Tara Mac Lean Sweeney, an Inupiat businesswoman who most recently served as executive vice president of external affairs with Arctic Slope Regional Corp., has been sworn in as the first Alaska Native woman to serve as Assistant Secretary for Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Her responsibilities include enhancing the quality of life, promoting economic opportunity, and providing quality educational opportunities for some 1.9 million American Indians, Indian tribes, and Alaska Natives, as well as protecting and improving their trust assets.
Sweeney grew up in rural Alaska, where she attended schools in Noorvik, Wainwright, Utqiagvik, Bethel and Unalakleet, and earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations. She has worked with ASRC and its subsidiaries in various capacities for nearly two decades.
Sweeney, a lifetime member of the National Congress of American Indians, was crowned Miss NCAI in 1993.
In a statement released by the Interior Department following the swearing in ceremony in early August Sweeney said her goal “is to develop strong relationships with tribes, Alaska Native corporations and Hawaiian organizations to work on innovative solutions for lifting up our communities. I am motivated to work with Indian Country to find efficiencies inside the Bureau of Indian Affairs, improve service delivery and culturally relevant curriculum in the Bureau of Indian Education, and create a more effective voice for tribes throughout the federal government.”
Sweeney’s husband Kevin Sweeney, a former aide to Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is the owner of Six-7 Strategies. Alaska Public Media reported in early April that his firm is a subcontractor at $15,000 a month for Black Rock Group to advise the Alaska Gasline Development Corp. on its communication strategy in promoting the liquefied natural gas project to the Trump administration. Mike Dubke, owner of Black Rock Group, served as White House communications director for three months in 2017.
