Strengthening Programs, Partnerships & Possibilities
Discover fresh ideas and proven strategies for advancing your foundation's mission. This virtual event brings together education foundation professionals to explore programming excellence, marketing best practices, and collaborative approaches to fundraising and community engagement.
Session 1 - Tuesday, January 20th
Schedule
12:00 - 12:30 PM EST - Owning Your Story: How Public Schools Can Market for Advocacy, Enrollment & Support
12:30 - 1:00 PM EST - The S.P.I.R.A.L. Reflective Framework: Empowering Educators and Students Through Self-Leadership
1:00 - 1:10 PM - Break
1:10 - 2:10 PM - Raising Big for Our Kids: A Small-Town Guide to Education Foundation Fundraising
2:10 - 2:20 PM - Break
2:20 - 3:20 PM - Quality Standards for Local Education Foundations: How to Make Them Work for You
Session Descriptions
Owning Your Story: How Public Schools Can Market for Advocacy, Enrollment & Support
Presented by Heidi Vega, Director of Communications, Arizona School Boards Association and President, National School Public Relations Association and Dani Cole, Multimedia Communications Manager, Arizona School Boards Association
If you don’t tell your district’s story, someone else will. This engaging, hands-on session will show you how to market your schools with authenticity to drive enrollment, advocacy, and support for bonds and overrides. Attendees will learn how to: (1) craft clear, consistent messaging that resonates with families and voters, (2) use communication channels, including social media, to highlight everyday successes, and (3) turn stories into advocacy tools that build trust and engagement. We’ll also explore how to measure what’s working—so you know when to pivot and when to double down. Participants will also receive a mini-toolkit of customizable avatars, sample messaging, and plug-and-play content ideas they can use immediately. Walk away ready to transform everyday school moments into powerful stories that spark advocacy, inspire pride, and strengthen your community’s connection to its schools.
The S.P.I.R.A.L. Reflective Framework: Empowering Educators and Students Through Self-Leadership
Presented by Dr. Fredah Mainah, Rainbow-Ono Sanctuary and Dr. Esther Andrew, Nature Bright Youth Network
In an era of rising student disengagement, educator burnout, and widening equity gaps, education must evolve from performance metrics to purposeful transformation. As education foundations increasingly support whole-child learning and educator well-being, self-leadership emerges as a crucial capacity for sustainable growth, reflective practice, and culturally responsive development. This session presents the S.P.I.R.A.L. Reflective Self-Leadership Framework, a six-dimensional model designed to empower learners, educators, and community leaders through identity-based development and purposeful action.
Raising Big for Our Kids: A Small-Town Guide to Education Foundation Fundraising
Presented by Kim Crumrine, Executive Director, Royse City ISD Education Foundation
Small suburban communities often present a unique set of challenges and opportunities for education foundations. You might not have Fortune 500 companies knocking on your door or a contact list full of millionaires. But what you do have is something just as powerful: tight-knit communities and a shared belief in giving our kids the best.
This presentation isn't about wishing you were somewhere else. It's about recognizing the incredible strengths right in your own backyard and turning them into fundraising gold. We'll dive into how to: Leverage Your Community's Heart, Think Beyond the Big Check, and Build Lasting Connections.
You'll leave this presentation with actionable strategies, fresh ideas, and a renewed sense of confidence that you can build a thriving education foundation right where you are.
Quality Standards for Local Education Foundations: How to Make Them Work for You
Presented by Tracy Burger, Consortium of Florida Education Foundations and Tammy Brinker Hernando County Education Foundation
The Consortium of Florida Education Foundation’s Foundations for Success Quality Standards set consistent expectations among local education foundations (LEFs) that aim to increase effectiveness, guide growth and improve functionality of the basic processes that a foundation needs to complete its mission and raise student achievement. These standards were developed by and for member foundations from a field of leaders who believe in next-level accountability.
Eight years after rollout, the Consortium is sharing lessons learned, feedback from Standards completers and statewide assessment results. Participants will receive steps in using these Standards as a tool for benchmarking, assessment and continuous quality improvement. Participants will understand a quality standards process specifically for LEFs and take away a usable guide to implementing such a process at their own foundation.
Session 2 - Thursday, January 22nd
Schedule
12:00 - 1:00 PM EST - Seasonal Campaigns with Lasting Impact: The Lynwood Gives Model
1:00 - 1:10 PM EST - Break
1:10 - 2:40 PM EST - Panel Session
Session Descriptions
Seasonal Campaigns with Lasting Impact: The Lynwood Gives Model
Presented by Elsa Chagolla Executive Director, Lynwood Partners Educational Foundation
How do you design a seasonal campaign that creates lasting impact? Lynwood Gives is the Lynwood Partners Educational Foundation's signature fall giving campaign, blending strategic storytelling, alumni engagement, and branded merchandise to build momentum year after year. Through creative videos, a strong brand identity—including an eagerly anticipated annual t-shirt—and intentional partnerships, LPEF turned a single campaign into a trusted community tradition. In this session, attendees will gain a clear framework for designing high-impact, seasonal fundraising campaigns that strengthen brand recognition, attract donors, and amplify community pride. Learn practical strategies for storytelling, partnership building, and donor engagement that can be adapted to any education foundation, regardless of size or resources.
Panel Session - How Foundations Fail, Adapt and Thrive
Moderator Kelly Falck, Executive Director, The Lion Foundation
Panelist Kim Akeley-Charron, Thompson Education Foundation, Sara Hazel, President & CEO, Denver Public School Foundation, Erica Jones, CEFL, Development Director, Carteret Education Foundation, and Sean Neal, Granite Education Foundation
Four foundations, four unique stories, one shared goal — building sustainable, high-impact organizations that truly serve their schools and communities. From avoiding the biggest pitfalls that can sink your foundation to launching rapid-response funds, dressing students for success, and communicating with courage and heart, this panel will offer real-world lessons and replicate strategies. Hear how each foundation turned challenges into opportunities — and walk away with ideas you can implement right away to strengthen your mission and deepen your community impact.
Registration
Early Bird [ends on Sunday December 14th]
Member - $199
Non-member - $299
Standard Member [Monday, December 15th - Friday, January 16th]
Member - $299
Non-member - $399
Session Sponsor - $500 [5 available - includes thank you remarks at the start of each session, logo on the welcome slide, send company's website in the Chat Log, and a link to materials [in PDF format] in the Chat Log and in the wrap-up email to all registrants.]
