Sealaska Supports Alaska Native Students with Record Scholarship Amount

Nicole George, previous Board Youth Advisor, presented Michael Cesar with a scholarship for the 2018-19 school year at Juneau-Douglas High School last year. More than 350 students are receiving a scholarship from Sealaska this year.

Sealaska is awarding a record $940,000 in academic scholarships for the 2019-20 school year. This is nearly $175,000 more than the previous year, continuing a trend of growth from Sealaska’s scholarship endowment fund.

More than 350 Alaska Native students from 155 communities received the merit-based scholarships for attending community colleges, four-year universities and vocational schools. The average scholarship was nearly $2500 this year, with academic performance determining a student’s individual scholarship amount.

“We are proud to invest in the hard work and vision of students in our community,” said Sealaska Board Chair Joe Nelson. “These are the next generation of leaders, creating value through their collaborative efforts far into the future.”

Last year and for the first time in our history, Sealaska increased the scholarship endowment by $10 million to a total of $15.7 million. At that time, Sealaska awarded nearly $800,000 in scholarships, nearly double the dollar amount awarded in 2017. We expect that number to continue to increase.

“2018 was another record year for Sealaska’s financial performance,” said CEO Anthony Mallott. “Adding to the scholarship endowment fund was the first step in increasing our education and career development opportunities for our shareholders and their families.”

Learn more about the scholarships administered by Sealaska Heritage Institute at MySealaska.com/Services/Scholarship.

Shareholders can view Sealaska’s financial performance in our 2018 annual report at MySealaska.com/Services/AnnualReports.