After nine years of employment at CIRI and The CIRI Foundation, shareholder Tabetha Toloff has embarked on a new challenge as director of Alyeska Pipeline Service Co.’s Alaska Native Program, where she works to fulfill the company’s commitment to recruit, train, employ and promote Alaska Native people. Alyeska’s Alaska Native Program provides scholarships, internships, mentorships and partnership opportunities.
Toloff started with CIRI in 2002 as executive assistant of finance. She moved to The CIRI Foundation in 2004 to work as a program officer and later returned in 2008 to CIRI to work as manager of human resources.
“Leaving CIRI for Alyeska was difficult because of the great people I worked with and my familiarity with the organization,” said Toloff. “But it was an exciting opportunity to branch out and expand my horizons. I thrive on challenge.”
One of Toloff’s first challenges came at age 15 when she moved with her mother, CIRI shareholder Lynda Toloff, to Anchorage, where she started at Service High School, not knowing anybody. Until then she’d grown up in a rural area on her grandparents’ homestead in Nikiski and had gone to school with the same kids since kindergarten. The move to the city was overwhelming for her at first.
The challenge of being in a new environment motivated Toloff to quickly make friends and earn high grades in school as she had done in Nikiski. Toloff went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in organizational management from Alaska Pacific University and a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Gonzaga University.
“The experience of being in an unfamiliar environment as a teenager has helped me to better understand the challenges that young Alaska Native people face when they seek opportunities outside of their home communities,” said Toloff. “Pursuing and achieving educational and career goals are important for people who want to provide a better life for themselves and their families, and I’m excited that I can help make these kinds of goals a reality for Alaska Native people through my new position at Alyeska.”
Toloff strongly encourages Alaska Native people to learn more about the opportunities that Alyeska offers. Interested applicants can contact her directly by calling (907) 797-8394 or emailing her at
Tabetha.Toloff@alyeska-pipeline.com.
