Chugach Alaska Corporation Appoints Josie Hickel as President

An executive at Chugach Alaska Corporation is promoted to President. In her new role, Josie Hickel is responsible for leading land management and resource development strategy for the Alaska Native corporation that spans the coastal region from the Kenai Peninsula to Cordova.

Hickel previously served as executive vice president of ANCSA and community affairs, where she executed new opportunities for carbon credit offsets and the Bering River coal rights transaction. She is also credited with spearheading the distribution of more than $24 million in COVID-19 relief funds to Chugach Alaska shareholders, shareholder-owned businesses, and community organizations. More recently, she has advocated for continued progress on the Chugach Lands Study Act, which opens the possibility for a land exchange.

Hickel is of Aleut descent and a Chugach Alaska shareholder from Seward; the late former governor Wally Hickel was her father-in-law. Prior to joining Chugach, she served as chief administrative officer for Petro 49, a fuel distributor throughout Alaska and the Yukon Territory. She is an active board member and volunteer for several nonprofits, including the Alaska Sealife Center, Prince William Sound Regional Citizens Advisory Council, and the Resource Development Council of Alaska. Hickel was inducted into the Athena Society in 2012 for outstanding leadership in both business and community service.

“As Chugach has evolved, we recognize the importance of a leadership role that can focus solely on nurturing our relationship with our ANCSA lands, our communities, and our culture,” says Chugach Alaska Board Chair Sheri Buretta. “As a shareholder, Josie has a deep personal connection to the board’s 100-year vision of intergenerational prosperity, and professionally she has an understanding of what it will take to achieve what Chugach leaders put in motion many years ago: a just land exchange for our shareholders.”

Chugach Alaska is still recruiting a CEO to lead its business enterprises and oversee its corporate services departments.