BRENDA (Itta) Lee ITTA-LEE

• Native Culture
• Advocacy
Inducted: 2022
BRENDA (Itta) Lee ITTA-LEE
An Iñupiaq from Barrow (Utqiaġvik), Itta-Lee was the first Alaska Native woman elected to the Alaska State Legislature. She served on the House Finance Committee and co-sponsored the bill to create the Alaska State Permanent Fund, which distributes financial dividends to residents of Alaska annually.
She attended the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Day School in Barrow, BIA Mount Edgecumbe high school, and graduated from the Haskell Indian College in Kansas.
As an aide for Senator Ernest Gruening in Washington, DC, Itta-Lee learned how to secure successful legislation at the national and state levels and the importance of communicating effectively with constituents. She applied that knowledge as one of the few women who fought to successfully pass the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA). Its passage in 1971 addressed the issues of aboriginal land claims in Alaska and provided the means to develop regional and village corporations to stimulate economic development for the benefit of Native Alaskans. Serving on the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC) Board for fifteen years, she helped establish the corporation’s vision, mission, goals, policies, and focus. Itta-Lee mentored numerous ASRC shareholders who hold positions within the corporation. She extended the mentorship by developing a Student Corporation patterned after ANCSA in the North Slope Borough School District.
Itta-Lee continues to serve as an advisor to the ASRC Executive Management after serving as the City Manager of Barrow, Alaska. She has served on the North Slope Borough Planning and Zoning Commission, the North Slope Borough Assembly, and the Board of Trustees for Ilisagvik College. She has been on the boards of the Alaska Native Foundation, the Alaska Statewide Democratic Central Committee, the Alaska Federation of Natives, the Bush Justice Committee, Sheldon Jackson College, and the Arctic Winter Games.
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