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Kim Elton (Designee)
Department of the Interior
Kim Elton grew up in Juneau, Alaska, and has spent most of his professional life involved in the civic affairs of Alaska. Elton attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, and the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, with a major in journalism, then worked a string of journalism jobs: as oil and gas reporter and then city editor for the Fairbanks News-Miner; city editor for the Anchorage Times and editor of the Juneau Empire.
Elton also has extensive experience in Alaska government, working in the 1970s as staff to the House Democrat Caucus, staff to the Legislative Ethics Committee, Assistant State Ombudsman, and policy aide for then-Lt. Governor Terry Miller in the Gov. Jay Hammond administration.
Like many Alaskans, Elton also spent several seasons commercial fishing. Elton’s commercial fishing and media experience led to appointments as Communications Officer, and later Executive Director of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, or ASMI. ASMI, a public/private partnership with a $10 million plus annual marketing budget, conducts generic promotions of Alaska seafood across America and around the world.
Elton’s elective public service career began in 1990, with election to the Assembly of the City and Borough of Juneau. In 1994, he went on to serve two terms in the Alaska State House, representing downtown Juneau. In 1998, Elton won election to the Alaska State Senate, a seat he held until March 2, 2009, when he was appointed Director of Alaska Affairs for the Secretary of the Interior. Holding the Alaska portfolio, the Secretary appointed Elton as Interior’s representative on the Exxon Valdez Trustee Council April 7.