The Edgartown select board on Monday appointed Kate Putnam to the Martha’s Vineyard Commission.

“It is my sincere belief that the Martha’s Vineyard Commission has devoted most of its efforts to its real estate regulatory role and neglected its planning role for the Island,” Ms. Putnam wrote in her application to the select board. “I would like to work to change that and to engage both towns, nonprofits and businesses in the process.”

Ms. Putnam replaces Ted Rosbeck, who did not seek reappointment after a year on the MVC.

Ms. Putnam, who was not present at the meeting, was the only person to apply for the position, town administrator James Hagerty said.

“I’ve known Kate for a long time,” selectman Arthur Smadbeck said. “I think she’ll do a good job.”

The appointment in Edgartown follows a recent decision by the Tisbury select board to name oyster farmer Greg Martino to the MVC. The six town appointments are made annually. Ms. Putnam joins Christina Brown and Jeffrey Agnoli in representing Edgartown.

Ms. Putnam is a managing director at the investment firm Golden Seeds, where she focuses on investing in startups which prioritize gender diversity, according to her application. She also helped create the Martha’s Vineyard Women’s Forum, a coalition of seasonal and year-round residents started in 2020.

Ms. Putnam, whose Island roots reach back to the beginning of the 20th century, had dreamed of living on the Island since graduating from college, she wrote in the application letter.

“I am so grateful that I get to live my dream and I want to give back to the place that I have always called home,” she wrote.