Ann Rothe, Executive Director of Alaska Conservation Foundation, has announced her planned retirement. In response to Rothe’s announcement, ACF’s board of trustees’ chair Jim DeWitt said that Rothe fully embraced ACF’s role in the Alaska conservation movement and has been an excellent ambassador for Alaska to ACF’s donors and supporters. “Ann has led ACF through a series of challenges. Under her tenure as Executive Director, ACF has continued to increase its capacity to address the environmental challenges facing Alaska,” DeWitt said. Rothe will remain in her position until a new Executive Director is hired, and she will support ACF through the transition to new leadership.
Rothe has been a part of the Alaska conservation community for 32 years. She began her career with the National Audubon Society. She established the Alaska office of the National Wildlife Federation and served as NWF’s Regional Representative for Alaska and Hawaii. In the wake of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, she helped create the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens Advisory Council, a citizens’ group that monitors operations of the Trans Alaska Pipeline oil terminal at Valdez and oil tankers that pass though Prince William Sound. For ten years, Rothe was Executive Director of Trustees for Alaska, a nonprofit environmental law firm. During her tenure at Trustees, she helped establish the Cook Inlet Keeper and served on its founding board of directors. “I’ve had a very rewarding career”, Rothe said. “I’ve been privileged to work with truly devoted and inspiring individuals.”
Rothe has been with the Alaska Conservation Foundation for eight years, the last four as its Executive Director. “It’s been a really fulfilling experience working with a dedicated board of trustees and an exceptionally talented staff”, she said. As ACF prepares for its 35th anniversary, Rothe said it’s been a distinct privilege to work for an organization that has played such an essential role in protecting Alaska’s natural environments for so many years. ACF’s board of trustees has appointed a search committee that will conduct a national search for a new Executive Director. DeWitt noted that ACF is planning its leadership transition at a time when the foundation is in a good position to grow into the future.
Rothe said she and her husband, Tom will remain in Alaska, and she will continue to be engaged in Alaska’s conservation movement.
