Alison Watkins is the new Los Alamos Community Foundation Executive Director. Photo by Samantha D’Anna
LACF NEWS RELEASE
Following a broad search, Los Alamos Community Foundation is pleased to announce the hiring of long-time community resident Alison Watkins as their new executive director, scheduled to start in the position on May 27.
Watkins, who grew up in Los Alamos and re-transplanted from Ft. Worth in 2011, was most recently employed by Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce Assistant Chamber Director.
“I hope to strengthen the relationships I’ve already built within our community while forming many new ones along the way,” said Watkins.
Watkins replaces Liz Martineau who is moving to the Denver area to be closer to family. Watkins and Martineau will work together for several weeks during the transition.
Martineau said, “Alison has deep roots and is already an active member of our community. We are excited for her leadership as the Community Foundation continues to grow, bringing donors together to make a positive impact in the community.”
Watkins brings programming and event planning to the position having served as Event Manager for the MainStreet and Creative District. Most recently, she served as Los Alamos Assistant Chamber Director. She has also worked as an assistant at Los Alamos Public Schools and the Los Alamos Historical Society, and previously supported an academic symposia for the Vietnam Center at Texas Tech University. Her references praise her professionalism and ability to collaborate.
“Giving back to the community has always been important to me,” said Watkins. “My connection to philanthropy in Los Alamos goes back to my earliest memories of helping my mom with the Rae Douglas Christmas Families program when it was headquartered at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in the 1980s”.
“My family was also here during the Cerro Grande Fire – I was in college at the time – and I have vivid memories of the remarkable ways our community came together to support one another,” she said. “Whether it was collecting high school yearbooks for students who had lost them in the fire or planting seedlings in the Jemez, those moments reflect the resiliency and generosity that make Los Alamos such a special place.”
Watkins’s roots in the community include her husband and her three children, Carter age 21, Hayden age 18 and Austin age 12. Her husband Heath Watkins said, “We are excited to see the impact Alison will make in this new role and look forward to what lies ahead.”
About the Los Alamos Community Foundation: Established in 2015, the Los Alamos Community Foundation aims to enhance the local quality of life by inspiring, facilitating, and supporting enduring philanthropy, while building the capacity and success of our local nonprofit organizations. The Los Alamos Community Foundation currently manages 22 locally endowed funds and has total assets exceeding $2 million. For more information about the Los Alamos Community Foundation or to donate, visit www.losalamoscf.org.