Kevin Dvorak

BISMARCK – Kevin Dvorak, president and CEO of the North Dakota Community Foundation (NDCF), has announced he will retire at the end of 2025 after 37 years at the organization.

“It has been an honor and a privilege to lead this foundation for most of my career,” Dvorak said in a NDCF news release. “I am especially proud of our work to support rural communities through our grantmaking and in building our 69 local community endowment funds. It has been ‘work worth doing’, but the time has come for the next chapter of my life. The foundation has never been stronger and the next CEO, whomever that will be, will take it to new levels of relevance and usefulness for the citizens of North Dakota.”

Dvorak began work at NDCF in 1989 as a program officer and became president and CEO in 1995. He is only the third president and CEO in the organization’s history. Established in 1976, NDCF is considered one of the first statewide community foundations in the country.

Under Dvorak’s leadership, NDCF has grown from $5 million to more than $160 million in charitable assets and made grants in excess of $118 million supporting North Dakota communities, schools and nonprofit organizations, the news release stated. Its staff size has also increased during his tenure from two employees to 11. The organization now has offices in Bismarck, Dickinson, Larimore and Wahpeton.

Part of Dvorak’s legacy is the implementation of the North Dakota 40% income tax credit for gifts to qualified North Dakota endowment funds. The legislation passed both the North Dakota House and Senate unanimously in 2007.

NDCF is governed by a board of 15 volunteers from across the state. A transition team has been appointed to lead the search for Dvorak’s successor.