Our programming shares and preserves stories of Alaska and explores what it means to be an Alaskan. The Alaska Humanities Forum is the state Humanities Council under the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The Alaska Humanities Forum (Forum) is one of 56 state and territorial groups supported by the NEH and a member of the Federation of State Humanities Councils. At its inception in 1972, the Forum primarily provided grants with funds from National Endowment for the Humanities. The Grants Program is dedicated to providing statewide services to preserve humanities experiences in Alaska, at times also successfully partnering with such entities as the Rasmuson Foundation and Municipality of Anchorage. One such partnership project was the Alaska Statehood Experience (ASE) which provided $1 million in competitive grants to honor Alaska’s 50th anniversary of statehood. Since the 1990s, the Forum has been cultivating a public statewide presence by facilitating workshops, forums, and conferences within a neutral venue on both current events and public issues: Speaker Bureaus from 1994-96; Talking Anchorage Public Forums in 1996; Clemente Course workshops in 1999; Alaska History and Cultural Studies Curriculum Project in 2003, with follow up Teacher Training Institutes in 2004-05; Conventions of Young Alaskans and Alaska Constitutional Convention in 2006; and various Alaska Statehood Experience projects in 2008. At the turn of the 21st century, the Forum successfully developed and piloted a cross-cultural exchange, funded first as an earmark from Congress through Senator Ted Stevens and then by federal grants from the U.S. Department of Education Alaska Native Education Program (ANEP). Since 2000, the Forum has provided support in two key areas to ensure participant engagement and achievement: expertise in delivering cross-cultural training on a statewide level, as well as partnerships with leaders in cross-cultural issues and professional development. The Forum is experienced in managing and operating significant grant-funded projects, including grants from private federal and state agencies, and has responsibly managed more than $20 million dollars of federal funds and tens of thousands of dollars of state and local government funds, as well as private funds.
