Kootznoowoo Appoints Atuk as President & CEO
Deborah J. Atuk has joined Kootznoowoo as its new President & CEO.
Atuk replaces Hal Dreyer who came to Kootznoowoo in April of 2017 as a consultant tasked with evaluating the organization’s strengths and weaknesses. Prior to joining Kootznoowoo, since 2016, Atuk served as a portfolio specialist and institutional relationship manager for SkyView Investment Advisors in New York City where her focus was on serving the unique needs of Alaska Native and American Indian clients. Previously, she was the treasurer of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation in North Carolina and director of business development at the Colville Tribal Federal Corporation in Eastern Washington. Atuk also serves as treasurer of the Board of Directors for Bering Straits Native Corporation. Originally from Nome, Atuk is Iñupiaq. She earned an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Chicago and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. Atuk began her career in finance and worked in Chicago as an investment banker at ABN-AMRO and later SG Cowen.
In addition to the BSNC Board, Atuk also serves on the board of the Kissaq Kingikmiuruguqtuat, an Alaskan non-profit established to preserve and revitalize the Wales dialect of Iñupiaq.
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June 2021
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Alaska Problems Require Alaska Solutions
June 2021
On January 16, a fire destroyed the water plant and washeteria in the southwest Alaska village of Tuluksak. For the village of about 350 people, it was a devastating blow. The water plant was the only source of drinking water in the village, in which the primarily Yup’ik residents lack indoor plumbing and rely on honey buckets, not uncommon in the flat, swampy region.