Leadership Anchorage Alumni Award

2024: Amy O'Connor (LA 20)

“Amy stood out as a shining example of resilience, strength, and compassion. Amy has emerged as a beacon of hope for others. Amy's leadership skills, coupled with her passion for making a positive impact in her community…and her unwavering dedication to uplifting others make her an inspiration to us all.”

Amy began working in Alaska in 2006 as a US Park Ranger with the National Park Service in Denali National Park. She moved to the Mat-Su in 2009, continuing her law enforcement career as a Park Ranger with Alaska State Parks. In 2015, she joined the nonprofit sector. She is currently the Executive Director of the Alaska Farmland Trust. Under her leadership, the Trust has expanded statewide and now works to protect farmland in the Southeast, Kenai, and Fairbanks areas.

Amy founded, owns, and operates Crooked Fence Farm with her two daughters, where they have raised poultry, goats, and sheep. She has served on the boards of Envision Mat-Su, the Mat Su Trails and Park Foundation, the Mat Su Borough Parks Recreation and Trails advisory board, and is a steering committee member for the 2025 Mat-Su Borough comprehensive plan. She coaches track and cross-country with the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District.

As one of a handful of Mat-Su residents participating in LA, “Amy has worked tirelessly to bridge the political, social, and economic divides between Anchorage and the Mat-Su through various nonprofit and volunteer leadership roles,” according to her nominators.

2023: Hugh Short (LA 2)

Hugh S. Short co-founded Pt Capital in January 2013. Mr. Short has 20 years of executive level experience and has closed $920 million in debt and equity investments in oil and gas, telecommunications, hospitality, real estate, and infrastructure throughout the target region.

Prior to co-founding Pt Capital, Mr. Short was president and CEO of Alaska Growth Capital BIDCO, Inc., a subsidiary of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation. Alaska Governor Sean Parnell appointed Mr. Short to the Alaska Industrial Development Authority (AIDEA) and the Alaska Energy Authority in 2011. He was appointed chairman of AIDEA and led the multi-billion state-owned investment bank.

Mr. Short is an Inupiaq, also served as the mayor of Bethel, Alaska from 2002 to 2004, and is a board member for Rural Energy Enterprises. Mr. Short received a Bachelor’s in political science from the University of Alaska Anchorage.

2022: Ken Miller (LA13)

Ken Miller, CFRE is the president and lead consultant for Denali FSP Fundraising & Grant Consultants, a fundraising and grant management consulting firm.

2021: Gloria O'Neill (LA1)

While in her early twenties, Gloria O’Neill began working at CITC where she was drawn to the organization's purpose and mission. Her experience in the first cohort of LA supplied the confidence and support needed to find her voice in her forthcoming role as CEO and in her career as an unrelenting servant leader.

2020: Jason Metrokin (LA2)

Jason Metrokin was born and raised in Anchorage. As a beneficiary of his late grandfather's shares in BBNC, Jason is a Bristol Bay descendant and is the first non-original shareholder of an Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) regional corporation to become President and CEO. Learn More

2019: Janie Leask (LA1)

Now retired and living in Homer, Janie Leask is a servant-leader whose career includes roles within a number of statewide organizations. Born to a Haida Tshminshian father and an Irish German mother, Janie grew up in Metlakatla but always had a foot in both worlds. Learn More