Robert C. Carlsen

Robert joined the Board of Directors in 2026, and hopes to see MKLM have a sustainable future for global mission with growth in both missioners deployed and funding to expand our programs.

Robert lives in Danbury, CT with his wife Patti. They have a son, Nick, and a cat Frida. He is the Executive Director at the Endangered Language Fund. It is a non-profit that funds community and indigenous people (and tribes) in the revitalization of their mother tongue/languages. Many of the worlds languages are endangered or under threat due to conflict, geo-political or dominant language/colonization. His organization seeks to fund, through micro grants, community language activists seeking to preserve their heritage languages, bringing pride, identity and wellness to the speaker community.

Robert is also on the advisory Board of Catholic Charities (Danbury) for the Diocese of Bridgeport. He is a member of the St. Edward the Confessor Church in Danbury. Robert is a semi professional musician (guitar, vocals , clarinet) playing gigs in the Danbury area. He is also a clarinetist with the Danbury Orchestra and Band. He loves learning languages (usually working on about 4 at a time) and travel. He was a lawyer with technology companies for 36 years before becoming the Exec Director of the Endangered Language Fund. He is the author of Sacred Dust on Crowded Streets: Conversations with India. This is a memoir of his experiences living in Bangaluru, India for 2.5 years.

He has worked extensively throughout Latin America, travels to Iceland annually to visit his wife’s family, and has “had the privilege of visiting Maryknoll locations in El Salvador, Bolivia, Nepal, Bangladesh, Tanzania and El Paso. I have written articles for diocesan newspaper to spread the MKLM work and look forward to continuing this mission in my second board term!” He was previously on the board 2013-2024, including as an executive committee member.