History

First, financial needs were met by Omaha businessmen to provide the needed improvements for the city and the State Fairgrounds.

Then, on the evening of March 28, 1895, a meeting was called with 60 of the most prominent businessmen of Omaha in attendance. At this meeting, the 12 men who formed the Executive Committee of the Omaha Business Men's Association (an organization still in existence) and who had taken charge of the festivities of Fair Week presented an ambitious plan for securing all floats which had appeared in February's New Orleans Mardi Gras Parade for the Omaha fair.

These 12 men became the original members of the Board of Governors of the Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben. Their journey to New Orleans to obtain the Mardi Gras floats brought them into contact with the Rex, Proteus and Comus Society of the Crescent City (the civic group which organized the Mardi Gras festivities). The Omahans were convinced that a permanent organization such as the Rex, Proteus and Comus Society was just what Omaha needed to add zest to its progressive outlook.

On the train ride back from New Orleans, the Omahans named their new organization. "Why not reverse the name of our beloved state, since everything seems to be going backwards these days?" Dudley Smith suggested. Another member suggested that since this group had saved the fair for the city, the organization should be called the "Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben." Thus, Ak-Sar-Ben was born.

Click here to download a current Foundation Brochure.

Click here to link to a historical Foundation Brochure.

Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben Foundation Mission

"To leverage collective business leadership to build a more prosperous Heartland"

The Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben Foundation was one of the first non-profit entities to be incorporated in the Heartland. At the core of the Foundation's endeavors over the years has been a mission developed around "building a more prosperous Heartland"

During the century that followed the Foundation established a racetrack, community celebrations and competitions revolving around agriculture and education. Thousands of scholarships were awarded, complete fleets of ambulances were donated, along with safety vests, community fair grants and hundreds of civic grants for special projects.

Today, the civic environment has advanced with more than 2,000 non-profits in the state of Nebraska alone. The Ak-Sar-Ben Foundation, along with its other non-profit counterparts, has honed in on the area of impact and reach that will fulfill its mission.  

The current mission statement "to leverage collective business leadership to build a more prosperous Heartland" was developed during a two-year strategic planning process that concluded in 2010. The current members of the Board are dedicated to fulfilling the mission just as their predecessors did in the mid 1890's through the current decade.