Christy Tustin ’00 supports Kansas communities through her role as executive director of the state’s Association of Community Foundations
By Ashley Pauls
K-State Alumni Association
🦷 When a dentist serving a rural Kansas town retired, a community foundation partnered
with a regional hospital, funding a $100,000 grant to maintain dental services in
the area.
🧪 Two community foundations partnered to commit $50,000 to an initiative aimed at
increasing access to early STEM education in school districts across the state.
🧸 A community foundation pledged $10,000 to a county childcare fund to support a daycare
facility in a small town.
These are just a few of the many success stories Christy Tustin ’00 helps to celebrate
as the executive director of the Kansas Association of Community Foundations, an organization based in Washington, Kansas.
According to the Council on Foundations, community foundations are public charities dedicated to improving the lives of people
in a defined geographic area, such as a city or county. They pool resources from individuals
and businesses to support the work of local nonprofits.
The Kansas Association of Community Foundations currently has 117 members, including
independent 501(c)(3)s as well as affiliate community foundations, which fall under
a larger host community organization.
“Our work is connecting the dots, and how we can all be stronger together,” Tustin
said. “I love seeing our community foundations grow and succeed. And if there’s something
I or KACF can do to help them, even in a small way, that’s incredibly rewarding.”
Image source: https://kansascfs.org/
‘K-State was always the plan’
Tustin was born and raised in Great Bend, Kansas, and grew up learning about K-State.
“My parents were always very good at starting at an early age,” she said. “They always
asked, ‘What do you want to do when you grow up? What path do you want to take?’ I
remember going to K-State open houses and seeing the different departments. We have
always been a K-State family; K-State was always the choice and the plan.”
Tustin majored in business at K-State, specializing in marketing and international
business.
“I was drawn to marketing, and looking back it was because of the people and the relationships
you build,” she said. “I like the interaction and the connections you make with others.
That's carried through my career.”
After K-State, her next stop was law school. Although “marketing-to-law” might not
seem like a typical educational pipeline, Tustin has found that it has served her
well in her current role as an advocate for community foundations.
“The two fields complement each other well,” she said. “There are so many connections
between the two, from sales and communication to relationship-building. Those skills
carry over. Both of them taught me how to think critically in different areas.”
Tustin passed the bar, but she discovered her career fit in the community, rather
than in a courtroom.
“I found my way into community philanthropy and applied for a job at a community foundation,”
she said. “When people ask me now about community foundations and why I've stayed,
it's because of the relationships. I met great people at K-State, and continued to
build meaningful connections throughout my career. Those relationships are what have
kept me here and continue to move me forward.”
‘We needed an organization that could bring us all together’
The Kansas Association of Community Foundations was founded just over 20 years ago,
and Tustin served on the organization’s first board of directors. At the time, she
was working for Golden Belt Community Foundation in Great Bend, Kansas.
“We needed an organization that could bring us all together because we felt like there
was strength in numbers,” she said. “There's ways that we can leverage our resources,
and support one another in the field of community foundations and philanthropy across
the state of Kansas.”
The organization provides education and training opportunities for community foundation
members; advocacy on issues that are important to local foundations; and statewide
marketing.
“Even in a small community, not everyone knows that they're there and what they are
and what they do,” Tustin said. “Helping community foundations with marketing so they
can connect donors with local causes and raise their visibility in their communities
has been meaningful.”
She’s proud of the fact that nearly all communities in Kansas are now represented
by a local foundation.
Although every community foundation has unique goals and strategies, the Kansas Association
of Community Foundations is dedicated to helping everyone move forward together.
“We have community foundations that have seen exceptional growth and hit some exciting
milestones,” Tustin said. “Those stories coming from community foundations in one
part of the state can inspire those in a completely different part of the state.”
Learn more about the mission of the Kansas Association of Community Foundations.