All Alaska Pediatric Partnership

Background

The All Alaska Pediatric Partnership was founded in 1996 by a group of pediatricians and hospitals aiming to foster collaborations in pediatric-care services across Alaska. In 2015, the organization was registered as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with an address in Anchorage, Alaska. ^{1 2}

The All Alaska Pediatric Partnership maintains a variety of pediatric healthcare-related programs, including continuing education programs, trainings for pediatric medical providers, an annual pediatric symposium, free referral navigation services, and screening services. ²

Advocacy

The All Alaska Pediatric Partnership engages in policy advocacy. For instance, as part of the Alaska Early Childhood Advocacy Group (a coalition including the Southcentral Alaska Association for the Education of Young Children, the Alaska Children’s Trust, the Northern Interior Association for the Education of Young Children, Best Beginnings, the Southeast Childhood Collective, the Alaska Head Start Association, and Thread), the organization has advocated in favor of a variety of health care- and education-related items in the 2027 federal budget, such as $7.5 million for the annual ROOTS Award, $5.72 million for the Infant Learning Program, $500,000 for Parents as Teachers, $400,000 for Best Beginnings Imagination Library, and $3.756 million for Head Start. ³

Funding

Organizations and government entities that have provided financial support to the All Alaska Pediatric Partnership include the Providence Alaska Children’s Hospital, the Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, the Alaska Native Medical Center, the State of Alaska Department of Health, the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, Intermountain Children’s Health, Pediatrix Alaska Neonatology, Alaska Pediatric Specialties, Mirum, Bright Road Wealth Management, Foundation Health Partners, the Alaska Hospital Healthcare Association, the Alaska Cancer Partnership, the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, Thread, the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, and the Northwest Pandas/Pans Network (NWPPN). ^{4 5 6}

Leadership

Tamar Ben-Yosef is the executive director of the All Alaska Pediatric Partnership. Previously, Ben-Yosef was an editor and writer for the Arctic Sounder, editor and writer for Dutch Harbor Fisherman, co-founder of the food business Urban Greens in downtown Anchorage, and public relations and communications staffer at Thompson and Co. Public Relations. Additionally, before immigrating to America, Ben-Yosef completed a term of compulsory military service in the Israel Defense Forces. ⁷

Matt Findley is the chair of All Alaska Pediatric Partnership’s board of directors, as well as a partner of Ashburn and Mason P.C., president of the board of the Alaska Hemophilia Association, co-chair of the of the appellate section of the Alaska Bar, and principal trumpet in the Anchorage Civic Orchestra. Previously, Findley was a board member of nonprofit organizations, including the Stone Soup Group and the Alaska Center for Collaborative Child Therapy, as well as an orchestra member in the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra and the Anchorage Concert Chorus Orchestra. ⁷

Esther Pitts is the chair-elect of the All Alaska Pediatric Partnership’s board of directors, as well as the chief community impact officer of the Matsu Health Foundation, a joint owner of the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center. ⁷

Stephanie Birch is a founding member and ex-officio director of the All Alaska Pediatric Partnership’s board of directors. Previously, she was a State of Alaska public health section chief for Women’s, Children’s and Family Health. ⁷

Carmen Wenger is the director of programs for the All Alaska Pediatric Partnership, as well as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s Act Early ambassador to the State of Alaska. Previously, she was an orphan and vulnerable child advisor at Child Welfare South Africa, immunization information system manager and deputy program manager for the State of Alaska’s Immunization Program, and director of the Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness. ⁷