OPINION: AKPIRG’s 50th is a moment for Alaskans to celebrate

Fifty years ago, in 1974, the Alaska Public Interest Research Group (AKPIRG) was founded. Originally called The Public Not Be Damned, Inc., the organization was founded by Jamie Love, Hugh Fleischer, Ralph Nader and Steve Conn to ensure that the Alaskan public would be protected from big money interests. I worked with a few of those founders and served as AKPIRG’s executive director and as a board member, and I am proud of the direction it’s headed today.

The founders appointed Jamie Love as AKPIRG’s first executive director, leading efforts to ensure that Alaskans — particularly those who felt powerless or who were historically marginalized — had a voice. Under Jamie’s leadership, AKPIRG established a rent review board in Anchorage, halted corrupt land leasing practices, advocated for fair utility rates and reduced grocery prices. This work laid a strong foundation for the organization’s mission and impact over the next 50 years.

I joined AKPIRG in 2000, working with Steve Conn, and stepped into the executive director role in 2003. Of the projects I worked on, one that feels most representative of AKPIRG was our Big Money out of Alaska Politics campaign. AKPIRG’s work to make sure Alaskan voices and votes mattered rang clearly through our efforts to set reasonable caps for individual campaign donations. I still see my neighbor’s bucket with our ballot measure logo on it today. It has been a privilege to make such meaningful, personal contributions to the lives of my fellow Alaskans.

While executive director, AKPIRG’s work leading Big Money out of Alaska Politics successfully passed a ballot measure that placed limits on individual campaign contributions. Running a statewide canvass program and talking to Alaskans was impactful and purposeful.

I see much of the same spirit that sparked AKPIRG’s founding in the work AKPIRG is doing today. Their work coordinating Alaskans for Fair Redistricting helped ensure that Alaskans were fairly represented, creating the legal basis to reformulate our state’s maps toward a less racially and politically gerrymandered state. And unfortunately, the issue of individual campaign contribution limits is all too relevant, with their complete elimination in 2021. Thankfully, AKPIRG has taken up the cry yet again, advocating for the past few years in the Legislature to have those limits replaced. I hope legislators will listen to AKPIRG and the people of Alaska, who have voted time and time again to ensure equal representation at the ballot box.

After stepping down from my role as executive director, I rejoined the board in 2012 and helped hire AKPIRG’s current executive director, Veri di Suvero. Under Veri’s leadership, AKPIRG has continued its previous work, while adding important perspectives. They have continued to engage in redistricting work, and fighting against new laws allowing unlimited campaign contributions. AKPIRG’s newest program is its language access program, created in 2019 to translate the census into eight Alaska Native languages for the first time, as well as a dozen other non-English languages. Now, Alaska Native translation and revitalization work continues, while multilingual voting and citizenship classes are run by AKPIRG staff on Kodiak Island. AKPIRG’s good government and language work is emblematic of the organization’s goals: to provide good, accessible, and trustworthy information to people while also changing the systems to more equitably represent the communities that make Alaska.

AKPIRG is an organization that has been a part of my life for over two decades; I’ve seen the long arc of this organization and its through lines of purpose. Fifty years of history guide AKPIRG’s mission today and bring hope for Alaska’s future. As AKPIRG continues to do incredible work, its impact can only be truly felt by the participation of many Alaskans, all working toward common purposes.

Steve Cleary served as executive director of AKPIRG from 2003 to 2008 and as a board member from 2012 to 2018. AKPIRG’s 50th-anniversary celebration and fundraiser will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 13 at Williwaw Social (609 F St.) in Anchorage. For tickets, visit bit.ly/akpirg50.

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