BBNC shareholders reelect two directors, add two new board members

Bristol Bay Native Corporation shareholders reelected board chair Russell S. Nelson and director Wassiliisia (DeeDee) R. Bennis to three-year terms at the corporation's Oct. 3 annual meeting in Naknek, and elected two newcomers, Eric Shade and Raina Thiele. Vice chair Greta L. Goto and director Joseph L. Chythlook leave the board as their terms end.

Nelson and Shade list Dillingham as home, and Bennis and Thiele list Anchorage. BBNC thanked Goto and Chythlook in its recap of the meeting "for their many years of dedicated service to BBNC, our shareholders, and the Bristol Bay region." The recap does not name the board's officers for the coming year.

BBNC says it has more than 12,000 Alaska Native shareholders with ties to the Bristol Bay region. The corporation offered 39 cash prizes, totaling $36,000, to shareholders who voted early, online or by the final proxy deadline. Vote totals are available to shareholders through BBNC's shareholder portal.

Four more seats come up next year. Peter Andrew Jr., Kimberly Johnson, Gerda Kosbruk and Hazel Nelson hold terms ending in 2027.