Bert Adams takes over as Sitka Tribe of Alaska general manager

Sitka Tribe of Alaska has filled its top administrative job after roughly nine months without a permanent leader. Bert Adams started Aug. 17 as general manager, taking over day-to-day operations of a tribal government with 4,881 enrolled citizens, a quarter of them in Sitka.

The position had been vacant since the tribe's long-serving general manager resigned in late November 2025, leaving Rob Allen as interim. The tribe has not named that manager or given a reason for the departure. The council hired an outside search firm in December, with proposals due Jan. 30. Allen said the council started its hiring process in April.

The tribe's announcement of the hire says Adams brings more than 25 years of tribal government and executive leadership experience, most recently in intergovernmental affairs at Knik Tribe, earlier as executive director of the Native Village of Eyak, and 13 years as general manager of the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe, where it says his leadership helped triple that tribe's budget. Dionne Brady-Howard, Yeidikook'áa, chairs the nine-member elected council that hired him.

The Tribal Council hires and oversees the general manager, who supervises department directors across a government that reported a $15.1 million operating budget in 2022.

The tribe's announcement does not give a start date; this account also draws on the council's search records.