TCF Alumni

TCF Scholarship Recipient- Vanessa Standard

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Story and Photo by: Vanessa Standard (2017) Dear TCF- Thank you so much for the generous vocational grant that you awarded me. I was able to graduate with my yoga teacher training certification. I am now working with others – teaching them the healing science of yoga. Many people’s lives are improving because of my … Read more

TCF Scholarship Recipient- Ashlee Rowland “Now I am Certified!”

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Story and Photo by: Ashlee Rowland (2017) As of October I graduated from my vigorous 800 hour nutrition certification program. I learned so much during the program and would now love to get plugged into the native community or just the Alaskan community in general. I am now equipped to provide nutrition counseling, health talks, meal … Read more

TCF Scholarship Recipient- Tammy Ashley, “My Academic Success”

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My name is Tammy Tuttle Ashley, daughter to Terry and Delores Tuttle. I am an original CIRI shareholder born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska. My Grandmother Alma (Foster) McCormick and Mother were born on Unga Island in the Shumagin Islands on the Aleutian Chain and my Grandfather Roy Ashenfelter was born in Council and lived … Read more

TCF Scholarship Recipient- Raina Thiele

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I was born and raised in various parts of the great state of Alaska. My mom (Dena’ina Athabascan) is from Lake Iliamna and my dad (Yup’ik and German) is from Alexander Creek near Mt. Susitna. From a young age, I knew that I wanted to get an education that would enable me to pursue my passions. However, as a first generation college student, I had to feel my way through the college application and financing process as though I were fumbling through an obstacle course in the dark.

At that early stage of my life, I could never have imagined that 15 years later I’d have earned credentials from Yale and Harvard, and worked for President Obama at the White House.

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TCF Scholarship Recipient- Cynthia Baldwin

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My name is Cynthia Baldwin the daughter of Nicholas and Patricia Baldwin. My great grandmother, Lucy Whitley, is the original CIRI Shareholder that I descend from on my mother’s side.

I guess you can say I grew up in the Education and Training field. My mother was an Employment and Training Advisor, after school I would sit in the common area of her office, waiting until it was time to go home. I would listen to her talk to prospective students, do assessments to find out where their interests lay, research schools to attend and help the apply for funding. In the evenings she took college classes over teleconference and would be listening to the class discussions while getting dinner on the table. I am the youngest of 5, through her own perseverance she graduated with her Bachelor degree the year before I graduated high school.

I received my Bachelor of Art in Art May 2005. In 2009 I began work as a Financial Aid Advisor at UAF, and took advantage of my tuition waiver, starting the MBA program in January 2010. I got a headache on the left side of my head, that I attributed to stress, but the headache did not go away, it was constant.

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