqa qanrutekqataraqa yugtun piyaramcetun nutem. Aatairutma Nurataam Qaluyaarmiunguluni aanairutma-llu Cupugniralriim Caputnguarmiunguluni yukaagnga. Angakayagaugua atma-llu aipaa Qaivaralria. Nunakauyarmiunguunga. I am going to introduce myself the way Yup’ik people traditionally do. I am a child of my late father, Phillip Moses of Nelson Island, and my late mother, Maria Moses from Chefornak. My name is Qaivaralria Rosalie Lincoln of Toksook Bay.”
Qaivaralria Rosalie Lincoln’s first language is Yugtun, and she has been a bilingual Yup’ik educator for over 30 years. In that time, she has written several children’s books in Yugtun, she has taught students learning Yup’ik for the first time, and she has taught Yup’ik orthography to fluent speakers. For the past 8 years, Qaivaralria has been involved in a Yup’ik Expect Group (YEG), developing a new Yugtun Piciryaranek Qaneryaranek-llu Cuqyun (Yup’ik Culture and Language Measurement), writing language assessments for K-6th grade and 7th-12th grade students in the Lower Kuskokwim School District. Rosalie has been an AKPIRG Language Panelist since 2019, and created art for the COVID-19 language translation project, as well.
Looking to the future, Qaivaralria told us, “my vision is to show people everywhere how powerful and unique our indigenous languages are through this work. Our languages are alive and well through a lot of adults, many of whom are parents, grandparents, and elders in different regions of Alaska. I hope communities work together to maintain, preserve, and revitalize our indigenous languages.”
We thank Rosalie for working to keep the Yugtun language alive across generations in her community, and for her work as an AKPIRG Language Panelist. Quyana!
#LanguageMatters #LanguageChampions #AKPIRGLanguageAccess
To learn more about Qaivaralria and to hear her introduce herself in Yugtun, visit:
AETP: Call for Citizen-Journalists
If you live in the Railbelt region, from the bottom of the Kenai Peninsula north to Fairbanks, and you pay an electric bill, you almost certainly get your power from an electric cooperative. These cooperatives are owned by us, their member-owners, and are supposed to work in our best interests. Making sure they do requires informed and engaged members who can let the cooperatives’ elected boards of directors know how they feel about key questions and elect board members who reflect their values.
The Alaska Energy Transparency Project (AETP) exists to help inform the member-owners of Alaskan electric cooperatives about the key issues facing them and the decisions and policies that will shape Alaska’s energy future. We want to reduce the barriers to engagement and help explain pressing issues in a way that is accessible to people who care about their communities, but don’t have the time to attend meetings, decipher technical reports, or learn to navigate Alaska’s regulatory bureaucracy.
AETP needs volunteer citizen-journalists to expand its coverage of Alaska’s electric power sector.
Anyone with a passion for helping their community and strengthening democratic self-control of our cooperatives who can spare a little time to help inform others about these important issues can be a citizen-journalist!
Have questions? Story ideas? Interested in getting involved? Get in touch with AETP's editor, Brian Kassof, at brian@akpirg.org, or learn more on AETP's website:
