Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA)

Reframing Accountability Around Fiscal Failure

For decades, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) operated with minimal oversight—hoarding a $1 billion endowment, pouring money into failed megaprojects, and shielding itself from scrutiny while public services, like education, suffered.

Environmental critiques had long fallen flat. To broaden the audience and build real political pressure, True Blue partnered with the 907 Initiative, SalmonState, Progress Alaska, and Wild Salmon Center to reframe the issue: AIDEA wasn’t just environmentally harmful — it was financially incompetent, wasting the state’s money, and putting everyday Alaskans in harms way.

Together, we launched two hard-hitting public education efforts — “AIDEA Are Losers” and “AIDEA Keeps Losing and Alaskans Are Fed Up” — that spotlighted government waste, highlighted AIDEA’s track record of failure, and connected its bloated spending to dangerously underfunded schools. Through bold creative, smart targeting, and coordinated media engagement, we elevated a complex topic into a statewide conversation that legislators could no longer avoid.

Impact

These campaigns reached millions of Alaskans, broke through media apathy, and drove unprecedented political action. Public scrutiny surged, legislative hearings probed AIDEA’s finances, and lawmakers stripped $100 million from the agency’s budget while blocking funding for a controversial mining road. At the same time, the legislature approved a permanent $700 increase to the Base Student Allocation — a clear signal that Alaska’s priorities are shifting away from unchecked extraction projects and toward real public needs. Once considered untouchable, AIDEA is now firmly on the hook for transparency, oversight, and results.