Alaska Fellows Program

The Alaska Fellows Program (AFP https://alaskafellows.org) is a fall-to-spring residential fellowship program (9 month) that strives to contribute to a thriving Alaska—economically, socially, and culturally—by nurturing the next generation of Alaska-based leaders. AFP pairs talented young people with strong community and professional mentors across a wide range of non-profit and public sector organizations in four vastly different communities in Alaska. The program aims to not only bring in new talent to Alaska but to provide meaningful pathways for home-grown Alaskan talent to begin building their careers within their home state.

AFP host communities encompass geography that range from the temperate rainforests of Southeast Alaska (Juneau and Sitka) to the coastal subarctic ecosystems of Anchorage and finally to continental subarctic environments of Fairbanks. Fellows are immersed and directly connected to Alaska's lands and peoples as they become part of their host communities.

Fellows serve with a range of host organizations for the fellowship term and receive modest living stipends and housing as well as professional development opportunities. Fellows are supported by a team of site coordinators, well connected board members, and the Executive Director for the duration of the program. They live communally, work closely with professional mentors, and make lasting contributions to their communities. AFP serves talented, dynamic young people interested in investing long-term in both the AFP community and their broader Alaska communities. 

Through our statewide connections and active alumni network, AFP supports fellows to stay in Alaska after the program term and continue contributing to Alaska. Since the inception of the program in 2014 to now, AFP has over 160 alumni from 35 states and seven countries. Forty-six percent of alumni continue to live and work in Alaska for a year or more beyond their fellowships. Each year the program serves between 20-30 emerging leaders.

AFP is building Alaska’s workforce and cultivating future leaders by immersing post-college graduates in dynamic host organizations and helping them make valuable connections within the state to grow and thrive. At the same time, APF is building host organizations' capacity by embedding energetic, smart, capable young people within the organization to move efforts forward and to make meaningful impacts. 

Host communities include Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, and Sitka.