Varvara Korkina Williams

Varvara Korkina Williams is a Kumandin Indigenous scholar from Altai and former Director of the Center for Indigenous Culture in Russia. With extensive experience developing and coordinating policy-engaged Arctic scholarship, she is an advocate for the co-production of knowledge, Arctic Indigenous entrepreneurship, and how investments in cultural economies and Indigenous-led business contribute to gender equality and sustainable development.
 
Varvara's unique work at the intersection of Arctic scholarship and policy informs a diversity of issues, with special focus on the empowerment of Arctic Indigenous women and the support of Indigenous youth and identity. She recently served as a co-author of the Arctic Council's Gender Equality in the Arctic Phase III Report and was the lead coordinator for the Young Arctic Leaders in Research and Policy (YALReP) program in northern Iowa. In 2021, she presented her Master's thesis studies on Indigenous fashion and the empowerment of women as part of Harvard's Arctic delegation at the 2021 Arctic Circle conference.
 
As IAS project manager and Arctic Innovation Fellow, Varvara will continue to develop her scholarship as she supports a diversity of project activities with Dartmouth faculty, students, and global partners.