Photo Description: Board Director Dave Karp and Kastyn Lie of Taiguaġuurugut Summer Reading/Tutoring Program during our trip to Nome in March 2026. (Photo by Jovell Rennie)

As director of board, CEO, and family engagement, one of my primary projects this month is organizing a series of 90-minute orientations for our newest board director, Dave Karp. Though Dave is just starting his first year as a director, his orientation began months ago with an invitation to sit in on our December board meeting before he was officially elected to a three-year term. 

Offering a director-elect the opportunity to eavesdrop on board proceedings isn’t standard operating for all family foundations. It’s one of the unique ways Rasmuson Foundation ensures that potential directors understand the high-touch, community-oriented, active nature of our board. New directors like Dave get to see firsthand how our board operates and makes decisions — and how deeply they care about Alaska. 

One of the first things Dave did as an active board director is accompany Foundation staff members and other directors on a site visit to his hometown of Nome. When a new director joins the board, they immediately jump into experiencing how we engage with Alaska’s communities. For staff members, one of our biggest efforts is to ensure that we have an informed, engaged board by empowering them with information, resources, and connections. 

When Dave showed his new fellow board directors around Nome, it was his opportunity to share his perspective as a lifelong Alaskan. Here’s another notable aspect to the Foundation’s board: it’s currently composed of an equal number of family members and non-family Alaska community leaders. Because we are a statewide organization focused on empowering Alaskans to help Alaskans, it’s important for the Foundation to have a slate of diverse voices from across the state contributing to our board.  

The combination of family members committed to Jenny, Elmer, and Ed Rasmuson’s vision, and community leaders who bring perspectives from every corner of Alaska, ultimately shapes the Foundation’s work. When we invite a community leader to join our board, we’re looking for someone whose values match ours — but who also cares about their home communities and who is actively doing good. We want Togi Letuligasenoa in Fairbanks, working to make Fairbanks better. We want Angela Salazar in Ketchikan, serving Ketchikan organizations and nonprofits. And we want Dave Karp bringing his connection to Nome into the board room. Further, we want their knowledge, experience, and relationships to help us expand and improve our grantmaking across Alaska.  

Inside that room, it is deeply important that all our board directors have an equal voice, family members and community leaders alike. We continuously seek ways to foster a respectful, collaborative board. We have shifted our decision-making from a founder-led model to a more collective, transparent approach led by our executive committee. 

We also work to create a welcoming and unifying experience by inviting board directors to bring their spouses or partners to visit nonprofits and join us at community receptions. Being a family foundation means including all of our families in our work and welcoming their experiences as Alaskans, as well.