Contributions of Young Alaskans: Owen Phillips
With the extensive coverage of young workers unemployed and asking for bailouts, we thought it was important to profile young Alaskans who continue to work hard and contribute every day in Alaska’s essential resource development industries like mining. Owen Phillips, 26, External Affairs Coordinator: The Alliance Owen fell into the resource development world due to a series of unanticipated events. He studied chemistry and art at Lewis & Clark College, where he found a passion for sharing scientific theories in accessible ways. After graduation, he worked in a public-facing role in the conservation department at the Anchorage Museum during its renovation and got his feet wet in the political system working as a legislative aide for the State House of Representatives. En route to grad school in D.C., he created science-art during an internship at West Virginia University. Using each experience, he became skilled in translating complex information into consumable bites. After a year studying in D.C., he needed to rekindle his zest for life and returned home to Alaska to work on the Stand for Alaska campaign. This role eventually led him to his position at The Alliance. Owen understands how to consider multiple perspectives and that making change requires
taking action. More often than not, it is a specific action: listening. During his travels and educational experiences, he noticed a growing divide between political groups on many topics. A common theme he recognized was that goals were often the same between groups, but differences in opinion often obscured actionable solutions. One issue was more poignant and closer to home than others — global energy and climate change. Coming from an oil-producing/mining state but understanding the realities of green energy and climate impacts, Owen launched a new project called Velocity. Velocity is a social media campaign, and a social movement, that brings young people together on tough issues in a divided world. Velocity engages emerging leaders and causes them to think, “Oh! If I want to build a solar panel, I might need mined copper.” The roles of responsible resource development and energy futures are conflated, not independent. And creating climate solutions while still providing affordable, accessible energy will require listening, not shouting. Oh, and did we mention the occasional Schitt’s Creek meme? To find out more about Velocity, you can visit us on Instagram or Facebook, @velocityak. You can contact Owen at ophillips@alaskaalliance.com. If you know of young Alaskans we should profile, please email their story to us at Lee.Leschper@ FireweedStrategies.com.
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June 2020 I The Alaska Miner I www.alaskaminers.org
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