Calista Education and Culture gets $900,000 to pay 16 young adults for village internships

Calista Education and Culture will use a $900,000 federal grant to place 16 Alaska Native young adults in paid internships in their home villages. The federal Administration for Children and Families awarded it under award 90NEG0029. The project period runs from Sept. 30, 2026, to Sept. 29, 2029, according to the federal award record.

The pilot is called Nunamteni Caliluta: We Work in Our Villages. It is open to Alaska Native young adults ages 18 to 28. Eight will come from the Middle Kuskokwim subregion. Eight will come from the Lower Yukon subregion.

The application describes these roadless communities as having limited local training. "Nearly one in five young people is disconnected from school and work," the application said. It said the cost of leaving home for training limits young adults' ability to gain experience "while remaining connected to their families, communities, and subsistence way of life." The application also said tribal governments, village corporations, municipal offices, utilities and schools need prepared local workers.

Calista Education and Culture is working with Calista Corporation Workforce Development. The partners plan to adapt the corporation's existing internship framework to village settings.

Year one covers a Lower Yukon workforce needs assessment. The application says the Middle Kuskokwim assessment is already complete. Staff also plan to recruit the cohort and prepare host employers and mentors. The full-time, 16-week paid internships come in year two, along with career assessments and workplace preparation based on Yuuyaraq, which Calista Education and Culture calls "our way of life." All 16 participants are expected to show improved workplace readiness by the end of year two. Year three brings coaching and help into jobs, apprenticeships, training or certification.

"At least 14 will advance into a career pathway" by the end of year three, the application said.

The total project cost is $1,125,000. That includes $225,000 from non-federal sources. The application does not say where that share comes from.

The same agency has also awarded $900,000 each to the Native Village of Paimiut and Ketchikan Indian Community.

The award record does not name the villages or employers. It does not say how participants will be chosen, whether they must be Calista Shareholders or Descendants, or what interns will be paid. This account comes from the application alone. It does not include host employers, the Lower Yukon and Middle Kuskokwim school districts, or young adults in the region.