A life dedicated to improving the lives, livelihoods and culture of Alaskan people
por carlos matías
The Rasmuson Foundation of Anchorage has been working to promote a better life for Alaskans for 66 years. Founded by Jenny Rasmuson (Jenny Olson maiden name) in honor of the memory of her late husband, Edward Anton Rasmuson (“EA” Rasmuson), in May 1955, it has always promoted service-oriented actions, family, community, resource development and a deep love of the land.
When Swedish immigrants Jenny Olson and Edward Anton Rasmuson arrived in Yakutat, in the early 1900s, no one could have imagined the extraordinary impact they and their descendants would have on Alaska.
Today, the Rasmuson Foundation is led by six third and fourth generation “Rasmusons.” Ed, his siblings Judy and Lile, his wife Cathryn, and grandchildren Jay Gibbons, Adam Gibbons and Natasha von Imhof. The Board of Directors includes eight other members, who hold or have held prestigious public and private sector positions. “Helping others is an Alaskan tradition,” wrote Elmer Rasmuson, son of the founders and first successor to head the Foundation. “Both the first Alaskans and those who came here to settle had to depend on each other to build a good community and a good life (...) when my mother Jenny founded the Rasmuson Foundation, she was expressing her concern for all Alaskans who might need help and for the future of our state (...) A community that invests in itself is a healthy community”.
