Dune Lankard, Native Eyak of the Eagle Clan from Cordova, Alaska. Dune has an impassioned commitment to protecting Eyak culture, his ancestral lands and wild salmon way of life that was fostered in him by his mother Rosie and her strong community leadership that led to his Eyak people’s land claims and during his upbringing. Dune was a full-time commercial fisherman in Prince William Sound until March 24, 1989, when the Exxon Valdez spilled more than 30 million gallons of oil onto the pristine beaches of the Sound. On that day, he became a social change artist and social impact entrepreneur, dedicating his life to the protection of Native and fishing rights and the environment. Dune has testified before Congress in order to protect his ancestral homelands from destruction and is also a founder of the Eyak Preservation Council, the Native Conservancy and a founding member of the Eyak Traditional Elders Council that helped preserve his beloved Eyak rainforest on the Northern end of the Coastal Temperate Rainforest. For his tireless work, he was selected by Time Magazine as one of its "Heroes of the Planet,” and he is also an ASHOKA Fellow, Hunt Alternatives Fund Fellow, cohort of Future of Fish and a winner of SeaWeb's Seafood Champion Award. Dune continues his work through the Native Conservancy linking cultural, environmental and economic solutions in the seafood industry, while addressing Food Security, Food Sovereignty and preserving Alaska’s unique subsistence way of life. Dune has worked to form a movement that focuses on building resilient communities and regenerative and sustainable economic solutions for coastal communities.
Listed skills include Social Entrepreneurship, Public Speaking, Sustainability, Community Outreach, and 43 others.