Alumni of Distinction: Deborah Morton

Deborah Morton, A.A. General Program '00, B.A. Sociology '02, M.Ed. Counseling and Guidance '05, will receive the 2025-26 Alumni of Achievement award at the Alumni of Distinction Celebration on March 26, 2026, at the Fine Arts Building Recital Hall on UAA's Anchorage campus.

Deborah Morton has always been the kind of person others feel comfortable talking to. For much of her life, however, she never imagined that working closely with people would become the center of her career. Today, as the Recruiting, Placement and Mentoring section supervisor at the Alaska Military Youth Academy (AMYA), Morton has built a life around listening, mentoring and helping young people discover new paths forward.

At AMYA, Morton guides families with teenagers who have struggled in traditional school environments. The AMYA serves young people between the ages of 15-and-a-half and 18, offering them the opportunity to earn a GED, complete a high school diploma or catch up on credits before returning to their local schools. Morton's position allows her to see nearly every step of a cadet's journey. She connects with families during outreach events across the community, oversees admissions interviews and supervises the systems that support cadets during and after the program. Her work continues even after cadets graduate; as she and her team stay in touch with graduates for two years, helping them connect with resources, education and employment opportunities as they transition into the next phase of their lives.

Central to Morton's approach is a simple yet powerful philosophy: listen without judgment to the young people who often feel unheard. Many of the youth who arrive at AMYA have faced challenges that make traditional education difficult. Morton focuses on understanding their perspectives and helping them identify their own solutions. She values the moment when a cadet begins to see possibilities for themselves. Those moments of realization, when a young person recognizes their potential, remain one of the most rewarding aspects of her work.

"Every emotion boils down to feeling helpless, hopeless, unloved or unheard," said Morton. "So anytime someone gets sent to my office, I ask them which of those they're feeling, and we move forward together. It's important for them to find the solution so they have that buy-in, because if I find it for them, it won't mean as much."

Morton's path to this role was not entirely straightforward. Growing up in a military family might suggest a natural progression into a program connected to the National Guard, but her career took several unexpected turns before she found her calling.

After arriving in Alaska in 1990, she briefly enrolled at UAA for one semester before stepping away from school. For nearly a decade, she focused on other pursuits before deciding it was time to return to the classroom and create a more stable future. Rather than tackling college all at once, Morton approached it step by step. She began by completing an associate degree, which gave her the confidence to pursue a bachelor's degree in sociology. That path eventually led to a master's degree in counseling and guidance, a program she enrolled in with encouragement from advisors who recognized how well the field matched her strengths and interests.

"Everything I learned from UAA, I still use today in my curriculum - that's even how I met my husband!" said Morton. "One of my priorities with youth is to make sure they have access to UAA. After I took 10 years off, I didn't know who to talk to or where to go. Now I make sure our cadets have that face-to-face connection to learn how to apply to college or for financial aid so they don't have the same delay I did."

Along the way, Morton discovered that working with people was not only something she was capable of doing, but something she deeply enjoyed. Early experiences in counseling roles, including work in the TurnAround substance abuse recovery program, Texas Department of Criminal Justice-Institutional Division, and with the Alaska Department of Juvenile Justice, helped her realize her greatest impact would come from supporting young people during critical moments in their lives. She eventually transitioned to the Alaska Military Youth Academy in 2005, first working in case management before becoming the supervisor of the recruiting, placement and mentor section in 2008.

During more than 25 years dedicated to youth development, Morton has contributed to programs that extend far beyond Alaska. At AMYA, she helped develop training standards and best practices that have been adopted by National Guard Youth Challenge Programs across the country. Her work has earned both statewide and national recognition, including the Alaska Journal of Commerce Achievement in Business Award, the Office of the Secretary of Defense Patriotic Employer Award and the State of Alaska Commendation Medal.

Despite those accolades, Morton remains quick to redirect attention to her team, as well as to the youth she serves, who she describes as leaving a greater impact on her than she does on them. The teenagers she works with constantly challenge her to adapt, listen and understand new perspectives, shaping how she approaches both counseling and leadership.

"The kids I work with and their families are so amazing," said Morton. "They teach me how to evolve and adjust my worldview. They have made much more of an impact on me than I will ever make on them."