Andrew Guy, Calista President and CEO
Storyknife, September/October 2025 edition
The Calista Board of Directors formed the Shareholder Relations Committee (SRC) to visit our communities in person to provide company updates and address questions and input from Shareholders. The SRC is made up of five directors and supported by corporate staff.
Since the formation of the SRC in 2004, the committee has completed about 200 visits to our Yukon-Kuskokwim villages. The SRC typically travels to villages in the fall and spring to avoid summer subsistence activities. This summer the SRC provided an additional opportunity in July for Shareholders in Anchorage and the Mat-Su to participate.
As an Alaska Native corporation (ANC) with open enrollment for Descendants to become Shareholders, we choose to evolve with our Shareholder base while keeping our cultural roots firmly in place. During our SRC meetings this year, we provided the following details on our current enrollment and population trends.
Through the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, Calista formed with about 13,300 original Shareholders. Calista Shareholders approved open enrollment in 2015, and we introduced the first new enrollees in 2017.
To date, Calista has over 38,400 Shareholders and growing. We are the largest ANC by Shareholder numbers in the state. Currently, over 31,000, or 81 percent of Shareholders are enrolled Descendants, and over 7,000, or 19 percent are original Shareholders.
With open enrollment, Shareholder demographics have changed significantly. As of February 2025, 67 percent, or nearly 7 of every 10 current Shareholders are 40 years old or younger.
The other shift since open enrollment began is where Shareholders live. In the Y-K, excluding Bethel, 48 percent of all Shareholders live in villages other than Bethel. Another 9 percent live in Bethel, totaling 57 percent of Shareholders in the Y-K Region.
Since formation, the SRC has completed about 200 visits to our Yukon-Kuskokwim villages.
While the percent living in the Y-K has gone down slowly over the years, Bethel and the Region remain a strong hub for our Shareholders.
The largest concentration of Calista Shareholders in a single community is Anchorage at 21 percent. An additional 8 percent live in the Mat-Su borough, including Palmer, Wasilla, Big Lake and Houston.
With Anchorage and Bethel holding the largest concentration of Shareholders, nearly a decade ago the Board approved a plan to hold annual meetings periodically in these two communities. Additionally, the Board remains committed to the goal set by our Elders, the founders of Calista, to hold an annual meeting in every community in the Y-K Region.
Along with visiting villages in the Region this year, the SRC visited the Mat-Su and Anchorage, with a large gathering of Shareholders in Anchorage. It felt like a family gathering with corporate updates and a Q&A session for Shareholders to voice their concerns. The meetings were complete with yuraq dancers at both sessions.
To all the Shareholders who joined us in the Region and in Anchorage or the Mat-Su, quyana for participating with your corporation.
