13 things about Miss Alaska USA 2017 Alyssa London

Alyssa Kalyn London belongs to the Eagle-Killerwhale Clan within Tlingit society with family roots in the Killerwhale Chasing Seal House of Angoon, Alaska, United States. Her Tlingit name is Yáx̱ Ádi Yádi.

BIOGRAPHY

London is an American entrepreneur, author and beauty queen who made history as the first Tlingit Miss Alaska USA. She was born in Edmonds, Washington, USA to her French and Scottish father J. Tate London and her Czech and Norwegian mother Debi London.

J. Tate graduated from Stanford University in Stanford in 1984 and in 1988. He is Ernie Boyd and Claudette London‘s son.

Boyd lived on ancestral lands in Ketchikan, Alaska. He was an original Tlingit enrollee under the 1971 federal Alaska Native Land Claim Settlement Act.

Alyssa is a resident of Anchorage, Alaska and a former resident of Stanford, California, USA. She was raised in Bothell, Washington, she speaks English and Spanish and she has three siblings namely Lacey London, Kellen London and Ellee London.

In 2006, Alyssa competed in a beauty pageant for the first time. In 2011, she completed a Stanford University overseas studies program in Madrid, Spain and in 2020, she received the Rasmuson Individual Artist Award.

Aside from Edmonds and Bothell, Alyssa has lived in other parts of Washington including Bellevue, Mercer Island and Seattle. Here are 13 more things about her:

1. From 2005 to 2008, she attended Inglemoor High School in Kenmore, Washington.
2. From 2008 to 2012, she attended Stanford University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in comparative studies in race and ethnicity.
3. From June 2009 to September 2010, she was a marketing intern at Sealaska in Bellevue and Juneau, Alaska.
4. From January 2010 to June 2012, she was a brand marketing manager at Nike in Stanford.
5. From September 2011 to June 2012, she was a financial reporting manager at Stanford University.
6. From 2012 to 2014, she completed the Microsoft Academy College Hires (MACH) training program.
7. From June 2014 to June 2015, she was a board advisor at Sealaska in Juneau.
8. She won Miss Alaska USA 2017 and was a Miss USA 2017 finalist.
9. From April 2019 to December 2024, she was an executive communications coach at Diné Development Corporation in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA.
10. From December 2018 to January 2020, she was a senior technical account executive at Arctic Information Technology in Anchorage.
11. From November 2020 to January 2021, she was an intern at Hello Sunshine in Los Angeles, California.
12. From August 2021 to April 2022, she was a talk show host at Koahnic Broadcast Corporation in Anchorage.
13. On October 10, 2024, she turned 35.

TIMELINE

London is 5’8″ tall. Before becoming a beauty queen, she worked in sales and marketing in the technology industry.

2011

• From January 2011 to June 2011, she was a private equity intern at Capital Dynamics in Palo Alto, California.
• From June 2011 to September 2011, she was an associate product marketing manager at the Worldwide Partner Group of Microsoft in Redmond, Washington.

2012

• From September 2012 to October 2012, she was a product marketing manager at Microsoft in Redmond.
• In October 2012, she became a worldwide partner marketing manager at Microsoft in Redmond.

2014

• In March 2014, she left Microsoft in Redmond and founded Culture Story, a media and education company that tells stories about cultures and amplifies conversations about identity. 
• From April 2014 to October 2014, she was an account manager at OneAccord Digital in Bellevue.

2016

• From March 2016 to October 2016, she was a marketing manager at Microsoft in Redmond.

2017

• In January 2017, she visited Mt. Edgecumbe High School in Sitka, Alaska where she spoke to students.
• From February 2017 to September 2017, she was a cultural ambassador at Sealaska Heritage Institute in Juneau.
• On February 3, 2017, she competed against 10 other Miss Alaska USA 2017 candidates at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts in Anchorage and won the title.
• On May 14, 2017, she represented Alaska at Miss USA 2017 and competed against 50 other candidates at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. She finished in the Top 10.

2020

• On September 18, 2020, her book “Journey of the Freckled Indian: A Tlingit Culture Story” was published.
• In November 2020, she was an Alaska Native Justice Center ambassador in Anchorage.

2021

• From February 2021 to November 2021, she was the director of marketing and communications at Launch Alaska in Anchorage.
• In June 2021, she joined the Alaska Travel Industry Association as a member of its cultural tourism committee.

2022

• In January 2022, she joined United Talent Agency in Los Angeles as a host, a speaker and an author.
• In March 2022, she became a cultural tourism ambassador for Alaska.
• In May 2022, she joined NBC and MSNBC as its first Native contributor.

2023

• She hosted the four-part series “The Culture Is: Indigenous Women”, which premiered on MSNBC on June 4, 2023.
• In November 2023, she joined Bloomsbury USA as an author.

2024

• In July 2024, she was elected a board member of the Indigenous Journalist Association.
• In November 2024, she joined HarperCollins Publishers as an author.

2025

• In January 2025, she joined Preston Singletary Glass as a special projects coordinator.