Any AFN member organization in good standing may nominate. The deadline for nominations is Friday, August 14, 2026. 

Click here for the nomination form and detailed list of criteria.

The following honors will be awarded in 2026:

• Health – Recognizes an Alaska Native who has demonstrated strong commitment, competence, and sensitivity in the health field, whose accomplishments have improved health care for Alaska Natives. Nominees may be involved in health advocacy, program administration, professional care, and the health professions.
• Eileen Panigeo MacLean Education – Named for the late State Legislator and elementary and bilingual teacher, Eileen Panigeo MacLean, this award recognizes an Alaska Native who has demonstrated strong commitment, competence, and sensitivity in the field of education, and whose accomplishments have improved educational opportunities for Alaska Natives. Individuals nominated for this award may be involved in traditional education at the preschool, elementary, secondary, or postsecondary level. The nominee can be a cultural educator, parent committee member, school board member, administrator, teacher aide, or other education-related professional who has been a positive role model for the Alaska Native community.
• Hannah Paul Solomon “Woman of Courage Award” – Named for the late Hannah Paul Solomon, recognizes an Alaska Native woman who demonstrates through their life and work the strengths of our culture and values, and tremendous courage.
• Katie John Hunter-Fisher – Recognizes an Alaska Native who exemplifies and preserves the spirit of successful subsistence hunting, trapping, and sharing, and our way of life. Nominees must acknowledge and ensure that the next generations of providers will carry on the traditions and customs in harmony and peace, sustaining their extended families.
• Roger Lang Youth Leadership – Named for the late Roger Lang, former AFN President, who encouraged young people to expand their horizons and challenge themselves to become future leaders. Nominees must be young men aged 18-30 who demonstrate leadership qualities. The young women’s category will be available in 2027.
• Small Business – Recognizes an Alaska Native business owner or manager who has demonstrated business success and a commitment to their community, improving economic opportunities for Alaska Natives.
• Gin’tith (Richard Frank) Military Service Award – Recognizes an Alaska Native who demonstrates a strong commitment and willingness to serve in the U. S. Armed Forces in the defense of the United States of America. Individuals nominated for this award may be involved in the U. S. Armed Forces in active duty, reserves, National Guard, or a veteran who was honorably discharged from active duty or reserves.
• Glenn Godfrey Law Enforcement – Named for the late Glenn Godfrey, Colonel and Director of the Alaska State Troopers and Alaska Commissioner of Public Safety. This award recognizes an Alaska Native law enforcement officer, federal, state, or local, who has shown outstanding dedication to the safety of the public in any location(s) within Alaska, often requiring heroic courage in the face of danger.

Submit nominations to Nicole James at AFN.

Email: mlisonbee@nativefederation.org

Cindy spent most of her career advancing Alaska Native issues, having worked at the Alaska Native Justice Center, Cook Inlet Tribal Council, the Alaska Federation of Natives, and as Deputy Director for the ANCSA Regional Association for 19 years, during which she managed the ‘Get Out the Native Vote’ program and helped transition it to a 501(c)3.

Cindy is a shareholder of Bering Straits Native Corporation and Sitnasuak Native Corporation and is an enrolled tribal member of King Island Native Community. She now lives in Anchorage and has one son.

Email: callred@nativefederation.org

She grew up in Anchorage, where she was a highly-decorated student-athlete in the sports of basketball and volleyball. Her family ties are rooted in Hydaburg on Prince of Wales Island where her dad grew up and where her grandparents and extended family still reside. On her mother’s side, she has connections with the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, specifically the community of Bethel.

Maya graduated from Ft. Lewis College with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and focus in Digital Marketing, where she played volleyball while maintaining a 3.9 GPA. Over the past few summers, she has held internships at Sealaska Corporation and Cook Inlet Tribal Council. That experience has helped expand her knowledge of the complexities of our tribal and corporate structure within the Alaska Native community throughout the state. She is a tribal member of Hydaburg Cooperative Association and shareholder of Sealaska.

Maya’s personal and professional background uniquely position her to support Alaska’s Southeast communities through the Navigator program.

Email: mcarle@nativefederation.org

Doug is enrolled to the McGrath Native Village Council and is a shareholder of Doyon, Ltd. and MTNT, Ltd. He attended Mt. Edgecumbe High School; roughnecked for Doyon Drilling on rigs 15, 14, and in the Inlet; served on the Board of Directors for his village corporation for a term; and headed up Doyon Drilling’s training program before returning to college at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Even though Doug calls the Interior ‘home,’ some of his closest friends from MEHS are from the Chain. His commercial fishing childhood also anchors him to the region.

Email: droyal@nativefederation.org

Larissa holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and a master’s from Northern Arizona University. She spent two years on Capitol Hill in between undergraduate and graduate school, where she worked as a Staff Assistant on the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on the Interior during U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens’ chairmanship of the full committee. Larissa is enrolled to Louden Tribal Council (Galena), and is a shareholder of Doyon, Ltd., Gana-A‘Yoo, Ltd. (Galena), and Tozitna, Ltd. (Tanana). She is a former Director of the Gana-A‘Yoo Foundation.

As a graduate of Mt. Edgecumbe High School, Larissa has friends in each of the regions she covers as a Navigator.

Email: lsommer@nativefederation.org

Mary was born and raised in Bethel, graduated from Mt. Edgecumbe High School, and attended Alaska Pacific University. She speaks Yup’ik. Mary is enrolled to Orutsararmiut Native Council (Bethel), and is a shareholder of Calista Corporation, Bering Straits Native Corporation, and Cook Inlet Regional Corporation, as well as Bethel Native Corporation, Solomon Native Corporation, and Golovin Native Corporation. She also sits on BNC’s Board of Directors. Mary has 15 years of federal experience between the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, and USDA Rural Development, and spent 10 years with Association of Village Council’s Realty Office.

Her connection to the YK Delta has helped Mary steer millions of dollars to the region through AFN’s Navigator Program. 

Email: mkenick@nativefederation.org

Leah is enrolled in Nunakauyarmiut Tribe and is a shareholder of Calista Corporation and Bristol Bay Native Corporation. She attended Nelson Island School where she learned to play Alaska’s number one sport, basketball, with the neighboring villages. Leah has previously worked for the Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation and the Southcentral Foundation.

Leah and her family enjoy camping and are teaching their children to live a subsistence lifestyle.

Email: lhansen@nativefederation.org

Leann holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration: Tourism and Hospitality Management from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado and has been working throughout Alaska for the last decade. Most recently, Leann served as the State Scheduler to Alaska’s Senior U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski. She is an award recipient of both the 2020 National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development Native American 40 Under 40 and the Alaska Hotel and Lodging Association 2019 Sales Manager of the Year. Previously, Leann was an Associate Consultant at OSIYO Communications, LLC, working primarily with Indian Country across the nation and in Alaska. Leann is Denaakk’e of the Louden Tribe (Galena), and is a shareholder of Doyon, Ltd. and Gana-A ‘Yoo, Ltd. (Galena). She is a former President and Director of the Gana-A ‘Yoo, Ltd. Board.

Email: ljsommer@nativefederation.org

Shannon is enrolled to the McGrath Native Village Council and is a shareholder of Doyon Ltd. and MTNT, Ltd. Her professional background includes years in public radio at KSKO 870AM, as well as at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Interior Alaska Campus. Shannon successfully ran AFN’s census, voting, and redistricting campaigns, which provided education and outreach to rural Alaska and the Alaska Native community and resulted in record numbers of Native peoples returning their 2020 census questionnaire, voting in the 2020 midterms, and engaging in the 2020 redistricting cycle.

Shannon and her husband, both of whom are from McGrath, share four children and a grandson.

Email: smagnuson@nativefederation.org.