Special Feature
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Anne Rasmussen
Temple Israel COO/CFO
A Special Honor
Friday, June 6, 2025
“Anne’s contributions have truly gone above and beyond the call of duty,” says Rabbi Zimmerman. “She is a treasure who has graciously given her time and talent.”
Join Rabbi Zimmerman in honoring Anne as the worthy recipient of the Gainsley Award at the Temple Israel Annual Meeting on Friday, June 6.
Anne is the first staff member to receive this prestigious recognition.
From Audits to Zoom: Anne Reflects on A Busy Decade
“Things will slow down next month,” says Anne Rasmussen, concluding one of many scheduled meetings, and a handful of unscheduled ones, that thread together her week as Temple Israel’s COO/CFO. She has been saying it during especially busy times ever since 2012, when she joined Temple as finance director—and back then, she believed it. But with Temple’s ever-growing congregation and robust programming, the phrase now fosters camaraderie. “I thought I’d stay on a year or two, tops,” Anne admits. “But Temple never stops being busy.” Now whenever anyone talks about things slowing down, it’s said with a knowing laugh.
Anne’s first assignment was a doozy: complete the congregation’s inaugural financial audit and create systems to assure donors’ gifts were accurately tracked. “That first audit was the most fun I’ll ever have, accounting-wise,” Anne recalls. She also won’t take sole credit. “I couldn’t have done it without a terrific team, both inside and outside Temple,” she says, pointing to staff and board members who all pitched in.
Over the years, Anne’s responsibilities grew from pure finance to overseeing all of Temple’s operations. Database migrations, major building upgrades, and facility renovations—including leading the transformative, sustainable capital improvements of Camp TEKO—if it needed leadership, it likely crossed Anne’s desk. Amid all those monumental projects, she managed to cultivate an environment where people felt comfortable saying, “I need help.” Perhaps that’s because she often models it herself. “I don’t know everything,” Anne will say, “but I know I can find exactly whom to ask.”
“This has been the greatest job for me because of how big and all-encompassing it is. I’ve been able to work on so many things I wanted to explore, and I’m very lucky to have been here long enough to do that.”
That mindset proved invaluable when Covid-19 lockdowns began. Anne project-managed the effort to transition Temple to remote operations, ensuring the staff and congregation could stay connected.
Ask Anne what she’s most grateful for and she’ll mention the congregants, who trust her with their finances and keep Temple thriving. She’ll also talk about her coworkers. “I know everyone always says, ‘it’s the people,’ but there’s a reason for that—especially at Temple. I mean, how lucky am I to be able to learn about so many different things, including Judaism first and foremost? I had no education or background, but from what I’ve learned here, my respect has only grown for the religion, the culture, and the people.” But it’s not just the people; she also really does love accounting. “This has been the greatest job for me because of how big and all-encompassing it is. I’ve been able to work on so many things I wanted to explore, and I’m very lucky to have been here long enough to do that.”
It's been more than a decade, and Anne is ready to turn in her office keys—almost. She’ll retire from Temple this summer but will look for something “to keep me busy closer to home in Prior Lake,” she says. She is determined to set slightly firmer boundaries in whatever comes next—she might take weekends off. But true relaxation might come from spending more time with family. “I started reading to all my grandkids every night. We’re all on the phone and it can be a little chaotic,” Anne says, “but it's fun and important.”
As she hands off her responsibilities at Temple Israel, she might insist that she’ll make a conscious effort to slow down. But those of us who have learned a thing or two from Anne about numbers can’t help but crunch them—and the odds suggest she’ll be just as busy as ever.