At its national conference this week, the National Association of Education Foundations, Inc. (NAEF) announced that Tim Eby, SEF’s Executive Director, has been elected to the NAEF Board of Directors. The NAEF’s mission is to strengthen education foundations nationwide with the vision that all students have robust educational opportunities.
The board provides the governance for the organization that represents 640 education foundations, including the Special Education Foundation, across the country. NAEF members are made up primarily of foundations that serve public educational systems serving 20 million children in 41 states in the U.S.
Eby joined SEF as its Executive Director last April, after a long and successful career leading public radio organizations, most recently here in St. Louis. He has also been active in the St. Louis region serving on several non-profit boards including Focus St. Louis, Easter Seals Midwest, Grant Center, Inc. and the St. Louis Civic Pride Foundation. Eby also served as Chair of the National Public Radio, Inc. Board of Directors.
The NAEF provides webinars, forums, conferences, newsletters, resources, surveys, training, consulting programs, and the national standard for certification of education foundation leaders.
Also elected to the national board were:
- Juan Carlos Alarcon ( Director of Educational Programming for the Elkhart, IN Education Foundation),
- Sara Alig-Martin (Executive Director at Nebraska Association of Public School Foundations),
- Keegan Bell (Executive Vice President at the Irvine, CA Public Schools Foundation),
- Crystal Scanio (CEO of the Irving, TX Schools Foundation),
- Cindy Morris (President/CEO of the Peoria, IL Public Schools Foundation),
- Adam Samuels (Abilene, TX Education Foundation),
- Gina Welsh (Executive Director of Santa Fe, TX Education Foundation), and
- Whitney Woolf (Executive Director of the Lake Oswego, OR Schools Foundation)
Founded in 2005 as the National Schools Foundation Association, it became the National Association of Education Foundations in 2021, expanding its board to strengthen the education foundation industry. Peter Constantinou is the organization’s President and CEO.