Monica Garcia-Itchoak
BOARD PRESIDENT
Monica Garcia-Itchoak is currently a Program Officer at the Rasmuson Foundation in Anchorage, transforming how we learn, live, and work. Monica has spent most of her time residing in large urban cities, such as Milwaukee, Chicago, and New York City, and is a versatile senior executive in the nonprofit sector.
She recently held the title of Lead Capacity Builder at The Foraker Group, and Executive Director at the Alaska Museum of Science and Nature in the most diverse neighborhood in the country, Mountain View; and the Director of Education and Public Engagement at the Anchorage Museum.
Monica has over 28 years of demonstrating know-how through a decisive leadership style to improve organizational effectiveness dramatically. She is skilled at taking an idea from inception to funding to implementation. Monica is an experienced collaborator who builds sophisticated global partnerships.
Monica holds a BA from The Milwaukee School of Business in Nonprofit Arts Management, a BFA in Studio Arts, and M.Ed. in Administrative Leadership and School Policy both from the University of Illinois at Chicago. In addition, Monica was an adjunct faculty member in the Graduate College of Education at Roosevelt University—teaching inner-city public school teachers. Monica has held senior level positions as the Manager of Museum Learning Experiences in the Gottesman Center for Science Teaching and Learning at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City; the Manager of Teacher Professional Development and Partnership Strategist at the Field Museum in Chicago; and Executive Director of Wonder Works: A Children’s Museum in Oak Park.
Monica holds a Nonprofit Certification from DePaul University (currently updating her certificate at Foraker), a National Interpretative Certification in Environmental and Social Science, an Illinois Teaching and Superintendent Certification, and has successfully completed Leadership Anchorage through the Alaska Humanities Forum and Catalyst for Nonprofit Excellence with Context International.