KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
Prestigious national award honors career and community accomplishments.
Boskofsky mentors college students in adjusting to life away from village and Alaska.
A Kodiak attorney has been presented with a prestigious national Native American award for his work as an attorney and his community service work.
Peter Boskofsky, who is Koniag’s general counsel, was named as one of the “Native American 40 Under 40” recipients. The awards were presented at a special event this week in Oklahoma.
Koniag President Shauna Hegna said Boskofsky’s award is a special honor and Koniag is ‘extremely’ proud of him.
“Peter serves as the general counsel for Koniag, and what makes that story so unique is, today he’s a member of our leadership team, but he first started with us as a college scholarship recipient as an undergrad student. And he eventually came on as an intern and over time he’s grown to become our general counsel and leads our legal department. So, that’s an exciting accomplishment for his own personal career and something that we’re very, very proud of.”
Hegna says the award celebrates a person’s career accomplishment, but more than that, it acknowledges how much the individual gives back to their communities and helps to make it a better place to live.
In addition to his legal job, Boskofsky guides and supports college students as they adjust to life on campus, often thousands of miles from home and village.
“Today he serves as vice-president of Kodiak Education Foundation, and in that role mentors young Alaska Native college students who maybe are going to their first semester at college or individuals who maybe needs some words of encouragement as they’re completing their last semester, and everything in between. But not only does he give back in those ways, he also served as the chair of the free legal clinic this year at the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention, which is the largest convention of Natives statewide.”
Hegna speaks from her personal experience when she says Boskofsky’s work with students is an invaluable community service.
“I grew up in a Native village myself, I grew up in Port Lions and the hardest thing you can do is go from a school with five graduating students, right, five students in your class, then all of a sudden get in an auditorium with 400 other students. It can be overwhelming and scary and to have a mentor and a friend like Peter that helps you get through that, that can mean the world to a young student.”
Four other Alaska Natives were named to the Top 40 Under 40. They include:
- Sarah Aarons, an Inupiaq Eskimo, from Unalakleet who is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Chicago.
- Sarah Dybdahl, a Tlingit, who is the Cultural Heritage and Education Manager at the Central Council of Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska in Juneau.
- Tiffany Tutiakoff, a Dena’ina Athabascan and Yup’ik Eskimo who is the President and CEO of Northwest Strategies Inc. in Anchorage.
- Ralph Wolfe, who is Tlingit & Haida. He is the Transportation Director and Community Catalyst for the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe in Yakutat.
