CIRI shareholder Chet King was recently promoted to administrative assistant with The CIRI Foundation. His duties include coordinating the board and committee meetings, bookkeeping, working on the Native Services Directory and other administrative tasks.

“My new position is challenging because I am working more with the board of directors and preparing for meetings. The board members are inspiring and great to work with. I’ll continue to work with students in a supportive role in the background, like helping with scholarship checks,” said King.

King is the son of the late Aggie King from Tyonek, Alaska, and Marion King from Michigan. King grew up in Anchorage and Tyonek with a large family of seven brothers and sisters. Most of his family lives in Anchorage and continues the family tradition of Sunday dinners together at his father’s home.

After graduating from high school in Tyonek, he worked as an emergency medical services coordinator in Tyonek for several years. “Because of my work experience as an EMT, I have more respect for firefighters and paramedics now. It is a challenging and demanding career,” said King. He continues to stay in touch with his family in Tyonek with regular visits, in which he enjoys the quiet lifestyle of a rural community.

The CIRI Foundation provides educational scholarships for post-secondary and vocational schools to CIRI shareholders and their lineal descendants and cultural grants for community projects. “I like working at The CIRI Foundation because we are helping shareholders with obtaining an education. Education provides more employment opportunities for shareholders and, in most cases, a better life for shareholders,” said King.

The majority of the inquires that the staff receives are related to education, but once in awhile he gets a phone call or visit that is not related to their mission. “We had a visitor who wanted to help cancer patients with a hair donation for wigs. We helped him find the right organization because we try to direct people to other resources when we cannot help,” said King.

His priority in life is his family. King and his wife, Cristy, have two sons, Chance, who started kindergarten this year, and Chase, who is four. King’s long-term goals are to return to college and study business administration, and to continue working in the Alaska Native community. During his leisure time, he enjoys collecting and playing rock and blues music, and listening to his favorite musician, Stevie Ray Vaughan.