Turmoil at the top: CEO of Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium suddenly resigns

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Garvin Federenko, the CEO of Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, has suddenly resigned.

Federenko had been with the consortium since 1998, when he helped transition the organization from federal to Tribal management. Most recently, Federenko served as ANTHC’s senior director of Administration and Finance, which included oversight of Tribal Support Services to regional partners.

Valerie Davidson took over as president of ANTHC after former president Andy Teuber went missing in an apparent helicopter crash in March. He was never found and was declared dead. Davison had been filling in since Teuber’s disappearance, when she was named permanently to the position in mid-June.

Read: Teuber was distraught over ADN coverage when helicopter crashed

The resignation is evidently effective, as his profile has been wiped from the consortium’s website. “Effective immediately, Valerie Nurr’araaluk Davison will serve as Acting CEO until the position is filled,” the group stated.

ANTHC is the non-profit health organization that provides health services to 158,000 Alaska Natives and American Indians in Alaska. Because Federenko is white, his job has always been on the line. Davidson said in a note earlier this month that the organization is not covered by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

13 COMMENTS

  1. Would like to know how they get away with not being covered by the Civil Rights Act – they do receive Federal monies in Medicare/Medicaid payments.

    • Tribal sovereignty, treaties, quid pro quo for lost land. I’m not an expert in this sort of thing but that’s basically why they are free to hire on the basis of race and other companies and agencies can’t. Or COULDN’T until recently, I mean.

    • Would like to know if that argument was invalid and that’s why he “resigned”. Very interesting, I’m sure there is a lot more to why he left. I hear corruption charges are abound everywhere world wide.

      • No, I doubt it. When you get hired on it’s made clear that racial preferences in hiring and promotion are practiced here, and by accepting employment you acknowledge and agree with that. If you have a problem with that, this isn’t the right organization for you. Which isn’t to say it’s not impossible for white guys to advance in these companies. They do all the time.

  2. I don’t know his circumstances but I couldn’t work for an organization that is terminating employees unconstitutionally, they have no shame and deserve their demise.

    • If he is resigning to avoid the experimental gene therapy that is a hard economic choice to make. Admirable.

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