Meet the Teens

Our Youth Organizers are selected through a competitive application process. The accepted youth leaders travel from around the state to our Youth Organizer Summit where these passionate and visionary young Alaskans strategize about how to collectively take action on issues that affect their communities.

Jr Go
Unalaska

My name is Ariel Go, and I am currently a junior in high school from Unalaska/Dutch Harbor. In my free time, I like to play volleyball or ping pong. My favorite subject in school is math. I’m really passionate about excelling in academics (school). I love tutoring and helping others with their school work because to me, education is very important. I am also deeply attached to my community and the environment around me after living here my entire life.

Chiara Demientieff
Bethel

I am from Bethel and Holy Cross, Alaska. I'm a fish camp girl and village kid. I participate in many different sports, and I'm very involved on what goes on at my school. My family is so big that we have our own newsletter. I've been going to the Galena Interior Learning Academy for over two years now, and I hope to graduate there.

Kyle Hasse
Wasilla

Hello, I am Kyle Hasse, I am a senior at Mat-Su Career and Technical High School. I have always taken an interest in the outdoors and the ecosystems within it, especially aquatic ecosystems, as I find myself to be an avid aquarium keeper. Due to my concern with littering and the effects of climate change, I have been an active AYEA member ever since I helped found an AYEA chapter at my own school in late 2016.

Paul Huntington
Galena

I am from Galena, AK, on the Yukon River. I am the son of Tamara and Andrew Huntington, grandson of the late Sidney and Angela Huntington and Phil and Debbie Koontz. I enjoy dog mushing, running, photography, and spending time on the river.

Gabe Stenek
Shishmaref

My name is Gabriel Stenek. I am from Shishmaref, Alaska and I will be a senior at our high school. I’m passionate on speaking about climate change in the arctic and how it affects my community. I am also very active in my free time (playing sports, taking snow machine rides, etc.).

Ariana Sanchez-Enlow
Utqiagvik

My name is Ariana Sanchez-Enlow and I am from Barrow. I am 15 years old and will be a sophomore at Mt. Edgecumbe High School.

Rosalie Eller
Kasilof/Ionia

I am very interested in learning new things every day. I am a proud feminist and I live in the eco-village of Ionia in Kasilof. I have 8 brothers and 4 sisters - several have been youth leaders at AYEA in the past, and I have always wanted to get involved.

Neil Johnson
St. Mary’s

My name is Neil Johnson. I'm from a village based off the Andreafski River called St. Mary's. In my free time I try to do the best for those around me and the issue I'm passionate about is the fish wildlife.

Malia Burk Stevens
Nenana

My name is Malia Burk Stevens. My parents are Shawna Burk and Rayme Stevens, my grandparents on my mother’s side are Robin Campbell and the late Patrick Walter Burk of Nenana, and my grandparents on my father’s side are Gayle Ramey and the late Charles Stevens and of Fort Yukon. I have two brothers. Orion is 7 years old and Noah is 6 months old. My other practical hobbies are writing, listening to music, and many other art forms. I'm very passionate about keeping the environment I live in safe and clean.

Olivia Olsen
Anchorage

My name is Olivia I live in Anchorage. I will be a senior at West High School. I play Flag football and soccer. I am really passionate about saving Alaska species and the environment.

Cate Gomez
Dillingham

My name is Cate Gomez, I am a senior at Dillingham High School. In my free time, I enjoy learning more about my culture, my community, and my history. I am the only high school female wrestler in my school, I participate in Native Youth Olympics, I have spoken in front of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Lisa Murkowski, Scott Pruitt’s newly introduced team, and Gina McCarthy, and multiple smaller companies about the proposed Pebble Mine. I enjoy teaching others about environmental safeties and things they can do to prevent catastrophes.

Jenna Stringer
Utqiagvik

Hey, my names Jenna Stringer and you should TOTALLY add me on snapchat: iikingjennaii. But seriously. I live in Barrow, I love it here and I want to spread environment cleanliness to all the villages and rural communities so that one day, we will know Alaska as: the clean state. I also sing a little, draw a little, live a little. I hope that if you're reading this, we can get to know each other someday.

Alison Narog
Kodiak

My name is Alison Narog, I’m an Inupiaq Eskimo living in Kodiak. I am a competitive swimmer, and am just starting to spring board dive. I love gymnastics and Acro. I also do Crossfit. I am a PADI certified Advanced Open Water diver and Nitrox certified. I love to travel the world with my family and to learn about other cultures, their way of life and to experience it as a traveler not a tourist.

Lisa Tran
Unalaska

My name is Lisa Tran and I am 17 years old. I am from the small island of Dutch Harbor, which is located out in the Aleutian Chain and on my free time I really enjoy volunteering; this includes anything from moving boxes to face painting kids to even setting/cleaning up. I am also passionate about saving our oceans because the ocean provides a plethora of things for us and I believe it's time for us to take more care of it.

Cassidy Austin-Merlino
Anchorage/McCarthy

I am a 16 year old from McCarthy Alaska who is passionate about learning about the environment and what I can do to help. I spend my summers helping out with my family’s whitewater rafting company and going on adventures on the glaciers in the Copper river watershed. I am very interested in doing what I can to make a difference and preserve the breathtaking beauty of not only Alaska, but our world!

Support Our Future Leaders

Each year we bring more and more teens from across Alaska together to collaborate and inspire each other and their work within our communities. Your donation can help ensure that year after year Alaskan youth are given the opportunity get the tools and the cornerstones to build a better for themselves and our state.

Donate

Our Youth Trainers

Our Youth Trainers are incredibly talented leaders who have attended this summit before and, in collaboration with adult trainers, facilitate workshops on advocacy skills - from understanding the legislative process to direct action techniques

Jay McCumber
Utqiagvik

Hi! My name is Jennifer Qaumagun Aniqsuak Loren McCumber and I'm from Utqiagvik, Alaska. As an Alaskan I'm greatly concerned by the threats posed to Alaska and the rest of the world. Thanks to AYEA, my concerns are acknowledged and solutions are being put into action. I hope to meet all of you!

Eve Downing
Sterling

Hi! I'm 16 years old and currently a junior at Soldotna High School. I love being outside and enjoy cross-country running and skiing. I joined AYEA this last fall and was so excited to be around like-minded teens who cared about the environment. I look forward to meeting everyone at the summit!

Massu Sagoonick
Unalakleet

My name is Summer 'Abuzunaq, Ikkugaaq, Massu' Sagoonick, I am Inupiaq and live in Unalakleet, AK, which is part of the Bering Straits Region. I am a senior at Frank A. Degnan High School. I love being outdoors, travelling the world, playing sports like basketball, volleyball and Native Youth Olympics, and helping to provide for my family through various subsistence activities. I am passionate about my culture, our land, and subsistence way of life.

(My Inupiaq names, Ikkugaaq and Abuzunaq are after two esteemed Elders who passed away before I was born and Massu is from my grandpa, Palmer Sagoonick, of Shaktoolik)

Kaitlyn Phillips
Utqiagvik

Hello! My name is Kaitlyn and I’m from Barrow. I have a soft spot for dogs and am known as a Harry Potter fanatic. This will be my sixth summit and I’m very excited to see all of you there!

Karl Pfeiffenberger
Seward

Karl Pfeiffenberger is a senior at Seward High School who is passionate about the environment and politics. He has been involved in AYEA for the past two years and is excited to participate in the summit as a trainer. In his free time, he enjoys skiing, backpacking, pack-rafting, and biking.