Diane Kaplan

President and CEO

Phone: (907) 297-2700

Diane Kaplan became president and chief executive officer of Rasmuson Foundation, based in Anchorage, Alaska, in 2001. She served as the first employee and administrator of the Foundation for six years prior to assuming the presidency.

Before joining the Foundation, Kaplan provided consulting services for philanthropic organizations, Native corporations and tribes, and nonprofit organizations. Prior to that, she served as chief executive officer of Alaska’s 28-station public radio network.

Kaplan earned a degree in communications and women’s studies from the University of Pennsylvania, graduating summa cum laude.

Kaplan is a member of the boards of the International Foundation for Research in Experimental Economics, The Alaska Community Foundation and United States Artists. She is also a member of the Anchorage Homelessness Leadership Council, Anchorage Rotary Club, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco community advisory council and Recover Alaska’s governance council.

Kaplan’s community contributions have been recognized by a range of organizations over many years. In 2019, she was recognized by Grantmakers in Health, a nationwide nonprofit that aims to improve the health of all, with its Terrance Keenan Leadership Award in Health Philanthropy. The honor goes to an individual whose work is innovative, creative and bold. Other recent awards include the Anchorage ATHENA Society’s 2019 Leadership Award, the group’s highest honor. The society, a program of the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, works to encourage women as leaders in the business world. She also received the President’s Everyday Hero Award as a tribal ally from the Central Council of Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska.

In 2018, she was a recipient of a Lifetime Champion for Kids award from the Alaska Children’s Trust. In 2013, Kaplan received the First Alaskans Institute Ted Stevens Award. She was recognized with the National Organization of Black Elected Legislative Women (N.O.B.E.L. Women) Shining Star Award in 2010 and was named the Council on Foundations Distinguished Grantmaker of the Year in 2007. In 2006, she received the Alaska Federation of Natives’ prestigious Denali Award, which recognizes a non-Native individual who has contributed to the growth and development of the Alaska Native community’s culture, economy and health.