Kimberly "Kuwúx" Armendariz is an educator, program coordinator, and subsistence advocate based in Sitka, Alaska. Originally from New Mexico, she moved to Yakutat in 2012, where she raised her three sons before relocating to Sitka to pursue additional educational opportunities for her family.
Over the past decade, Kimberly has worked in Indigenous-centered education, leadership development, and cultural programming across Alaska. Most recently, she served as the Indigenous Leadership Continuum Manager with the First Alaskans Institute, where she coordinated statewide leadership programs including the Public Policy Fellowship, Future Nations Fellowship Program, Summer Internship Program, and the Elders & Youth Conference.
Her professional experience also includes early childhood education, Tlingit language revitalization, curriculum development, and cultural programming with the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe. Throughout her career, she has remained committed to building strong community relationships and creating opportunities rooted in Indigenous knowledge, leadership, and cultural values.
Kimberly currently serves as the Subsistence Program Coordinator through the Sitka Conservation Society, focusing on coordination, logistics, and program development for the Federal Subsistence management education course, community workshops, and Train-the-Trainer initiatives. As someone whose family relies on subsistence foods such as moose, deer, and salmon, she is deeply passionate about protecting rural subsistence rights and helping communities understand and engage in the policies and systems that shape subsistence management in Alaska.