About Ky Holland
I grew up in this district and would be proud to represent the place I call home. I know every corner from attending O’Malley Elementary School, eating dinner at the long-gone Stuckagain Heights Restaurant, hiking, skiing, and snowmobiling (back when it was allowed!), living on the hillside, hiking from Glen Alps to Indian, skiing at Alyeska, and putting our vehicles on flatcars to get to Whittier. I’m an Alaskan who came back, and now I live only a mile from my childhood home on the Hillside.
After graduating from Service High, I attended Oregon State University and earned a mechanical engineering degree but found no jobs for a young engineer in Alaska in the mid-80s when our economy and population were declining. Probably a familiar story for others and parents today. I was able to start my career working on the West Coast designing products for the mining and construction industries. I traveled around the world helping customers and manufacturing plants produce the products I helped design. At the same time, I became involved in our community, leading a variety of organizations and projects related to neighborhood traffic calming, land use planning, affordable housing, and crime prevention. Over time I moved into professional leadership positions and gained experience in marketing, quality systems, logistics, and business unit and manufacturing plant management.
My 35 years of work experience has included leading non-profit community organizations and initiatives, and industry trade groups. I have led and served on boards. Pertinent to work as a Legislator, my work has also encompassed: organizing community planning projects, industry and community engagement, low-income housing development, and post-secondary technical training and education programs.
Over time I moved into professional leadership positions and gained experience in marketing, quality systems, logistics, and business unit and manufacturing plant management.
With two young children, and after hiking the Chilkoot Trail in 1998, the centennial year, my wife Sharon and I decided it was time to jump off the corporate ladder and move back to Alaska to be with our parents, family and friends. We returned in 1999 and I continued this work and expanded my expertise in engineering, oil and gas, monitoring and control systems, workforce development and career and technical education. Locally I was also on the board of the Rabbit Creek Community Council and have served two sets of terms as Chair and CoChair. The last ten years have introduced me to innovation-based economic development, startups, and entrepreneurship. For the last four years, I’ve been leading a community Resilience committee addressing community hazards, including wildfire risks.
Throughout my life, I have been an innovator, developer, and facilitator - I like to think of myself as a “jazz conductor” working with diverse people and a dynamic plan, to create valuable results. I love working on new projects and developing Alaska’s economic future. I have always been a community advocate, and I love working in our community to build a safer, healthier, and kinder environment for everyone. I look forward to bringing this diverse knowledge and experience to Juneau and representing this district.
As a husband and father of two I know how important it is to invest in our future, our kids and our families. My wife and I met at O’Malley Elementary school and we graduated together and took separate paths leading us both to college in Oregon. Today my wife is a librarian for the Anchorage School District. Our kids went through K-12 education at the Anchorage School District and have now graduated and are living their lives as successful, independent adults. One is now in Oregon, and the other is concerned about housing in Anchorage and looking at jobs in the Lower 48.
From my own graduation from college and finding no opportunities in Alaska, to our own kids - I know firsthand the impact of a stagnant economy like we have over the last 15 years, the impact of a declining population, and I understand the challenges of retaining and attracting people. When we talk in Anchorage about closing schools, what I hear is a community that is focused on managing its decline rather than investing in its future. Personally I don’t want to be buying plane tickets to visit our kids and perhaps grandkids someday.
My commitment is to ensure Alaska's prosperous and sustainable future, focusing on four major areas: emerging industries, inspiring education, future economy, and Alaskan opportunity.