Governor Mike Dunleavy and the First Lady of Alaska awarded Daisy Lockwood of Stebbins with the annual Shirley Demientieff award today at the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) Convention.
“Rose and I are deeply honored to continue the tradition of presenting the annual Shirley Demientieff award,” said Governor Dunleavy. “Shirley was an Athabascan leader, a tremendous friend to many, and a passionate advocate for all people in Alaska. She cared for women, children, the homeless, the incarcerated, and the forgotten. She cared deeply for her people. This year’s award goes to an exceptional leader, Daisy, the City Administrator for Stebbins. She exemplifies the very best values of Alaska.”
Daisy Lockwood is currently the City Administrator for Stebbins, with a population of 634. She was born and raised in St. Michael. She married a local man and had six children and 11 grandchildren. She is a tribal member of the St. Michael Tribe, and all her children are from the Stebbins Tribe.
She worked as a Health Aid for 13 years for the Norton Sound Region and intended to leave Alaska to become a Physician’s Assistant, but she chose to stay in Stebbins and work for the Tribe. She worked for her Tribe for six years, developing ordinances for her local Government and the reindeer husbandry program. She spent 12 years at the school in Stebbins as a high school, middle school, and junior high basketball coach. She was also a bilingual teacher for two years. In addition, she has served on the Advisory Education Committee and the State Education Board.
During this most recent storm in Western Alaska, the remnants of Typhoon Merbok, she quickly prepared her community to apply for assistance. Thanks to Daisy, Stebbins was ahead of other communities because they prepared. Stebbins was the first community to provide a complete, detailed damage assessment before anyone had boots on the ground. She deferred the National Guard to go to other villages with more damage than Stebbins; because she was so confident in the resiliency of her village.
