Karen Jackman Ashton

Karen Jackman Ashton is a philanthropist and storyteller known for cofounding Utah’s Thanksgiving Point and creating and organizing the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival.
Ashton attended Brigham Young University and married Alan C. Ashton, the co-founder of WordPerfect Corporation and a former professor at Brigham Young University (BYU). Her early philanthropy began with the Orem City Library and donations to BYU. Her work with the library grew into the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. She served on the Utah Valley University Board of Trustees, the Primary Children's Medical Board, the Shakespearean Festival Board of Governors, the BYU Museum of Art board and the BYU President's Leadership Council.
Timpanogos Storytelling Festival
The Timpanogos Storytelling Festival takes place Labor Day weekend at the end of each summer in Lehi, Utah. The festival draws a combined attendance of about 26,000 people each year, making it the largest storytelling festival in the western United States. The festival typically lasts two days and invites professional storytellers from throughout the United States. Some of the nation's most widely known storytellers perform.
Thanksgiving Point
In partnership with her husband she developed Thanksgiving Point, a large real estate development in Utah that includes offices buildings, a golf course, restaurants, a dinosaur museum, movie theaters, a 55-acre botanical garden, and an annual tulip festival featuring 280,000 tulips. Thanksgiving Point Golf Course, designed by Johnny Miller, is recognized as the largest golf club in Utah, covering more than 200 acres.
Personal life
Ashton is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and with her husband they are parents of 11 children and more than 60 grandchildren. She has served in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as matron of the Provo Utah Temple and on the Primary General Board and the Young Women General Board.

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