President Biden Appoints Blazer to Arctic Commission

“Sorry, we could not calculate driving directions from your location to St. Mary’s, Alaska”. This is the message from Google Maps when trying to travel from Elms College to St. Mary’s, Alaska, birthplace of Deborah Alstrom Vo ‘89. She grew up here on the Lower Yukon River as the youngest of ten children. When Deborah graduated high school at age 16, she wasn’t sure where she wanted to attend college, but she did know she wanted to travel to a place far away, someplace new, a place where no one would know her. She wanted to go to a college where she could discover who she was and what she might become. She didn’t know then, but Vo would become one of President Biden’s appointees for the U.S. Arctic Research Commission. The U.S. Arctic Research Commission is a presidentially appointed advisory body that outlines and recommends scientific researched goals and objectives for the Arctic. The policy, priorities, and goals include continual monitoring and understanding of the natural resources of the Arctic that have a global impact, improvement of the Arctic infrastructure, providing additional access to resources, and easing the pressures challenging the health, social and behavioral well-being of the communities. Deborah Vo became the commission’s new Indigenous representative on September 24, 2021, because of her expertise in tribal governance, energy, infrastructure, and health care. She is a program officer at the Rasmuson Foundation, which works toward promoting a better life for Alaskans through health, social services, housing, and arts and culture. Deborah was also a former special assistant for rural affairs to U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski.

Deborah obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Business from Elms College and later, after moving to Anchorage, Alaska, she furthered her education with a Master’s of Business Administration from Alaska Pacific University. But what she discovered while attending Elms impacted the future life decisions she would make. She purposely chose each job opportunity she would take in her professional life. When asked what advice she would give to Elms’ students today, she said, “Find your passion. Utilize your education and experience to move your passion to purpose.” Elms gave Deborah the support to realize her passion. “I was influenced by Sister Carol Hebert in Campus Ministry, Sister

“Elms helped me find my purpose through passion.”

Eleanor Dooley, Sister Mary Dooley, former president of Elms College, and Sister Maxyne Schneider, then Dean of Students. They were all supportive, inspiring, kind, and most importantly, listened with their hearts. I stand on the shoulders of these great women.” Elms also provided the building blocks to build on her purpose as Deborah confessed, “The public speaking class was so hard but taught me so much. It showed me how to be courageous and step out of my comfort zone.” Deborah’s passion is to promote equity for the Indigenous people of Alaska and share their traditional knowledge. Her purpose is to advocate for the indigenous communities—to start and continue the conversation about issues such as education, energy, public safety, clean water, and infrastructure. As a reflection of the mission of the Sisters of St. Joseph, Deborah Vo is continuing to rise to the occasion and give back to the Alaskan community and each intentional step she has taken since attending Elms has led her to the U.S. Arctic Research Commission appointment. 