The Alaska Community Foundation Announces New President & CEO
The Alaska Community Foundation (ACF) is pleased to announce the appointment of Nina Kemppel as its new President and Chief Executive Officer. Ms. Kemppel will join ACF in mid-October.
Nina Kemppel
Kemppel, who needs little introduction in Alaska, comes to ACF from serving as President & CEO of the Alaska Humanities Forum. Since 2012, she has led the Forum through program growth and tangible impact across Alaska, including rural teacher retention projects and a leadership program that fosters individuals to make lasting change in the Anchorage community.
I am thrilled to have Nina lead ACF; I know her to be talented and thoughtful; she was the unanimous choice of the Board of Directors and we enthusiastically welcome Nina as our new leader. I am confident in her abilities and excited for the future of the Foundation. – ACF Board Chair Alex Slivka
Before joining the Alaska Humanities Forum, Kemppel was principal at the Coraggio Group, a West Coast boutique strategy and organizational change firm in Portland, Oregon. She also spent four years in Boston at a global management-consulting firm, Oliver Wyman, where she worked with several Fortune 500 companies as well as nonprofit organizations. Kemppel’s expertise includes developing, managing, and implementing long-term growth strategies, operational improvements, and strategic growth initiatives. She holds a BA in Economics from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business.
Prior to her business career, Kemppel had an international nordic ski racing career spanning 13 years that included a record-breaking 18 U.S. National Championships. She competed in four Olympic Winter Games and in 2002 skied to what was then the highest Olympic finish in history by an American woman in the 30-km classical race. Kemppel has also won the Mount Marathon race nine times, eight consecutively. In 2009, she was elected to the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame.
Kemppel also serves on the Board of Directors for the United States Olympic Committee and is Board Chairman for the Partnership for Clean Competition, an organization focusing on anti-doping in sports.
At The Alaska Community Foundation, Kemppel will continue to build awareness of the organization’s role as a place where individuals, nonprofit agencies and other funders can create lasting change through charitable endowments. Currently, ACF manages $80 million in over 315 funds for the benefit of Alaskans and grants $3-4 million each year to charitable projects and nonprofit organizations across the state.
I am excited and honored to be joining such an incredible team at The Alaska Community Foundation. – Nina Kemppel
Kemppel succeeds Candace Winkler, who accepted a position as President and CEO of The Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara. Susan Behlke Foley, a longtime ACF Board Member and former Board Chair, was appointed as ACF’s Interim President & CEO during the time of transition.