Building the Foundation of Florida’s Future
Consortium of Florida Education Foundations
Investment Report 2018 3919 W. Newberry Road, Suite 3, Gainesville, FL 32607 | Ph: 352.338.0250 | EducationFoundationsFL.org
Statewide Reach. Local Impact. For Students, Teachers and Schools. Table of contents 2017-2018 Statewide Reach .........................................................................................................3 Teacher Grants: Small Investments, Big Returns .............................................................................4 Teachers Learning from Teachers ..................................................................................................5 Exposing Students to Career Pathways .........................................................................................6 1:1 Leveraging State & Philanthropic Investments ..........................................................................7 Increasing STEM Impact: Motorola & The PEAR Institute ..............................................................10 Strengthening Local Education Foundations .................................................................................11 Awards & Accolades ...................................................................................................................12 2017-2018 Financial Impact..................................................................................................................................14 CFEF Membership Map ........................................................................................................................................15
About the Cover Photo
The Excitement is Building!
First grader Athena is helping build a bench for an outdoor classroom at Dundee Elementary Academy in memory of their principal Mrs. Henderson. Funded through a Duke Energy grant from the Polk Education Foundation, this project enriched the minds and touched hearts of students schoolwide.
In addition to building Florida’s future through hands-on learning like the project pictured on the front cover, we’ve been building a new Support Education specialty license tag. See the final product on the back cover – available now in local tag agencies with $20 from each sale supporting local students and classrooms in all 67 county-wide school districts.
Baker County Education Foundation
Citrus County Education Foundation
2017-2018 Statewide Reach Florida’s local education foundations (LEFs) serve as the conduit for private-sector investment and community involvement in our public schools. Programs vary from county-to-county and include initiatives like student scholarships, mentoring and other drop-out prevention strategies, teaching innovation and recognition, classroom grants, college readiness and access, literacy improvement, technical/career education and more. In addition to serving as the primary link between LEFs and regional, statewide, and national partners, the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations (CFEF): P Works with state legislators to grow the School District Education Foundation Matching Grant Program.
Collectively education foundations raised
$64 M
for programs
which impacted
students 2,795,000 ofK-12Florida’s through
education foundations 64 local governed by
1,200
volunteer leaders.
P Secures funding through Partner Programs for initiatives like STEM, building career pathways for in-demand jobs, and professional development for teachers. P Builds capacity in local education foundations through strategic planning facilitation, networking opportunities, collaboration and information sharing. P Promotes sustainability and is leading education foundations in developing performance standards to ensure viability beyond leadership and program changes. P Manages the Support Education specialty license plate program and — just this year— updated the license plate to a fresh, new look. First change in 25 years!
bought and renewed the
Support Education tag.
$380,200 raised from Florida drivers who $805,000 donated by school district employees $435,400 distributed through
through workplace giving
Find It & Fund It
campaigns.
crowdsourcing platform.
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Teacher Grants: Small Investments, Big Returns Teacher grants have long been the cornerstone of education foundations’ investments throughout Florida. Ranging from a few hundred to thousands of dollars, these grants enable teachers to provide hands-on learning projects for students without having to dig in to their personal savings. Although the investment may be small, the impact on a child can be life-changing.
Discovering a Pathway In her first renewable energy course, Photovoltaic Systems, Sommer quickly saw the potential in solar and renewable energy as she got her hands dirty. Her teacher, David Johnson, received $5,000 through The Foundation for Seminole County Public Schools’ Grants for Great Ideas program for hands-on labs and activities where his 350 high school students learned, created, and tested various types of renewable energy forms. Pictured left, Sommer is working on a golf cart which was converted to run on solar power— never again needing a wall outlet to charge. She helped upgrade and install all the components to make it more usable, durable, safe, and reliable while running purely on solar energy.
Sommer, 12th Grade Winter Springs High School
Sommer was a leader in the classroom and became a strong advocate for renewable and solar energy, speaking out about it and seeking ways to incorporate renewable energy in every new project. Mr. Johnson proudly recounts, “This project allowed students to learn more about various renewable energy technologies and gave them the necessary tools to make a change in their lifestyles—and a change in the world. Many students want to further their education in renewable energy and make a change in their community.”
Finding His Voice While Improving the World Kalas was so withdrawn in class he covered his face and would not speak. Every day he sat motionless, slumped in his chair with his arms crossed.Tasks overwhelmed him and often brought him to tears.When Katie Riemenschneider received a $1,000 grant from The Foundation for Lee County Public Schools for her school’s 5th graders to do a service project, she was not sure how Kalas would react. Students had to research a real-world problem, then create and implement a solution. At the end of the project, they wrote about their findings and made display boards that were shared as each student presented to more than 1,000 fellow students, parents and community members.
Kalas, 5th Grade Edison Park Creative & Expressive Arts Elementary School
Kalas decided he wanted to help those living in poverty by growing food. With Ms. Riemenschneider’s help, he successfully researched his project, grew beans and lettuce, and created a display board.The most amazing transformation came when he stood in front of his peers, looked them in their eyes and spoke about his project! He now smiles, talks to teachers and fellow students, and talks about how proud he is of this experience and his growth.
Engaging for Success Colton led the “unruly” section of Mr. Foust’s 10th grade History class. He had a “D” in History and was failing his Math class. Although Colton complained constantly about having to read, Mr. Foust used his $470 teacher grant from the Education Foundation of Sarasota County to buy Kindles, e-books, audiobooks and a few hard copies of historical novels. Students were required to read at the beginning of every class. Colton chose When the Legends Die by Hal Borland – Mr. Foust’s favorite book. “I received much support from Colton’s parents.Then, one day, his attitude took a turn as he got into the book. He began to discuss the book and soon became a leader in classroom discussions,” recalls Mr. Foust. By the end of the school year, Colton increased his History grade to a “B” and passed his Math End-ofCourse exam.“I believe this simple project of required reading helped increase some students’ self-esteem. More than half the students said they had never read a novel in their life.” 4
Colton, 10th Grade North Port High School
Teachers Learning from Teachers For the past two years, the CFEF has provided seed funding for member foundations to give teachers an opportunity to learn from peer-to-peer, in-classroom opportunities and teacher mentor and learning groups, roundtables and online communities. Such “venture capital” encouraged members to step into uncharted territory and try something new on a small scale, which led to district buy-in and confidence to invest in larger strategies to engage and develop teacher leaders. Several LEFs refocused teacher engagement efforts towards this type of work as a way to have a more systematic impact on teacher learning and to help with teacher retention. The Education Foundation of Alachua County took on a grassroots effort in this space by creating a teacher-led peer-topeer learning program at one district high school, which quickly expanded to several schools and an online Twitter community once district leaders learned about the program’s success. Champions for Learning, the Education Foundation in Collier County, at first hesitant to step into this space, offered peer-topeer learning to teachers and were overwhelmed by the positive response from participants. The collaboration deepened the foundation’s relationship with the district and demonstrated to both the value of experiencing other teacher’s and school’s approaches to learning—and how that reaches beyond teaching practices to culture and community within school walls. With a nudge from the CFEF, Santa Rosa Education Foundation proposed a peer-to-peer learning project to district staff who jumped on the opportunity. When the superintendent joined teachers in a review session, it was just a matter of time before a full-time facilitator position was created and supported to continue this style of teacher professional development district-wide.
FPL Continues Peer-to-Peer Learning with $100,000 Grant The CFEF received $100,000 from Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) for the new EmPOWERing STEM Educators Program to increase teacher knowledge of effective math and science instructional practices that align with Florida Standards through classroom-based, teacher-to-teacher learning. “FPL is pleased to partner with CFEF to bring the EmPOWERing STEM Educators Program to school districts in Florida. The program will help teachers to improve their knowledge and continue to be the single most important factor to the success of students,” said FPL Senior Education Program Manager Maureen Wilt.
Retaining Teacher Talent: A Polk County Journey Led by Jessica Solano 2016-2017 Peers in Public Practice funded by a $7,790 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant through the CFEF Facilitated by the Polk Education Foundation, this program developed high-impact teachers into mentors and transformed classrooms into real-time instructional practice models. “We were surprised to see how our most experienced teachers learned alongside of the newest as they reflected on their practice, answered ‘Why do I do that?’ and used research to guide their teaching strategies.”
2017-2018 Leading from the Classroom funded by a $7,000 Wells Fargo grant though the CFEF This initiative built upon the Peers in Public Practice program and integrated expert speakers, book studies, problems of practice protocols and goal setting to continuously develop teachers and empower them to serve as leaders in their schools and district without leaving the teaching profession or moving into an administrative role. “One of the most powerful outcomes of the program was a significant boost in the teachers’ confidence in their leadership skills.”
2018-2019 First Teacher Engagement position created to continue and expand this work Based on the pilot programs’ positive results—initiatives made possible by funding through the education foundation—Peers in Public Practice and Leading from the Classroom were incorporated into Polk County Public Schools’ human resources department. This led to hiring the county’s first Teacher Engagement Specialist, growing these programs to eventually impact all the county’s 6,800 teachers to continuously improve teacher retention and boost students’ overall academic performance. “Some of our highest performing teachers do not want to be math coaches, principals or deans.These are the ‘irreplaceables’ – teachers who want to make a bigger impact without leaving their classrooms.” 5
Exposing Students to Career Pathways Local education foundations are well known for providing scholarships, mentoring and classroom grant programs. Recognizing Florida’s skills gap and the challenges it presents to local industries, increasingly education foundations are focusing on helping students find career paths through targeted counseling, exposure to careers they didn’t know existed, information about in-demand career paths and the education required to qualify for these jobs.
Promoting Entrepreneurial Skills The Pinellas Education Foundation created two programs to develop innovation leaders: Next Generation Entrepreneurs (NGE) and Next Generation Tech (NGT). NGE is part of classroom instruction at three Pinellas County high schools where students learn from thriving entrepreneurs. NGT students participate in an extracurricular program where they ultimately can compete for prize money to bring their innovative technology design to market. Both programs build students’ critical thinking, communication and collaboration skills. Champions for Learning, the Education Foundation in Collier County, piloted an InDemand Career Scholars program through a partnership with the Florida Prepaid College Foundation. The program provides 2-year Florida Prepaid Scholarships to students from middle income families who are interested in developing the entrepreneurial skills needed by businesses in virtually every sector. Selected students also receive support from their advocates during weekly sessions in the foundation’s College and Career Preparation Program throughout their junior and senior high school years. Here they develop skills like networking, public speaking, and communication. Scholars are followed throughout college by the foundation’s College Retention Coordinator, who also connects them with mentors to provide career coaching. The program will expand to Lee and Sarasota counties in the 2018-2019 school year. 6
Flagler County Education Foundation
The Flagler County Education Foundation supports the Classroom to Careers Flagship Programs and Career and Technical Education offerings that are a pipeline allowing its elementary students to explore career paths, its middle school students to grow their skill sets, and its high school and adult students to find success in career opportunities as they earn certifications, build networks with local businesses, and receive opportunities for work-based experiences. Much of the Education Foundation of Sarasota County’s work centers around its College, Career & Life Readiness Initiative. These include programs like College and Career Explorations where students visit colleges and businesses; Strive Awards that provide scholarships to graduating seniors; Career Chats featuring classroom discussions Education Foundation of with executives from various industries; and Sarasota County “Hackathon”–a weekend event where students team with professionals to create a mobile app prototype and business plan.The foundation also operates Student Success Centers in two high schools and offers college planning software and career assessment tools to middle and high school students.
Gulf Power Foundation Provides Multi-Year Career Pathways Grant With a goal of making it easier for school counselors to help families make informed decisions about education and career options, the Gulf Power Foundation recently awarded a $550,000 five-year grant to the CFEF. Modeled after the successful Santa Rosa Career Pathways effort, the program will put accessible information about education pathways and the specific in-demand careers they lead to in each of the eight counties in Gulf Power’s service territory. In addition to specifics on education pathways from middle school through university level, the effort will provide the job titles and expected wages – both in an easy-to-follow “First, Next, Later” format. Local education foundations will facilitate the program in their school districts, bringing together Career and Technical Education leaders and workforce experts to ensure the information is comprehensive and up to date. They will also be eligible to receive funding for activities related to the resources including industry encounters for students and externships for teachers.
Education Foundation of Palm Beach County
Public Education Foundation of Marion County
1:1 LEVERAGING STATE & PHILANTHROPIC INVESTMENTS The School District Education Foundation Matching Grant Program, adopted by the Florida Legislature in 2000, increases privatesector interest, involvement and investment in advancing student achievement in public schools. Through the 2017-2018 school year, the State of Florida has appropriated nearly $43 million, which has been matched by nearly $92 million in private-sector contributions for career and technical education, literacy, and STEM programs in addition to initiatives that strive to improve teaching quality, graduation rates, and success of low-performing students. Education foundations must match each $1 received by the state with $1 from private philanthropy.
Together, in 2017-2018 we raised
$10 M
for public education
which funded
144 projects to give more than
1M
students hands-on learning experiences
throughout
63 counties. Public Education Foundation of Marion County
Pasco Education Foundation
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1:1 LEVERAGING STATE & PHILANTHROPIC INVESTMENTS STEM
Brevard Schools Foundation “Ozobots in the Classroom” Elementary students learned how to solve real-world problems using computational thinking. Each grade completed age-appropriate activities with robots and programming using Ozobots. Third graders read “A Picture Book of Abraham Lincoln” and used codes to program the Ozobot to travel on a timeline they created as they put Abe’s life in chronological order. In addition to chronological order and timelines, students learned new vocabulary, facts about Abraham Lincoln, how to follow step-by-step instructions, and how to program a robot. Students’ pretest and posttest scores increased from 38% to 85% of the students scoring 80% or higher. “I enjoyed drawing the playground and seeing how Ozobots moved. I tried out different colored lines and codes in order to test if they worked. I learned that sometimes things don’t work and you have to fix them. Mistakes happen.” Daniel, 3rd Grade
Career & Technical Education
Foundation for Orange County Public Schools “OCPS Internship Program” Students who have three years Career Academy experience, completed job readiness training and earned at least one certification can apply for a paid summer internship in the finance, IT, hospitality or tourism industries. Students interview with potential employers and, if chosen, enroll in a summer course that provides instructor supervision and teaches soft skills like punctuality, following directions, and appropriate dress. Interns report to and are supervised daily by their worksite managers.All 113 students continued in career/technical courses after completing their internships. One student landed a part-time job, and another now volunteers at United Against Poverty after interning there.
Increasing Graduation Rates
Glades Education Foundation Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) The AVID program teaches students organizational, note-taking, communication, and public speaking skills along with college planning strategies. Students learn to be self-advocates in classes and develop many of the skills necessary to be quality employees in their future careers.Twenty-two additional teachers were trained at the AVID Summer Institute, adding grades 4, 5 and 10 to the existing programs in middle school and 9th grade classrooms. Sixty-seven percent of the 277 AVID students demonstrated an increase in organizational skills and all made progress toward graduating high school.
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Literacy
Polk Education Foundation “Polk Reads” Targeting the lowest scoring schools throughout the county, Polk Reads matches trained tutors with low-performing students in Kindergarten through 3rd grade to work one-on-one on literacy skills.Teachers work with the tutors to develop lessons to meet each child’s individual needs. Expected outcomes are set for students at each grade level, and regular assessments are done to gauge progress and adjust lessons as needed. Eighty-nine percent of the 415 participants improved in a standardized reading skills test.
Low-Performing Students
Taylor County Education Foundation “Aquaponics Outdoor STEM Lab and Classroom” Hoping to increase student engagement, Taylor County High School turned its aquaponics lab into an outdoor classroom by adding standing desks, portable whiteboards and installing solar panels to promote green energy and sustainability. It worked! Referrals went down, student engagement for struggling learners increased, and honor students created a school recycling program to continue the school’s “green movement.”
Teaching Quality
Education Foundation of Palm Beach County “Readers Fly with the University of Florida Literacy Initiative (UFLI)” Students learn in a variety of ways, with strengths and weaknesses across the spectrum of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning. Multisensory instruction enables teachers to activate all three types of learning at once so students learn the way that is best for them. District staff developed more than 30 multisensory primary literacy instructional strategies that can be implemented during core instruction. After training 27 kindergarten teachers, 48% demonstrated change in or increased use of the strategies.
6,887
5,469
10,753
Students demonstrated increased interest in CTE
Teachers improved knowledge and attitude
Students improved their reading skills
83,534
4,950
6,153
Students increased their interest in STEM Education
Low-performing students improved grades
High school senior participants graduated
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Evaluating Program Impact How do we know if investments in STEM are having a meaningful impact? To answer this question, Motorola Solutions Foundation is partnering with The PEAR Institute to collect and analyze data for the STEM projects it funds throughout the country. The PEAR Institute has developed a variety of assessment tools used to measure and improve the quality of in-classroom and outof-school-time STEM programs. These tools allow researchers, practitioners, funders and other stakeholders to track the quality of STEM learning opportunities and to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses. In March 2018, Motorola invited the CFEF to participate in a special training to learn what makes STEM programs more exciting and meaningful to students. Program Director Tracy Burger and a Clay County Education Foundation leader became certified in The PEAR Institute’s 12 Dimensions of Success Framework and are incorporating these into existing STEM programs to better measure and elevate STEM learning. Clay County already uses this observation tool and sends its data to The PEAR Institute as part of the Northeast Florida Regional STEM2 Hub. The CFEF also engaged the Urban Institute in 2017-18 to evaluate the School District Education Foundation Matching Grant Program processes, taking an external look at how the program works statewide and locally, ascertaining potential areas of improvement, and suggesting ways to best showcase the impact the program has across the state. Recognizing the program’s unique challenges — managing 144 projects in 63 districts, each impacting from 700 to 350,000 students— recommendations focused on modifying the application and shifting future reports to highlight individual district successes.
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Increasing STEM Impact: Motorola and The PEAR Institute Since 2011, the Motorola Solutions Foundation has partnered with the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations to support student achievement in STEM areas (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) through $5,000 grants to local education foundations funding hands-on projects. Students are challenged to solve realworld problems by collaborating, problem solving and making decisions in complex situations with help from their local business partners. So far, Motorola’s $350,000 investment has brought 66 projects to life for 18,572 students with the help of 169 STEM business partners. The CFEF facilitates the process from start to finish, awarding local grants after a competitive application and review process involving STEM professionals.
Bok Academy students designed a virtual circuit board and built a miniature solar house to demonstrate how electricity travels from the power plant to a home.
Motorola Solutions Foundation awarded
$50,000 for STEM grants which funded
9
projects
that impacted more than
2,100
students
with involvement by
24 local business partners. “Motorola Solutions Foundation has been thrilled to partner with the CFEF over the years because they have a network of teachers and schools that provide the great hands-on technology and engineering education programs that we want to support. We are always excited to hear what projects the classrooms are working on.” Matt Blakely, Executive Director Motorola Solutions Foundation
1,700
1,637
1,595
Student participants showed increased interest in taking STEM classes in the future.
Student participants showed increased interest in pursuing a STEM major.
Student participants showed increased interest in pursuing a STEM career.
Strengthening Local Education Foundations The CFEF works with its member education foundations to build capacity in each county, from volunteer-run foundations to those with more than 30 staff.The CFEF facilitates networking, collaboration and information sharing through several vehicles including affinity groups, quarterly conferences, webinars and one-on-one training services.
Affinity Groups
Strategic Advisory Council Members
The CFEF manages 13 affinity groups discussing topics ranging from teacher leadership to senior scholarships to quality standards for education foundations statewide. Monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly conference calls allow foundation staff and volunteers to learn from each other while growing and improving core services.
Senior Scholarship Affinity Group No matter how large or small the education foundation – or the scholarship program – all face challenges and can benefit from sharing best practices through the Senior Scholarship Affinity Group managed by the CFEF. With experience running a scholarship program awarding 447 scholarships worth $824,500, Polk Education Foundation Executive Director Susan Copeland leads the group. Nineteen counties participate in quarterly conference calls to discuss topics like refining the DeSoto Scholarship Night application process, scholarship software, better ways to verify financial need, changes in FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), and donor involvement.The hot topic in 2018 was how to better use FAFSA as a consistent tool for income verification for scholarship applications. Some foundations tried it and reported improvements in their application process.
CFEF Strategic Advisory Council While the CFEF is governed by the members it serves for day-today decisions and policies, this year a Strategic Advisory Council was formed to broaden the scope of input and offer supportive advice through a different lens. Corporate, foundation, education and government leaders now meet bi-annually to help guide the CFEF in its statewide work in the education sector. “It is so valuable to have a diverse group of strategic thinkers help us prioritize our work, to think larger and more long-term,” said CFEF President Mary Chance. “We already had valuable takeaways in our first discussion and now this new sounding board will help us have even greater positive impact for Florida’s students in the future.”
• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Carolyn Akers, President, Mobile Area Education Fund Bill Barker, President and Publisher, Naples Daily News David Dawkins, Sr.Vice President,Wells Fargo Advisors Gordon Gillette, CEO, Early Learning Coalition of Hillsborough Debbie Harvey, President and COO, Ron Jon Surf Shop Charles Hokanson, Sr.Vice President, Helios Education Foundation John Legg, Former Florida Senator and Charter School Founder Andrea Messina, Executive Director, Florida School Boards Association Susan Moxley, Former Superintendent, Lake County Public Schools Gerald Solomon, Executive Director, Samueli Foundation Pam Stewart, Commissioner, Florida Department of Education Jeff Swartz, Vice President Florida Generation, Duke Energy Ky Vu, Senior Program Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Nicole Washington, Strategy Officer, Lumina Foundation
Strategic Planning Facilitation As the new executive director of The Education Foundation of Alachua County, Rachel Debigare recognized her foundation planned for the following year but she wanted to strategically map where the organization was heading in the next three to five years. To strengthen local education foundations like this one, the CFEF developed the capacity in-house to offer long-term planning services to its members. Funded by Duke Energy, Program Director Tracy Burger was trained at Leadership Strategies in Atlanta and now travels the state working with education foundations’ leaders and facilitating their strategic planning process. “Tracy understands the work we do and she speaks our language. Over the summer we developed goals and areas of impact and are now creating measurable outcomes. With this comprehensive plan, our board and staff are now moving in the same direction. We can already see our operations and communications are more effective and efficient.” Robert McDaniel The Education Foundation of Alachua County Board Chair 11
Awards & Accolades Excellence in Volunteerism Statewide Award Tracy Bryson
Citrus County Education Foundation
(left to right) CFEF President Mary Chance,Volunteer Florida Legislative & External Affairs Director Erin VanSickle, and 2018 Excellence in Volunteerism Award recipient Tracy Bryson The CFEF partners with Volunteer Florida to recognize one of the 13,000 education foundation volunteers throughout Florida at their reception in Tallahassee each year. After being a “go-to” volunteer with the Citrus County Education Foundation for six years, Tracy Bryson now serves on the foundation’s board of directors and coordinates the Schoolhouse Hustle, the group’s largest annual fundraising event. In addition to volunteering weekly with several community nonprofits, Mrs. Bryson also co-owns Gulf to Lake Marine & Trailers.
Invested in Excellence Jennifer Powell Leon Public Schools
(left to right) 2018 Invested in Excellence Award Winner Jennifer Powell, Florida Power & Light Company Senior Education Program Manager Maureen Wilt Taking her students outside the classroom to instill a sense of civic duty and community service earned Leon County’s 2018 Teacher of the Year Jennifer Powell the Invested in Excellence Award giving her statewide recognition and $1,000. Sponsored by Florida Power & Light Company, this award recognizes a local Teacher of the Year honoree who consistently goes above and beyond for his or her students. While at Deerlake Middle School, Ms. Powell developed a multi-grade, cross-curricular All-American Heroes Rally for Veterans Day. She also served as advisor for the Student Government, Senior Class, and Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) organizations at Lawton Chiles High School.
Outstanding Partners Ian MacKechnie
Betty Castor
Twelve years ago, Ian MacKechnie agreed to run a customer giving campaign that, with Amscot’s corporate match and his personal support, has raised nearly $1.3 million for teachers and students in the company’s service territory. The “Just a Dollar” campaign invites customers to donate $1 with their in-store transaction to support public schools through the statewide network of education foundations. Twenty local education foundations receive funding annually to help meet the educational needs in their counties.
Betty Castor’s commitment to education foundations began when they were first created in Florida. She fully implemented the bill enabling school districts to establish districtwide foundations after being elected Florida’s Commissioner of Education in 1986. After leaving political office, she became the first female president of a major university – University of South Florida – where the endowment tripled to just over $200 million during her tenure. She then went on to lead the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and, under her watch, the number of board-certified teachers grew significantly. Even with the demands of her state and national leadership roles, Ms. Castor served as a Hillsborough Education Foundation board member for several years.
Amscot Financial, Founder and CEO
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Former Florida Education Commissioner
STAR AWARDS
Staff Superstar
Superintendent of the Year
School Board Member of the Year
Thomas Kennedy and his wife Thomasine Kennedy
Hillsborough County Superintendent Jeff Eakins
Two Florida school system leaders were chosen from among several local nominees for championing community and business involvement in education through their local education foundations.
“It is a true gift for a foundation to work with a superintendent and staff who value relationships and unfailingly approach ideas and discussions with ‘how do we’ and ‘how can we’ for the sake of students and teachers,” said Kim Jowell, Hillsborough Education Foundation President.
Jeff Eakins, Hillsborough County
“We fully appreciate how many demands superintendents and school board members have on their time,” said Mary Chance, CFEF President. “We think it’s important to celebrate the school district leaders who make it a priority to foster private-sector support of public education through their local education foundations. They send a strong message to community volunteers and donors that the work is important and valued.” In nominating Superintendent Jeff Eakins, Hillsborough Education Foundation leaders cited his collaborative approach to involving the community in improving outcomes for students.
Consortium Champion Susan McManus
Champions for Learning With 25 years of experience serving as the President & CEO of Champions for Learning, the Education Foundation of Collier County, Susan McManus has served not only the teachers, students, and educational leaders in her county but has mentored, guided, and impacted those leading education foundations in counties
Fred Weber
Hillsborough Education Foundation
Thomas Kennedy, Citrus County
School Board Member Thomas Kennedy was credited by community leaders for helping to significantly expand financial support, volunteer involvement and visibility for the Citrus County Education Foundation. “He truly believes in the mission of our foundation and its shows when he is speaking passionately at events, posting on social media or talking one-on-one with citizens,” said Shaunda Burdette, Executive Director of the Citrus County Education Foundation. “His words and actions influence people to get more involved, allowing us to successfully serve the needs of our schools and students.”
Seventeen education foundations operate teacher resource stores where teachers can get free materials for their classrooms. Collectively these stores provide in-kind support to classrooms worth millions of dollars annually. Fred Weber oversees the Teaching Tools Store for the Hillsborough Education Foundation and, as facilitator of the statewide Teacher Resource Store Affinity Group, he lends his retail and management expertise to other stores throughout Florida. “Fred helped us get our ‘Free’ teacher resource store bar coded with scannable tickets. This has enabled us to serve more teachers and give out more free products! Fred has visited our location many times to help troubleshoot problems. He has gone out of his way to help with any questions that we may have,” recounts Rebecca Cherry, Tools 4 Teaching Manager, Public Education Foundation of Marion County.
throughout Florida. A strategic thinker, she willingly shares her program information, data and expertise to help her colleagues. “Susan has always taken the time to listen to and advise any CFEF member, no matter the size of their foundation. She rejoices with you in your successes and skillfully guides you through the weeds. Her advice is delivered in a calm, clear manner which makes you feel supported, not judged,” reflects Cathy Purdon, Executive Director of Santa Rosa Education Foundation.
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2017-2018 Financial Impact raised $4,956,852 total in 2018
$4,805,271 program expenses
$169,127
administration & fundraising expenses
$409,669
Funding Sources
1.7%
18%
Membership Dues & Fees
80%
net assets as of June 30, 2018
Corporations & Foundations Other Income
.3%
Government
Expenses
3%
Administration & Fundraising
8%
Member Services
89%
Grants to Local Education Foundations
2017 – 2018 Partners Statewide Impact Partners ($100,000+) • Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation • Suncoast Credit Union • Amscot Financial • AT&T • Helios Education Foundation Regional Focus Partners ($50,000+) • Motorola Solutions Foundation • Duke Energy Consortium Champion ($25,000+) • Wells Fargo • Florida Prepaid College Board Presenting Partner ($10,000+) • The Actuarial Foundation Event Showcase ($5,000+) • Universal Studios • Chambersburg PA School District Hurricane Relief • Publix Super Markets Charities Membership Matters ($2,000+) • Florida Power & Light Company • AwardSpring • Florida Prepaid Foundation • TD Bank 14
Public Education Foundation of Marion County
CFEF Membership Map
Escambia
Holmes Santa Rosa
Jackson
Okaloosa Walton Washington
Leon
Calhoun
Bay
Nassau
Gadsden
Liberty Gulf
Wakulla
Jeerson
Madison
Hamilton
Suwannee Columbia Taylor
Union
Lafayette
Franklin
Duval
Baker
Clay
Bradford Gilchrist
Dixie
Alachua
Putnam
St. Johns Flagler
Levy Marion Volusia Citrus Sumter
Lake
Hernando
Nearly all of Florida’s 67 county-wide public school districts have a local education foundation that is engaged in our statewide network.
Seminole Orange
Clay
Hillsborough
Osceola Polk
Brevard
Pinellas
CFEF Member Foundation
Indian River
Inactive or No Known Foundation
Manatee
Hardee
Okeechobee Highlands
Damaged by Hurricane Michael Sarasota
St. Lucie
DeSoto Martin
Hurricane Michael disrupted the lives of 58,000 students in the highlighted region when it made landfall October 10, 2018 and caused unprecedented damage.Through partnerships with Florida Blue, Helios Education Foundation, the Kids in Need Foundation and others, the CFEF facilitated extra support for impacted students, teachers and classrooms throughout a nine-county region.
Charlotte
Lee
Glades
Hendry
Palm Beach
Broward
Collier
Monroe
Miami-Dade
Monroe
Consortium of Florida Education Foundations, Inc. 3919 W. Newberry Road, Suite 3 | Gainesville, Florida 32607 Phone: 352.338.0250 EducationFoundationsFL.org
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