Wielding Power for Good</h1> <article> <h1>Wielding Power for Good</h1> <p>azaleski — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 17:29:44 +0000</p> <span>Wielding Power for Good</span> <span><span>azaleski</span></span> <span><time datetime="2026-02-26T12:29:44-05:00" title="Thursday, February 26, 2026 - 12:29">Thu, 02/26/2026 - 12:29</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Annika Krafcik ’20 had never set foot in Alaska before the summer of 2018. A double-degree student at �鶹��Ƶ, she decided to attend the Sitka Cello Seminar—and there was no turning back. “I applied because my mom really wanted to visit,” she says. “Little did she know she would lose me to Alaska forever.”</p><p>The triple major in <a href="/cello">cello performance</a>, <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/history">history</a>, and <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/russian">Russian & Eastern European studies</a> instantly fell in love with Sitka, the close-knit community of 8,000 on the shores of southeast Alaska.</p><p>Whether through playing music or doing public interest work, “ the things that people were asking me to do to contribute to the community were things that I really loved about myself and wanted to nurture,” she says.</p><p>Seven years later, Krafcik now lives in Sitka full time, giving back to her community in a new position: as deputy legal director for the Sitka Tribe of Alaska. Her path from �鶹��Ƶ to law school—and finally back north to “The Last Frontier”—held plenty of twists and turns, but it paid off in a big way.</p><p>The year after that first Alaska trip, Krafcik used her leadership experience in OSCA, �鶹��Ƶ’s student-run housing and dining cooperative, to apply for a job as a chef at the Sitka Fine Arts Camp. The multidisciplinary summer camp, run by �鶹��Ƶ alum Roger Schmidt ’92, encourages creativity and community among the campers and staff. After 11 weeks serving meals and playing the cello around camp, “I was like, ‘Okay, I'm moving here,’” she says.</p><p>Graduating in 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, added new roadblocks to her path back. Frustrated by many of the political decisions being made at high levels of government, she “spent a lot of time thinking about who has power in society and how power is wielded for good or for evil,” she says. </p><p>“There are so many flaws in the legal system, and it's so deeply broken, but we need good people to at least try to wield it for good. If we just hand over the broken system to the people who want to manipulate it even further, we are so screwed.”</p><p>To get back to Alaska—a state with no law schools—an energized Krafcik took the LSAT and enrolled in the UCLA School of Law. “[While there] I definitely got the rap of, ‘Oh, that's the Alaska girl,’” she says. But having Sitka as her north star helped her stay focused in a system designed to push students toward corporate law. </p><p>Her course load focused on topics that would best serve her small community, including a climate change seminar, a tribal legal development clinic, and classes on General Law of the Sea and Indigenous Peoples' Rights. </p><p>The latter two were part of her study abroad experience in Norway during her second year of law school—an adventure funded in part through grants from <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/russian/ocreecas">�鶹��Ƶ's Center for Russian, East European, and Central Asian Studies</a> .</p><p>Ten days after graduating from UCLA in 2024, Krafcik packed her bags and drove more than 3,000 miles from Southern California to Skagway, Alaska. After almost a year clerking for Judge Amanda Browning, the perfect opportunity arrived.</p><p>”When the position opened with the Sitka Tribe, I couldn't believe it,” she says. “It’s Native Law, which I specialized in during law school. It allows me to live in Sitka, and it’s a long-term position.” As an associate tribal attorney, she advocates for the court, manages grants from the Department of Justice, updates policies and ordinances, and reviews contracts.</p><p>“There’s definitely a steep learning curve, and a cultural learning curve too,” she says. But “I’m really loving all of the work that I get to do.”</p><p>Of course, living in Sitka, Krafcik is more than just a lawyer. She sits on the board of the Fine Arts Camp, recently joined a water polo team, and continues to play cello with the Juneau Symphony. She's also excited about her recent appointment to the board of the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council. “The amazing thing about Sitka is you never know what's coming next.”</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">As a public interest lawyer, Annika Krafcik ’20 improves the lives of people in her southeast Alaska community. And her journey to get there started at �鶹��Ƶ.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2026-02-26T12:00:00Z">Thu, 02/26/2026 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Stephanie Manning ’23</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2368">Alumni</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=3924">Law and Society</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=35261">Cello</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25426">Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/history" hreflang="und">History</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/russian" hreflang="und">Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/law-and-society" hreflang="und">Law and Society</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Courtesy of Annika Krafcik ’20</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-article-header field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">0</div> </article> <article> <h1>Dr. Menna Demessie ’02 Wins Black Music Action Coalition Social Impact Award</h1> <p>azaleski — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 18:11:12 +0000</p> <span>Dr. Menna Demessie ’02 Wins Black Music Action Coalition Social Impact Award</span> <span><span>azaleski</span></span> <span><time datetime="2023-09-28T14:11:12-04:00" title="Thursday, September 28, 2023 - 14:11">Thu, 09/28/2023 - 14:11</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Dr. Demessie—a member of �鶹��Ƶ’s Board of Trustees and the Senior Vice President and Executive Director of Universal Music Group’s global <a href="https://www.universalmusic.com/umgs-task-force-for-meaningful-change/" target="_blank">Task Force for Meaningful Change</a> (TFMC)—received the honor at the 2023 BMAC Gala. Other BMAC Social Impact Award winners include Emmy-winning actress-singer-songwriter-producer Keke Palmer and Emmy-winning producer Jesse Collins.</p> <p>Established in June 2020 by Universal Music Group Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge, the TFMC takes a multi-pronged approach “to amplify and expand UMG’s current programs, devise new initiatives and support marginalized communities in the ongoing fight for equality, justice and inclusion,” according to its website. </p> <p>Dr. Demessie joined UMG in December 2020. Under her leadership, the label group has implemented trust-based philanthropy that centers unrestricted donations to nonprofits servicing the Black community and other marginalized groups across the nation and globe. With criminal justice reform as the founding focus priority, UMG has also prioritized organizations standing in the gap of racial disparities in music, public health, voting, education, and more.</p> <p>“There has always been a blueprint for positive, substantial change,” Dr. Demessie says, “and our resources go further when we educate ourselves on the leaders, organizations, and communities making this change and supporting them.”</p> <p>Prior to joining UMG, Dr. Demessie spent a decade running the Center for Policy Analysis and Research for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF). While there, she completed the first empirical and qualitative study analyzing the instrumental role Congressional Black Caucus members played in U.S.-Africa foreign policy through the analysis of African congressional caucuses in the U.S. House of Representatives.</p> <p>Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Dr. Demessie graduated with honors from �鶹��Ƶ, with a double major in <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/economics" target="_blank">economics</a> and <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/law-and-society" target="_blank">law & society</a>. As senior class president, she also gave a commencement speech. She later earned a joint PhD in public policy and political science from the University of Michigan. Dr. Demessie is also currently on adjunct faculty for the University of California Washington Center and the University of Michigan, where she teaches courses in race and ethnic politics, American government, political advocacy, and Black Lives Matter, and mentors several college students and policy interns.</p> <p>In addition to her award from the BMAC, Dr. Demessie also received a Black Star Award from <a href="https://10years.africans.us" target="_blank">African Communities Together</a> during a ceremony held on September 28 in Washington, D.C.<br> <br> For more information on the Black Music Action Coalition 2023 Gala, read a recap in <a href="https://variety.com/2023/music/musicians/lizzo-sylvia-rhone-keke-palmer-black-music-action-coalition-bmac-2023-1235732482/" target="_blank"><em>Variety</em></a>.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">The honor was one of two major awards the Cleveland-born scholar activist received this week</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2023-09-28T12:00:00Z">Thu, 09/28/2023 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Office of Communications</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>On September 21, the Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC) awarded Dr. Menna Demessie ’02 with the organization’s prestigious Social Impact Award. </p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2368">Alumni</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=3924">Law and Society</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=3925">Economics</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/law-and-society" hreflang="und">Law and Society</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/economics" hreflang="und">Economics</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Dr. Menna Demessie '02 pictured at the 2023 Black Music Action Coalition gala</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Courtesy of Dr. Menna Demessie</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> </main></body></html>