Karin Kunstler-Goldman Award for Excellence

Liz Grant, the long-time Attorney-In-Charge of the Charitable Activities Section from the Oregon Attorney General’s Office, was honored at the annual National Association of Attorneys General/National Association of State Charity Officials conference October 6, 2026 with the Karin Kunstler Goldman Award for Excellence in the field of charity oversight and regulation.

The NASCO board noted that Grant is a former president of NASCO and has had a long career in charity work that included work on significant state oversight of charities. Her time at the FTC was filled with innovation and cooperation in fraud prevention. She was also recognized for her ongoing willingness to serve as a trainer and to mentor others working in the area.

At the annual NAAG/NASCO conference, October 7, 2025 in Columbus, OH, Tracy Thorleifson received the Karin Kunstler Goldman Award for a career of service.  Her work at the FTC and her support of the charitable sector illustrates excellence in the field of charity regulation and oversight. Attending the conference and honored to bestow the award named in her honor Karin Kunstler Goldman shared, “As far back as I can remember, Tracy was an honorary member of NASCO.

We relied on her for guidance, leading us in multi-state actions, appropriately nudging us when we drafted, for publication,

an article about the regulation of charities.  It was because of Tracy’s commitment and dedication to our common goals that

we were able to engage all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the FTC in the successful litigation against Cancer Fund

of America.”While at the FTC, Tracy was a great friend to NASCO, leading numerous multistate actions against

organizations engaging in fraudulent and misleading fundraising activities. Some of these actions were

supported by all 50 states and also created the opportunity to provide enhanced consumer education about informed charitable giving. In a video that was shown prior to the award presentation, many people commented on how much they had learned working with Tracy on these cases and how they became better lawyers from these experiences. Other comments discussed the absolute passion Tracy has always demonstrated about protecting donors and charities from fraud.

NASCO President Beth Short, Vice President Josh Studor and Karin Kunstler Goldman made the presentation while others’ views were recorded on a card and video shared at the meeting. She was presented a commissioned glass piece resembling a flame to represent the leadership she always displayed.

KARIN KUNSTLER-GOLDMAN RECEIVES INAUGUARAL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE FROM NASCO

The NASCO Board of Directors is pleased to announce the creation of the

Karin Kunstler-Goldman Award for Excellence in the field of charity oversight and regulation.

The inaugural “KKG Award” was presented to its namesake, Karin Kunstler-Goldman,

on October 8, 2024, at the NAAG/NASCO Annual Charity Conference in

Baltimore, Maryland.

About Karin Kunstler-Goldman

Karin Kunstler Goldman is the Deputy Bureau Chief in the New York State Attorney General's Charities Bureau.  Karin was the 2001-2002 president of the National Association of State Charity Officials and is a founding member of the Governance Matters. 

She has served on the advisory board of New York University’s National Center on Philanthropy and the Internal Revenue Service’s Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt Entities. As a volunteer, Karin participated in training programs conducted for charity regulators throughout the country by the National State Attorneys General Program at Columbia University Law School. 

As an Eisenhower Exchange Fellow in Hungary, Karin worked with nonprofit organizations, government officials and legislative drafters in developing the law and regulations affecting Hungary’s nonprofit sector.  She has consulted with government officials in Ukraine and China on the development of statutory regulation of charitable organizations in those countries.  Karin was a guest of the People’s Republic of China at its 2007 International Symposium on Charity Legislation in China at which she was a speaker, and in 2015 she participated in workshops in China on the developing nonprofit law. 

Prior to joining the New York Attorney General's office, Karin was a Reginald Heber Smith Fellow and a staff attorney at South Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation. 

Karin attended Tougaloo Southern Christian College in Mississippi during the fall semester of the 1962 – 1963 academic year and participated Freedom Summer, the 1964 voter registration project in Mississippi. Karin and her husband, Neal, spent two years as Peace Corps volunteers in Senegal, West Africa.  Karin has a law degree from Rutgers University Law School, a BA from Connecticut College and an MA from Columbia University.

In 2024, Karin received the Vanguard Award for distinguished lifetime achievement in the nonprofit sector from the Nonprofit Organizations Committee of the American Bar Association, Business Law Section.

About the Karin Kunstler Goldman Award for Excellence

The Karin Kunstler Goldman Award, created in 2024, recognizes excellence in the field of state charity regulation and oversight. The award, made periodically and at the discretion of the NASCO board of directors, honors select charity regulators who demonstrate many of the qualities and achievements of the award’s namesake including, but not limited to:

• Long-term professional commitment to charity regulation

• Success and innovation in charity regulatory practice

• Significant contribution to the education and training of state charity regulators and the nonprofit sector, in the U.S. and internationally

• National recognition as a leader among state charity regulators

• Generosity of spirit and enthusiasm for the work of charity regulation and oversight