Top 40 Under 40 List Released: Public Education Advocates Well Represented

Alaska's Top Forty Under 40, sponsored by the Alaska Journal of Commerce (AJOC), recognizes the state's top professionals younger than age 40 who have demonstrated professional excellence and a commitment to their community.

This year's list highlights a host of Alaskans working to improve the lives of young people, including Carl Jacobs, a first-term member of the Anchorage School Board who has served as a licensed therapeutic foster parent to dozens of at-risk youth.

Professionally, Jacobs has worked for over a decade to serve and protect vulnerable Alaskans in various roles for the state government and now works as a compliance analyst for the Southcentral Foundation.

Award recipients also include:

• Flora Teo, President of Junior Achievement of Alaska. Teo has been a stakeholder pushing for increased financial literacy education opportunities for all students.
• Rhiana Gay, a teacher on the frontlines of education during the pandemic at Anchorage School District's Creekside Park Elementary School, represents another well-deserved nominee.
• Holly Martinson of the WWAMI School of Medical Education and outgoing legislator Jonathan Kreiss-Tompkins, both stalwart allies of public education, were named to the list as well.

AJOC considered 288 nominees this year, the largest number of submissions for Top Forty Under 40 honors in years. A magazine featuring the 2022 class will be released in the May 24th editions of the Alaska Journal of Commerce and Anchorage Daily News.