Annual Fundraiser Recap: Level Up for STEAM Education
On Wednesday, September 18, 2024, RAFT hosted its annual fundraising event: Level Up. Over 140 supporters were present at RAFT, which was transformed into a beautiful space for the special event for the night.
That evening, we honored the individuals and organizations that have made a profound impact on RAFT and the education community. Guests also learned about RAFT and what we are doing to further our mission of inspiring joy through hands-on learning. We were able to raise over $370,000. More than 6,000 educators and 100,000 students will continue to receive engaging, hands-on STEAM learning resources.
Onto the Next Level: RAFT Endowment Announcement
RAFT CEO Jason Morrella, announced the RAFT Board of Directors approved a $5 million portion of RAFT’s reserve fund to be allocated to start an endowment fund to ensure RAFT’s mission will continue to serve our community for decades to come.
This endowment will allow RAFT to create new programs and initiatives to answer the changing needs of our education system as well as provide our services today.
The $5 million fund will start as a matching opportunity for donors to double their impact for outright gifts or as part of their charitable distribution. This will also enable our supporters to donate to the endowment fund as part of their planned giving. For more information, email Kate Ball at kball@raft.net.
RAFT’s Impact in the Community
In the face of ongoing changes in the educational landscape, the education community continues to demonstrate remarkable resilience and innovation. RAFT is proud to have supported over 6,000 educators and 100,000 students with the resources needed to transform classrooms for future generations.
Watch this video to learn more about RAFT's lasting impact on the education community.
2024 STEAM Educators of the Year
The STEAM Educator of the Year Award honors educators that have gone above and beyond in making sure students have engaging lessons, use hands-on learning, and help develop 21st century skills such as resilience, creativity and critical thinking.
Jayanti Roy, RAFT Board Member and Professor of Child Development and Education at De Anza College, presented this year's awardees along with Elizabeth Vacca, District Representative of State Senator Aisha Wahab, Yosuke Ogata from KPMG, and Corey Bentley from Credo.
The 2024 STEAM Educators of the Year are Rebecca Balster from Ocala STEAM Academy, Principal Kristin Dil from Patterson Elementary, and Vincent Tran from Rancho Milpitas Middle School.
Watch the video below to hear the inspiring stories of these educators.
RAFT Hero of the Year
This year's RAFT Hero Award was presented to Douglas Spreng. Douglas has served on RAFT’s Advisory Board as well as the Development Committee. Through his service on these committees, Douglas has provided valuable feedback on RAFT’s business model and strategies.
“I am an enthusiastic believer in the kinds of hands-on learning that RAFT provides to young students via their project kits and their low-cost ways of reaching their students, including the Maker Mobile. RAFT is a vital asset to our community.” –Douglas Spreng
RAFT Board Member Carlos Mino, Srinivas Nori from Google, and 2022 RAFT Hero Donna Whitney presented the award.
RAFT Volunteers of the Year
Volunteers play a critical role in helping RAFT serve the education community. Our volunteers make an incredible impact, volunteering for over 9,000 hours this year alone. Without volunteers, we would not be able to provide hands-on activities to those students that need us the most.
The 2024 RAFT Volunteer of the Year awardees are Jeanne Ohara and Julia Kozen.
The awards were presented by RAFT Board Member Loretta Li-Sevilla, Emilio de Sousa from The Skyline Wealth Management Group at Morgan Stanley, Steven Popowski from AON, and 2023 RAFT Volunteer of the Year Carol Schelling.
RAFT Partner of the Year
The 2024 RAFT Partner of the Year is the KLA Foundation.
The KLA Foundation has been a key partner of RAFT as they moved from the challenges of distance learning to grow their programs over these past years. This partnership has included the following:
- A grant to purchase a brand new electric Maker Mobile van
- A grant to provide RAFT memberships and a shopping spree to every TK-8 educator at the Santa Clara Unified and Milpitas Unified School Districts
- Material donations and multiple corporate volunteer events with KLA employees to produce RAFT’s STEAM Project Kits for the classroom and their STEAM Dream Camp
The award was presented to Jenn Sandretto from the KLA Foundation by RAFT Board Member Charu Gupta.
Our Hosts
Frederic Caldwell, Head of the Development Committee and Vice Chair of the RAFT Board, was the emcee of the evening.
Helping Frederic with the Fund-A-Need portion of the program was Sundi Sundaresh, RAFT Chair of the Board of Directors.
RAFT Staff
Behind every event and all our efforts is a passionate team working to make it happen.
Get to know the amazing members of the RAFT staff in this fun video!
Event Committee, Sponsors, and Donors
With the support of our event committee, sponsors, and donors, RAFT is creating a brighter future for the education community. Thank you for joining us in our mission to inspire joy through hands-on learning.
