At our 2015 annual membership meeting, Helena Jacobs was elected to the Doyon Foundation board of directors for a three-year term. Incumbent Julie Anderson was also re-elected for a two-year term, and incumbent Joshua Peter was re-elected for a three-year term.
Helena Jacobs is the Foundation’s newest board member.
The Foundation is pleased to welcome Jacobs, who is the daughter of Dee Olin and David Hoffman. Her maternal grandparents are the late Lillian and Fred Olin, and her adopted maternal grandparents are Lorraine and the late John Honea. Her roots are in Ruby, but she grew up throughout Alaska and currently resides in Anchorage with her husband, Torin, and their children.
The Foundation supported Jacobs in obtaining her bachelor’s degrees in anthropology and Spanish from Willamette University, and her master’s in public policy from University of California Berkeley. Her professional background has focused on promoting educational advancement, career readiness, capacity building and leadership development. She currently runs her own small business, Benozaadleyo Consulting, providing professional support to nonprofit and government agencies statewide.
“I benefited greatly from the programs the Foundation runs, and I feel called to give back. It is an honor to serve in a capacity that would allow me to support other Alaska Native students, and offer what I have to the organization that helped me so much,” she said.