Tiffany Zulkosky (born May 19, 1984) is an American politician. She represented District 38 in the

Alaska House of Representatives The Alaska House of Representatives is the lower house in the Alaska State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. The House is composed of 40 members, each of whom represents a district of approximately 17,756 people pe ...

from 2018 until 2023, after she chose not to run for re-election. Zulkosky is a Democrat and caucused with the House Majority Caucus. In 2018, she was appointed by Governor

Bill Walker Bill Walker may refer to: Australian rules football * Bill A. Walker (1886–1934), Australian rules footballer for Essendon * Bill Walker (Australian footballer, born 1883) (1883–1971), Australian rules footballer for Fitzroy * Bill J. V. Walke ...

and unanimously approved by House Democrats to fill the vacant seat in District 38. Zulkosky, who is

Yup'ik The Yupʼik or Yupiaq (sg & pl) and Yupiit or Yupiat (pl), also Central Alaskan Yupʼik, Central Yupʼik, Alaskan Yupʼik ( own name ''Yupʼik'' sg ''Yupiik'' dual ''Yupiit'' pl; Russian: Юпики центральной Аляски), are an ...

, was the only Alaska Native woman to serve in the

Alaska Legislature The Alaska State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is a bicameral institution consisting of the 40-member Alaska House of Representatives (lower house) and the 20-member Alaska Senate (upper house). There a ...

Education

Zulkosky graduated from

Bethel Regional High School Bethel Regional High School (BRHS) is a public high school in Bethel, Alaska, United States, and part of the Lower Kuskokwim School District Lower Kuskokwim School District (LKSD), or Bethel Public Schools, is a school district headquartered ...

in 2002. She earned a B.A. in Organizational Communications from

Northwest University Northwest University may refer to: *Northwest University (China) in Xi'an, Shaanxi, China *Northwest University (United States) in Kirkland, Washington, US *North-West University in Potchefstroom and Mahikeng, North West Province, South Africa *Nor ...

in 2006 and a Master's in Public Administration from the

University of Alaska Southeast The University of Alaska Southeast (UA Southeast, Alaska Southeast, or UAS) is a public university with its main campus in Juneau, Alaska and extended campuses in Sitka and Ketchikan. It is part of the University of Alaska System and was est ...

in 2015.

Career

Mayor of Bethel

Zulkosky was elected Mayor of

Bethel Bethel (, "House of El" or "House of God",Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257. also transliterated ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; ; ) was an ancient Israelite city and sacred space that is frequently mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Bet ...

at 24 and holds the distinction of being the youngest Mayor in Bethel's history. She resigned from the position in April 2009 to work as U.S. Senator

Mark Begich Mark Peter Begich ( ; born March 30, 1962) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Alaska from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he ...

's Rural Director.

Other work

Zulkosky served as U.S. Senator

's Rural Director from 2009 - 2011. She then became the Alaska West Area Director at USDA until 2013. After, she was the executive director of Nuvista Light and Electric Cooperative until 2016, at which point she became the vice-president of Communications at the Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation. Zulkosky is on a "Leave of Absence" from YKHC while the Legislature is in session.

Alaska House of Representatives

After the resignation of

Zach Fansler Zach Fansler is an American politician. He served on the Bethel City Council from 2014 to 2016, and in the Alaska House of Representatives from the 38th District from 2017 to 2018. He was first elected to the House in 2016, defeating Majority Wh ...

due to allegations of assault in February 2018, Zulkosky was appointed by

, making her the first

woman to be a member of the Alaska Legislature.

Alaska Native tribes

Zulkosky has sought to establish better relationships between the

Government of Alaska The government of Alaska in common with state and federal governments of the United States, has three separation of powers, branches of government: the executive branch, executive, consisting of the Governor of Alaska and the state agencies; the ...

and indigenous tribes native to Alaska. She has focused on "tribal compacting", which outlines which services will be provided by tribal authorities and which will be provided by the government.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zulkosky, Tiffany 1984 births 21st-century Alaska Native people Alaska Native women Yupik people Democratic Party members of the Alaska House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Alaska Legislature Native American state legislators in Alaska University of Alaska Southeast alumni Women state legislators in Alaska Living people Women mayors of places in Alaska People from Bethel, Alaska 21st-century American women politicians Native American women in politics 21st-century Native American women 21st-century Native American politicians