Putting People First
At the start of 2026, social work alumna Kim Kovol, M.S.W. ’22, was appointed to the role of principal deputy director of the Administration for Native Americans within the United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). In this position, Kovol works with tribes across the country to strengthen families, expand economic development opportunities and support culturally grounded programs that improve health and well-being in Indigenous communities, all of which are based on priorities identified by tribal leaders themselves.
“What are tribes self-identifying as their goals for strengthening families and communities, and how do we align those with the broader goals of making Americans healthier? There is a lot of intersectionality at play, and the goal is to braid everything together and address them in a more collaborative nature,” said Kovol.
For Kovol, stepping onto the national stage is the culmination of decades working with children, families and vulnerable populations. Before joining DHHS, she served as the first commissioner of the Alaska Department of Family and Community Services (DFCS), where she oversaw statewide policies and programs related to child welfare, public safety and social services.
The highlight of Kovol’s time in state government was Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s People First Initiative, a comprehensive effort designed to address several interconnected social challenges affecting Alaskans. The initiative brought together professionals from public safety, education, corrections, health and social services to examine how policy could better support individuals and families facing complex challenges. Rather than treating issues such as domestic violence, homelessness or foster care separately, the initiative recognized that these challenges often intersect and must be addressed through coordinated policy responses.
Introduced in 2021, People First focused on five areas: domestic violence and sexual assault, missing and murdered Indigenous persons, human trafficking, homelessness and foster care. Through the initiative, Kovol helped advance pilot programs, funding initiatives and policy recommendations designed to strengthen support systems for vulnerable populations. Among its outcomes were new collaborative approaches to domestic violence response, expanded resources for foster youth transitioning into adulthood, and the creation of investigative and policy frameworks to address missing and murdered Indigenous persons. All of these efforts emphasized prevention, cross-agency collaboration and the idea that meaningful policy change can improve the lives of thousands of people rather than individually in direct practice settings.
“Working in direct practice, you touch one life or a handful of lives, but I often hear folks talk about how they’re doing the same work over and over again and they aren’t able to get off the hamster wheel,” said Kovol. “When you craft policy, you can get folks off the hamster wheel, help vulnerable people, reduce burnout, reduce recidivism and really lift up populations.”
Kovol’s passion for serving children and families traces back to long before her work in government. Growing up in a military family meant moving frequently before settling in Southern California. During that time she developed an interest in education and had planned to become a schoolteacher. She earned a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts and studies with a focus on K-12 education from San Diego State University in 1995, preparing for a career in the classroom and particularly drawn to early childhood education.
“My parents made our family the center of our world, and I think it’s important for children to know their family is there for them,” said Kovol. “If the family’s not there, there’s other partners involved. Whether it’s the state, county, borough or tribe, children need to know that they are loved and respected, and that we are going to do everything we can to help them.”
The following year she moved to Alaska, where her career path shifted toward nonprofit and social service work. While working with organizations that supported vulnerable populations, she realized that social work offered a broader pathway to address systemic challenges. She eventually enrolled in the Master of Social Work program at UAA while continuing to work in the nonprofit sector, which resulted in many of her industry peers now serving as her professors. Through UAA she also became a LEND (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities) fellow.
“Based on the education I received and the relationships I developed at UAA, I have been very well prepared for this role,” said Kovol. “It was such a rare opportunity to be able to build on my lived experience and practice policy work on a macro level during my practicum experience. There is no way I would be where I am had I not done my M.S.W. at UAA.”
As part of her graduate practicum, Kovol worked in the governor’s office in a temporary assistant role, during which time she helped lay the foundation for the People First Initiative. She was quickly hired on as a special assistant before completing her M.S.W. in 2022. The following month, Gov. Dunleavy appointed her as the first acting commissioner of DFCS.
Even while serving in increasingly demanding leadership positions, Kovol not only pays it forward by advising current social work students at her alma mater, but also finds time to advance her own education. She is currently working toward a Doctorate in Education in executive leadership in mental health and human services at Houston Christian University, which allows her to deepen her understanding of the complex systems that shape social policy, while giving her new tools to scale up her previous experience and lead national initiatives that support vulnerable communities.
“When we get a positive outcome for a vulnerable person in need, that is very satisfying from a direct services practice,” said Kovol. “Then from a macro level practice, like seeing Bruce’s Law enacted,” referring to the 2025 bipartisan legislation introduced by Sen. Lisa Murkowski to increase fentanyl awareness, “those are very humbling moments, and you feel like you accomplish something on a larger scale that hopefully is going to save lives.”