Oil Patch Bits: Calista Corp. welcomes shareholder hires

Calista Corp. proudly welcomes shareholders George Owletuck and Kirsten Kinegak-Friday to its team of employees. Both have impressive resumes and bring several years of experience to the corporation.

Owletuck is the government relations liaison and is responsible for coordinating, developing and conducting activities relating to federal, state and local government relations. He brings leadership experience and several years of working in government relations. Owletuck served in the U.S. Air Force and previously worked for the late U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens. He is a former University of Alaska Fairbanks professor and has held numerous leadership positions in the areas of fisheries, the environment and natural resources.

Kinegak-Friday is associate general counsel at Calista. She is a graduate of Stanford University and University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. Her main legal focus has been on Alaska Native corporations and Alaska Native issues. She is a former Calista intern and Calista Heritage Foundation scholarship recipient.

As part of its mission as an Alaska Native corporation, Calista is committed to increasing shareholder benefits and economic opportunities. One of the ways Calista does this is by providing jobs for shareholders and descendants. The corporation currently has a shareholder hire rate of 55 percent at its corporate headquarters in Anchorage; an additional 3 percent of the employees are Alaska Natives who are shareholders and descendants of other Alaska Native corporations.