Gather Round: The Forum Blog

"The Perfect Place to be Vulnerable:" A Land Acknowledgement by AKHF Board Member Jayson Owens

Each Forum Board of Directors meeting opens with a Board member sharing a land acknowledgement. Last month, Board member Jayson Owens offered this poem as the opening acknowledgement, after researching his own family history.

“I Want the Program to Keep Evolving”: Reflections from Story Works Alaska Co-Founder Regan Brooks

Story Works Alaska, now in its second year at AKHF, has helped more than 6,500 students to share their stories since its founding in 2014. We talked with co-founder Regan Brooks about her experiences and hopes for the program.

"Alaska is Only a Good Fit if I’m Here for the Kids!"

In honor of National Mentoring Month, Amanda Cox, a C3 Program alum and educator in Dillingham, reflects on serving as a Near Peer Mentor for this year's cohort of C3 educators in the Bristol Bay Region.

"This Can Be the Most Powerful Part of the Entire Program": Mentorship in Leadership Anchorage

January is National Mentoring Month, and we’re uplifting some of our favorite stories of mentorship from Forum programs. In this post we meet Esbei Arurang (LA Cohort 27) and his program Mentor, Paul (Bear) Barendregt.

The Journey from For-Profit to Non-Profit: AKHF’s VP of Operations Reflects on Two Years at the Forum

Ryan Ossenkop started as Vice President of Operations at the Alaska Humanities Forum in November 2022. Here, he looks back at his first two years in the nonprofit sector - and what makes the Forum feel like the Forum.

"An Amazing Gift of Curiosity": A Conversation About Storytelling with Filmmaker Rafael Bitanga

AKHF's Shoshi Bieler spoke with filmmaker Rafael Bitanga to learn more about why he tells stories through film and the people who have supported him along the way.