Alaskans should decide how permanent fund grows

At the October 2025 meeting of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation Board of Trustees, a visitor from Los Angeles named Lauren Windsor took the microphone to lecture Alaskans on how we should invest our own money.

Windsor, who described herself as being “with The Undercurrent,” came not as a journalist but as a political activist with a long record of targeting conservatives through deception and selective editing. She is perhaps best known for secretly recording Supreme Court Justices while pretending to be a conservative Catholic, a tactic that has been condemned by media ethicists and journalists alike.

At the meeting, Windsor asked Chairman Jason Brune:

“But can you say definitively that you’ll never put money into that fund?”

Chairman Brune answered plainly; and I believe correctly:

“No, you can’t. We’re not going to have that conversation here… Our job is to maximize risk-adjusted returns, and if an opportunity comes available, it’s up to the investment staff to make that determination.”

That brief exchange, however, revealed something much larger than a disagreement over an investment fund. It showed how far outside interests will go to pressure Alaska’s institutions into abandoning our economy and our way of life. Windsor’s opposition to the Alaska ETF (AKAF) is part of a national campaign to choke off investment in fossil fuels, mining, and infrastructure. These are the industries that make Alaska work; that fund our permanent fund and ultimately our government.

Windsor has long been tied to anti-development donors and organizations. She served as Deputy Communications Director for Tom Steyer’s 2020 presidential campaign, which centered on shutting down fossil fuel investment. Today, she runs American Family Voices, a progressive nonprofit historically funded by groups that oppose oil and gas. Her web show, The Undercurrent, has about 5-6000 subscribers (as of Oct 2025) on YouTube which seems to be a very small audience for someone who somehow manages to fly cross-country to tell Alaskans what to do with their Permanent Fund. That really makes me wonder who is footing the bill for those CO₂-emitting flights from Washington, D.C., or Los Angeles to Anchorage. And what is their agenda with our Permanent Fund?

Windsor has also spoken out against responsible resource development in the High Arctic, including oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Her rhetoric directly undermines Alaska’s economy, our energy security, and our ability to provide jobs for our families.

The Alaska ETF (AKAF), launched in 2025, is a forward-looking initiative designed to invest in companies that operate in Alaska; companies such as energy, mining, tourism, transportation, and more. It gives us a way to put Alaskan capital to work in Alaska’s economy. That is exactly what the Permanent Fund should be doing: investing wisely for the benefit of Alaskans, not bending to political activists who have never lived through an Alaska winter or paid a heating bill at 40 below. Why would she target that fund instead of the many others that APFC invests in? Again, what is her agenda?

Chairman Brune’s response was absolutely the right one. His job, and the job of every trustee, is to make sound financial decisions for the people of Alaska, not to take marching orders from activists who see our resources as a problem rather than a blessing.

Whether the Permanent Fund ultimately invests in the Alaska ETF is not the issue. The question is who decides?... and the answer must always be Alaskans. Not outsiders and not professional agitators with coastal agendas.

This is our state, our fund, and our future. Alaskans built it, Alaskans fund it, and Alaskans should decide how it grows.

Kevin McCabe represents House District 30.