The seeds for The Island Institute were planted by four Sitkans interested in ideas and writing who founded the Sitka Symposium in 1984. They began a nonprofit organization that has grown to be multifaceted and has, for two decades, explored social, cultural, and community questions of local and global concern.

The Sitka Symposium has been held annually for twenty-three years, involving more than ninety nationally recognized writers and important emerging, indigenous, and international voices as faculty. Several hundred participants from thirty Alaskan communities and an equal number of states have also taken part.

Our Resident Fellows Program was initiated in 1989 to create a strong link between the literary arts and the community of Sitka.

Our publications reflect the substance of conversations from the Symposium and Resident Fellows Program, offering those ideas to a broad reading audience.

Our initiatives encouraging conscientious civic engagement in community well-being grew out of our strong ties to Sitka. Our indicator reports and collaborative leadership training opportunities have been noteworthy in the region and state.

The Island Institute has changed lives in ways not often measured.
Assumptions have been reconsidered, values examined, and spirits renewed for people from all walks of life. We remain committed to fostering insight and inquiry that contributes to the greater global effort to shape a sustainable human culture.