Camp Fire Alaska | Light the Fire Within
Menu

Melanie Hooper

President & CEO

 

Mel exudes a passion for serving Alaskans through partnerships and programs that strengthen and build youth, family and community resilience. She has been with Camp Fire Alaska since 2011 in various roles, bringing with her almost two decades of leadership experience ranging from outdoor education and recreation, childcare, summer camps, and community-based programs. She has spent over a decade working in partnership with indigenous partners in Alaska to develop and deliver culturally relevant youth and intergenerational programs in remote Alaska Native communities. Mel was born and raised on a small family farm in Ohio and holds her B.A. in Zoology from Ohio Wesleyan University with a minor in Anthropology. As someone who approaches her work from a people-first lens, it brings joy to share her love of gardening, bee-keeping, hiking, camping, fishing, harvesting wild edibles, crafting, and spending time with her husband and two huskies outdoors in Alaska.

The Camp Fire Alaska main office operates on the ancestral land of the Dena’ina people. Camp Fire Alaska runs programing on the lands of the Athabascan, Yup’ik, Chup’ik, Sougpiaq, and Inupiaq peoples. We value and thank them for their current and historic commitment to and protection of this land. We pledge to assist, in partnership, in the environmental stewardship of these lands. We strive to learn more about the history of the Native peoples of Alaska and the historic trauma they have suffered. We commit to being an active ally through activities, actions, and organizational decisions and practices. We understand that this is a dynamic process through which our Land Acknowledgement practices, and statement will evolve as we receive feedback from tribal partners and acquire a deeper understanding of and from the Native peoples of Alaska..  (v2)