Former United States Ambassador to Sweden Mark Brzezinski serves as Executive Director of the U.S. Government’s Arctic Executive Steering Committee. He spoke to the Alaska World Affairs Council at the Dena’ina Center, on Tuesday, January 26, 2016, to provide an update on President Obama’s Executive Order to enhance coordination of national efforts in the Arctic. The presentation was called “Arctic Executive Steering Committee - One Year On: Report from the Executive Director.” This was a joint meeting with Anchorage Downtown Rotary.
On January 21st, 2015, in recognition of the unique challenges and opportunities presented by the Arctic, President Obama issued an Executive Order to enhance coordination of national efforts in the Arctic. The Executive Order creates expanded opportunities for Alaskans and those in the Federal government to work on Arctic issues and establishes a clear structure to improve the coordination of Federal Arctic activity.
An Arctic Executive Steering Committee (AESC) was established to oversee implementation of the National Strategy for the Arctic Region. The AESC convenes at the Deputy Secretary level to guide the development of department and agency plans to assure that Federal activity is well-coordinated and better communicated to partners such as the State of Alaska, Alaska Native communities, the U.S. Congress, the business community, international partners, and other stakeholders.
- Mark Brzezinski, Executive Director of the U.S. Government’s Arctic Executive Steering Committee and former U.S. Ambassador to Sweden
MODERATOR:
- Deborah Smith, Alaska World Affairs Council board member
HOST: Alaska World Affairs Council
LINKS:
BROADCAST ON KSKA: Tuesday, Februaru 2, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. (Alaska time)
RECORDED: Tuesday, January 26, 2016 at the Dena’ina Center
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Eric Bork, or you can just call him “Bork” because everybody else does, is the FM Operations Manager for KSKA-FM. He oversees the day-to-day operations of the FM broadcast. He produces and edits episodes of Outdoor Explorer, the Alaska-focused outdoors program. He also maintains the web posts for that show. You may have heard him filling in for Morning Edition or hosting All Things Considered and can still find him operating the soundboard for any of the live broadcast programs.
After escaping the Detroit area when he was 18, Bork made it up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where he earned a degree in Communications/Radio Broadcasting from Northern Michigan University. He spent time managing the college radio station, working for the local NPR affiliate, and then in top 40 radio in Michigan before coming to Alaska to work his first few summers. After then moving to Chicago, it only took five years to convince him to move back to Alaska in 2010. When not involved in great radio programming he’s probably riding a bicycle, thinking about riding bicycles, dreaming about bikes, reading a book, or planning the next place he’ll travel to. Only two continents left to conquer!
