Alaska Guardsman is honored with prestigious fellowship opportunity

By Army Pfc. Karina Paraoan
Alaska Department of Military Affairs

Maj. Wayne Don, State Partnership Program Director for the Alaska National Guard, is one of 44 emerging American leaders from the United States to be selected for the prestigious Marshall Memorial Fellowship of 2011. Photo by Master Sgt. Scott Hardesty
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CAMP DENALI, Alaska (12/17/10) — An Alaska Army National Guardsman was one of 44 emerging American leaders from the United States to be selected for the prestigious Marshall Memorial Fellowship of 2011.

Maj. Wayne Don, State Partnership Program Director for the Alaska National Guard, was the only Alaskan chosen to be a Marshall Memorial Fellow of 2011.

The Marshall Memorial Fellowship is a 24-day program that provides a unique opportunity for American and European leaders to travel to five cities in Europe and explore the institutions, politics and culture.

The leaders have the opportunity to meet formally and informally with policymakers, prominent community members and local Marshall Memorial Fellowship alumni.

The German Marshall Fund worked with partner organizations across the United States to search and select American Marshall Memorial Fellows. Some of the organizations that helped select the Fellows of 2011 include the Council of State Governments, American Council of Young Political Leaders, the National League of Cities and other partner organizations.

“I nominated Wayne Don because he represents the future of Alaska,” said Sherri Burretta, chairman of the board, Chugach Alaska Corporation. “He has sacrificed his precious time away from his young family to protect our state and country, while also representing his Native people by heading his village corporation. He is a perfect role model for all Alaskans.”

Fellows come from politics, government, media, business, and the non-profit sector and are selected through competitive nationwide and regional processes.

The fellowship was created by the German Marshall Fund of the United States to introduce a new generation of European leaders to the United States. In 1999, The German Marshall Fund launched a companion program to expose future U.S. leaders to a changing and expanding Europe.

In addition to serving in the Alaska Army National Guard, Don is the chairman of the Nunivak Island Mekoryuk Alaska Corporation. NIMA is a private, for profit Alaska Native owned corporation representing the business interests of the Cup’ig Eskimos from Nunivak Island.

“My service as a Soldier, leadership experiences in the military and contributions to the development of the NIMA Corporation are all things I think that have contributed to my selection as a Marshall Fellow,” said Don. “Because of my military background and leadership training, I was able to use those experiences and apply them to my current role as the chairman of a for-profit village corporation.”

Don’s responsibilities as the chairman include working closely with NIMA’s Chief Executive officer on business operations and business development, and working with their board of members on the strategic direction of the corporation.

“It was a huge honor to be nominated and an even bigger honor to be selected for such a prestigious program,” said Don. “Two hundred twenty-five professionals from various professions around the country were nominated and 44 were selected, so it's a tremendous honor to be part of such a select group of people.”

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