BSNC and Unalakleet Native Corporation shareholder Cheryl McKay was elected President of the Anchorage Bar Association for 2022 and will serve as President-Elect in 2021. McKay has served on the Anchorage Bar Association Board of Directors since 2003 and specializes in corporate governance, business and Alaska Native and Federal Indian Law. She has managed two law firms and is a frequent public speaker on topics such as corporate governance, employment and Alaska Native history, lands and education.
McKay was born and raised in New England. Her mother, Ida Traeger, and father Bill McKay, raised her and her brothers and sisters with values from her mother’s Unalakleet home. After college at Boston University and the University of Anchorage Alaska, McKay earned her Juris Doctorate from the University of Colorado. She served as law clerk on the Alaska Court of Appeals, then established her law career as partner in a large Pacific Northwest law firm. She now owns a law firm focusing on Alaska Native and corporate law.
An avid volunteer, McKay has served as Chair and President of the Avant-Garde Learning Alliance, an organization dedicated to increasing and supporting Alaska Native educators in rural Alaska and she is a member of the American Legion Jack Henry Post 1 and Auxiliary. McKay lives in Anchorage with her husband and family pets. McKay loves to cook, garden and has been a singer and pianist since childhood.