On Wednesday, September 17, 2025, RAFT hosted its annual fundraising event: RAFT to the Future. Over 130 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. With support from our generous sponsors, donors, and matching funds, we were able to raise over $433,000. More than 6,000 educators and 100,000 students will continue to receive engaging, hands-on STEAM learning resources.

A Delorean Design Challenge to Kick Off the Event

This year, RAFT staff invited attendees to take part in the various programs RAFT delivers to educators and students. During the reception portion of the evening, guests visited demo stations including the RAFT Maker Mobile with SJSU Maker Mentors leading activities, a STEAM Project Kit station with our new AI Chatbot funded in part by the Cisco Foundation, and the STEAM Classroom featuring student projects, instructional videos, and demos from our STEAM Dream Camp and STEAM DreamBox.

Donors and sponsors had a chance to see how their funds donated that evening would help RAFT further improve these programs and expand our services to more students.

The fun didn’t stop there, though, as Kat Huro, our STEAM Events Coordinator and Facilitator, led guests in a classic RAFT Design Challenge, with a Back to the Future twist. Each table had a paper Delorean that contained all the reuse materials needed to craft your own platform car. Guests only had 10 minutes to create their own RAFT-y Deloreans, and they did not disappoint. This joy and energy in the room helped guests connect with how students feel in the classroom when engaging with RAFT activities.

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.

2025 STEAM Educators of the Year

RAFT STEAM Educators of the Year Brian Boyce, Emily Sweet, Peggy Nguyen, and Jeremey Gorman (L-R)

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.

Board Members and sponsors, Priya Venkat, Charu Gupta from Cisco and Yosuke Ogata from KPMG as well as Emilio de Sousa from Morgan Stanley and Kim Sullivan from Credo presented the awards.

The 2025 STEAM Educators of the Year are Brian Boyce from Santa Cruz Gardens Elementary, Emily Sweet of Campbell Union High School District, Jeremey Gorman of REACH Academy, and Peggy Nguyen from Ruskin Elementary.

Watch the video below to hear the inspiring stories of these educators.

RAFT Heroes of the Year

RAFT 2025 Hero, Anne Murphy, and 2021 Hero, Webb McKinney

This year, RAFT presented three Hero Awards.

Anne has been the backbone of RAFT’s Finance Department for 28 years. She has also been an active and generous donor, supporting the education community in more ways than one. Throughout her time here, she has ensured smooth and robust business operations.

In regard to her retirement, Anne shared, “I have been fortunate to be a part of RAFT for almost 29 years. It’s great to see how RAFT has grown.”

Bob and Chuck are a consulting duo who have been assisting RAFT over the past two years. They helped establish RAFT’s Endowment Fund and also serve on the Development Committee. They play an invaluable role in preparing RAFT for its next phase.

RAFT Board member Yosuke Ogata from KPMG, our previous hero, Webb McKinney, and Jonathan Stephenson from Fenwick, presented the awards.

RAFT Volunteer of the Year

Volunteers play a critical role in helping RAFT serve the education community. Our volunteers make an incredible impact, volunteering for over 17,000 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 2025 RAFT Volunteer of the Year awardee is Kelley Young.

Although Kelley was unable to attend the event in person, she was recognized by RAFT Board Member Liliana Rojas.

RAFT Partner of the Year

Chris Reynolds of Google, RAFT Partner of the Year, participates in the Design Challenge with Board Member Yosuke Ogata of KPMG

The 2025 RAFT Partner of the Year is Google.

Google has been a key partner to RAFT for 20 years! Their generosity with their donations as well the employees’ volunteering time has helped us bring our hands-on learning resources to our most underserved students and schools.

The award was presented to Chris Reynolds from Google by RAFT Board Member Charu Gupta of Cisco.

Our Hosts

Bryan Williams, recipient of the 2022 Educator of the Year award and currently Director of STEAM Programs at RAFT, was the emcee of the evening.

Helping Bryan with the Fund-A-Need portion of the program was Frederic Caldwell, Vice Chair of the RAFT Board.

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.