Mirna Estrada is Alaska Children’s Trust’s New Communications Director
by georgina arias avila
“It is an honor to work with families at Alaska Children’s Trust.”
Mirna Estrada came to Anchorage 16 years ago from her native Guatemala, and doors have opened to her from diverse communities thanks to her intellectual ability and generous heart. Currently, she holds the position of Communications Director at Alaska Children’s Trust, a non-profit organization. “My mission is to prevent child abuse and neglect in Alaska,” she said.
Mirna was 23 years old, married, and knew that her first step in her new home, Alaska, was to obtain a GED, the equivalent of a high school diploma. She then served a year as an AmeriCorps volunteer with Catholic Social Services in their Refugee Assistance & Immigration Services program (RAIS). “After I finished my year in AmeriCorps, I used the Segal Education Award to enroll at the University of Alaska and study psychology at night, after my job, since RAIS hired me to run the Welcoming Center. Later, I did my minor in Communication and Cognition in Denmark,” she said. She also completed the Leadership Anchorage program, which gave her the tools to be a leader.
With this wealth of knowledge, Mirna has worked in various areas of state, municipal and nonprofit work in Anchorage.
Her attachment to child welfare dates to her youth. “I volunteered in pediatrics between the ages of 12 and 18 at the San Juan de Dios Hospital in Guatemala. I helped in the area of children with terminal illnesses. This experience inspired me to work with vulnerable populations,” she said.
Her duties at Alaska Children’s Trust include creating campaigns, pamphlets, managing social media, editing the website, among others. She says that she “advocates for children’s rights and for laws that benefit parents. It is an honor to work with families.” Various training courses for children and parents can be found at alaskachildrenstrust.org. The Alaska Afterschool Network seeks to expand learning opportunities with programs for children and youth; Positive Indigenous Parenting is a curriculum for tribes and organizations that focuses on parenting classes that take into account the richness of indigenous cultures; HOPE is a training on positive and adverse childhood experiences that can help Alaskan parents in raising their children; and Child Sexual Abuse Prevention has resources for parents, among others.
