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Alaskan Receives USDA Unsung Hero Award
(above left) Crystal Leonetti and past APIO
Vice President Manny Weil (NRCS photo)
(top row, left) accepting the Unsung Hero award for Crystal this week in
Washington was
acting Director of the
NRCS Conservation Engineering Division
Noller Herbert (NRCS photo — click to enlarge)
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Crystal Leonetti received the Organization of Professional Employees of the
US Department of Agriculture Unsung Hero award this week for her hard
work and many accomplishments as Statewide Native Liaison, District
Conservationist for the Anchorage field office, and American Indian/Alaska
Native Special Emphasis Program Manager. Highlights of her many
accomplishments include developing a three-day course for Alaska NRCS employees
to learn about Alaska Native land complexities, cultures, and history called
Working Effectively with Alaska Natives. She was responsible for
working with Alaska’s first-ever Tribal Conservation District, expanding that
field office area by 5,000 square miles. She organized and facilitated the
first NRCS meeting of Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act Regional Corporations.
Crystal was elected President of the American Indian Alaska Native Employees
Association in 2006, and co-chaired the first-ever joint NRCS Asian Pacific
Islander Organization (APIO) and American Indian and Alaska Native Employee
Association conference in 2006.
Crystal’s principal goals include raising a family with her husband, Ed;
continuing a successful career with NRCS; and establishing rapport and good
working relationships between NRCS and Alaska’s Native Corporations, Villages,
and Tribes.
Your contact is Fred Jacobs,
NRCS public affairs specialist at 202-720-4772. | | |