Valerie Davidson | |
---|---|
Nurr'araaluk Amillamarnan | |
President of Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium | |
Assumed office March 9, 2021 | |
Preceded by | Andy Teuber |
President of Alaska Pacific University | |
In office April 25,2020 –March 9,2021 | |
Preceded by | Bob Onders |
Succeeded by | Bob Onders (interim) |
13th Lieutenant Governor of Alaska | |
In office October 16,2018 –December 3,2018 | |
Governor | Bill Walker |
Preceded by | Byron Mallott |
Succeeded by | Kevin Meyer |
Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services | |
In office December 1,2014 –October 16,2018 | |
Governor | Bill Walker |
Preceded by | William Streur |
Succeeded by | Jay Butler |
Personal details | |
Born | Bethel,Alaska,U.S. | May 19,1967
Political party | Democratic |
Education | University of Alaska Southeast (BA) University of New Mexico (JD) |
Valerie Nurr'araaluk Davidson [nb 1] (born May 19,1967 [2] ) is an American politician who briefly served as the 13th lieutenant governor of Alaska,from October to December 2018. She was sworn in after Byron Mallott's abrupt resignation from the post on October 16,2018. In April 2020,Davidson became the 12th president of Alaska Pacific University. She is the first woman to serve as president of the university. [3] In March 2021,Davidson became interim president of Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. [4]
Davidson was born in Bethel,Alaska. Her mother is Yup'ik,and her father is originally from Port Orchard,Washington. [1] She grew up both in Bethel and the nearby Aniak. Davidson is an enrolled tribal member of the Orutsararmiut Native Council. [5]
In 1992,Davidson graduated from University of Alaska Southeast with a Bachelor of Education. [6] Davidson also holds a degree in law from the University of New Mexico,obtained in 1998. [7] [6] [2] After she graduated,she worked as a lawyer for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. [2]
Davidson has previously served as Senior Director of Legal &Intergovernmental Affairs for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, [6] and as Chair of the Tribal Technical Advisory Group to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for ten years. [8] Part of her work there included getting veterans in rural areas access to healthcare through tribal clinics,and creating rural dental clinic programs employing mid-level dental professionals to improve access to dental care. [9]
In December 2014,Davidson was appointed Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services. [10] [9] During her tenure there,she worked on Alaska's Medicaid expansion alongside Governor Walker. [2]
On October 16,2018,Davidson was sworn in as lieutenant governor after an emergency cabinet meeting in the wake of Byron Mallott's resignation. [11] She is Alaska’s first female Alaska Native lieutenant governor. [12] Upon being sworn in,she briefly became the running mate of incumbent Governor Bill Walker in his 2018 re-election campaign before he dropped out of the race on October 19. [13] [14]
In April 2020,Davidson became the 12th president of Alaska Pacific University. She is the first woman to serve as president of the university. [3]
The Yupik are a group of indigenous or aboriginal peoples of western, southwestern, and southcentral Alaska and the Russian Far East. They are related to the Inuit and Iñupiat. Yupik peoples include the following:
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The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) is a non-profit health organization based in Anchorage, Alaska, which provides health services to 158,000 Alaska Natives and American Indians in Alaska. Established in 1997, ANTHC is a consortium of the tribal regional health organizations. The Board of Directors for ANTHC equally represent all tribal regions of Alaska and each region has parity.
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The Yupiit or Yupiat, also Central Alaskan Yup'ik, are an Alaska Native people of western and southwestern Alaska, ranging from the Norton Sound down along the coast of the Bering Sea to Bristol Bay as far south as the Alaska Peninsula at Naknek River and Egegik Bay. They are also known as Cup'ik by the Chevak Cup'ik-speaking people of Chevak and Cup'ig for the Nunivak Cup'ig-speaking people of Nunivak Island.
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Byron Ivar Mallott was an American politician, elder, tribal activist and business executive from the state of Alaska. Mallott was an Alaska Native leader of Tlingit heritage and the leader of the Kwaash Ké Kwaan clan. He was the 12th lieutenant governor of Alaska from December 2014 until his resignation on October 16, 2018. He also previously served as the mayor of Yakutat, the mayor of Juneau, the president of the Alaska Federation of Natives and the executive director of the Alaska Permanent Fund.
The following table indicates the parties of elected officials in the U.S. state of Alaska:
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There is a notable lack of dental care in rural Alaska. This is likely due to the fact that many Alaska Natives live in rural villages, most of which are only accessible by boat or bush plane. There are many programs to increase awareness of the importance of dental care among Alaska Natives while helping them to receive the professional care and guidance that they need. There are many dental issues that are disproportionately common within the rural Alaska Native population, such as tooth disease. To help with these health issues, there are dentists, as well as dental therapist aides, who travel to these villages to perform care. These programs are mostly funded by the United States federal government and the Alaska Native Corporations.
The 2014 Alaska gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014, to elect the governor and lieutenant governor of Alaska, concurrently with the election of Alaska's Class II U.S. Senate seat, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
William Martin Walker is an American attorney and politician who served as the 11th governor of Alaska, from 2014 to 2018. He is the second Alaska-born governor, after William A. Egan.
The Yupiit Piciryarait Cultural Center (YPCC), also known as Yupiit Piciryarait Cultural Center and Museum, formerly known as the Yup'ik Museum, Library, and Multipurpose Cultural Center, is a non-profit cultural center of the Yup'ik culture centrally located in Bethel, Alaska near the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Kuskokwim Campus and city offices. The center is a unique facility that combines a museum, a library, and multi-purpose cultural activity center including performing arts space, for cultural gatherings, feasts, celebrations, meetings and classes. and that celebrates the Yup'ik culture and serves as a regional cultural center for Southwest Alaska. The name of Yupiit Piciryarait means "Yup'iks' customs" in Yup'ik language and derived from piciryaraq meaning "manner; custom; habit; tradition; way of life" Construction of this cultural facility was completed in 1995, funded through a State appropriation of federal funds. Total cost for construction was $6.15 million. The center was jointly sponsored by the Association of Village Council Presidents (AVCP) and the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) and at the present the center operated by the UAF's Kuskokwim Campus, AVCP and City of Bethel. The building houses three community resources: the Consortium Library, the Yup'ik Museum, and the Multi-purpose room or auditorium. The mission of the center is promote, preserve and develop the traditions of the Yup'ik through traditional and non-traditional art forms of the Alaska Native art, including arts and crafts, performance arts, education, and Yup'ik language. The center also supports local artists and entrepreneurs.
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