Privileges and Goals

I am Aidan Hellen, Yadahnaa, and as a man representing the Ganaaxteidi clan,
I have always felt that I could best serve my people by pursuing a career that would
help build the infrastructure for a healthy community. This internship would help
build the skills in project management that I hope to use someday to help my fellow
Tlingit people. My time working for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium as
an engineering intern gave me a lot of time with on-site visits to Native Villages and
a great appreciation for how smart engineering can effect people’s lives for the
better.

I believe that I can help my community by using what I have learned at
Stanford University in Civil and Environmental Engineering in a project
management work environment. As a shareholder and employee of Sealaska I to get
be involved with the company and learn its organizational strategies and leadership
dynamic. The knowledge I gain helps me engage with my community corporation
and hopefully become a valuable resource in the future. Overall, I believe that as a
native man I am extremely privileged to have a unique opportunity and purpose to
help those I care about most with a unique access to the strategies and tools that my
people have used for decades to defend themselves from the U.S. Government.

- Posted on behalf of Aidan Hellen