Consortium of Florida Education Foundations

A high school healthcare academy helped open the door to Mayo Clinic.

For Sara, a 2025 Middleburg High School graduate, the Health Science program did more than introduce her to healthcare. It helped her build confidence, earn CNA and EKG certifications and prepare for a future in the medical field.

“The preparation and hands-on experience I gained were the key reasons I was accepted into the highly competitive Phlebotomy Technician cohort at Mayo Clinic.”

Sara shared that this opportunity landed her a job at Mayo Clinic as a Phlebotomist.

Through the Clay Education Foundation, the Health Science Academy is helping students gain real skills, explore healthcare careers, and take meaningful steps toward life after graduation.

Thank you to HCA Healthcare Foundation for supporting this work through the Pathways to Healthcare Careers program through the Consortium.

As you drive across Florida this summer, keep an eye out for the License to Learn specialty plate. 🚗☀️

Every one of those plates tells a story of someone choosing to support students, teachers, and public education right in their own community.

When you purchase a License to Learn plate, $20 stays in the county where the plate is registered to support programs through your local education foundation. That means your everyday drive can help fund classroom resources, student programs, teacher support, and opportunities that make a real difference close to home.

Vacation mode looks even better when it supports public education. 💙 Get your plate at LicenseToLearnFL.com

What does money management look like when students can connect it to the life they are building?

Through Santa Rosa Education Foundation’s Money Moves project, 222 students explored financial decisions that matter far beyond the classroom. Students participated in Lunch & Learn workshops focused on banking basics, saving strategies, credit awareness, budgeting, and responsible financial decision-making.

The project helped students connect future careers to real-world financial choices. Using Xello software, students identified a career, researched salary expectations, created a realistic monthly budget, and developed a savings plan tied to personal goals. They also practiced navigating needs versus wants, managing expenses, and understanding opportunity cost.

The experience expanded beyond the classroom with community-based learning, including a House of Hope experience focused on creating healthy meals on a budget and a farm-to-table tour connecting responsible spending with healthy living and sustainability.

The Money Moves project was supported by the Wells Fargo Investing in Florida’s Future grant, administered by the Consortium.

Thank you, Wells Fargo, for investing in practical financial learning that helps students build confidence, make informed choices, and prepare for lifelong success.

We love sharing the work of our foundation leaders. :)

Shaunda Burdette, Executive Director, Citrus County Education Foundation, Anastasios Kamoutsas, 29th Commissioner of Education, State of Florida, and Andry Sweet, CEO, Children's Home Society of Florida, joined our 2026 Florida Prosperity & Economic Opportunity Solution Summit today to share insights on creating available quality education and workforce development.

As we celebrate America’s 250th Anniversary, we remember Franklin D. Roosevelt and his legacy of empathy in leadership.

BuildResiliency.org offers free resources for parents and teachers to start conversations about important characteristics like empathy, grit and perseverance.

For one Putnam County student, a field trip did more than teach aviation. It opened a path to the future.

“The field trips were the best activities that allowed me to learn more about aviation while also opening up paths for my future.”
— Brandon, ninth grade Aerospace 1 student

Through Expanding STEM Horizons Through Aerospace Instruction, the The Education Foundation of Putnam County Inc. is supporting the Putnam County School District in strengthening aerospace and drone instruction for students.

This opportunity is helping build a teacher leadership model in the district’s Aerospace STEM program. Two teachers have received their FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate, a certification for individuals who wish to operate drones commercially under the Small Unmanned Aircraft Rule.

Next year, these teachers will be able to help train students toward the same certification, preparing them for industry credentials and future career pathways.

Hands-on experiences like drone operations, flight simulation, airspace navigation, and aviation maintenance exploration help students see what is possible beyond the classroom.

Thank you to Florida Power & Light Company and the FPL EmPOWERing STEM Educators Program for investing in STEM educators and future-ready learning opportunities for Florida students.

We can’t rewrite the past, but we can shape what comes next.

At last week’s Leadership Retreat, Alaina Barron, executive director of the Education Foundation of Okeechobee, shared a reflection that captured the spirit of two days spent learning, listening, and thinking differently about the future of education.

The conversations sparked ideas foundation leaders can take back to their communities, from building stronger partnerships to creating new opportunities that help students and educators thrive.

The work ahead matters, and every step we take today helps strengthen what is possible for Florida’s students tomorrow.

Day 2 of the Consortium’s Leadership Retreat began with Maritza Coscarelli, Certified Coach from The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation, guiding foundation leaders through conversations about community aspirations, challenges, and opportunities for change.

Leaders explored what it means to turn outward by listening more deeply, showing up where the community is, and building the trusted relationships needed to move from ideas to action.
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For local education foundations, this work starts with recognizing the strengths already in their communities and focusing on what can be done together to support students, schools, and Florida’s future workforce.

Most of us can trace part of our story back to a public school.

A teacher who believed in us. A class that opened a new door. A program, club, coach, or opportunity that helped us imagine what could come next.

At the Consortium’s annual leadership retreat, Brian Stephens, founder and CEO of CaissaK12, challenged education foundation leaders from across Florida to think differently about how we talk about public education.

Through role playing, group discussion, and thoughtful challenges to conventional messaging, Brian helped leaders sharpen the way they advocate for public schools, not by focusing only on what is hard, but by lifting up what is possible.

Public schools are where opportunity meets every student. They are where future doctors, teachers, legislators, astronauts, entrepreneurs, and CEOs are sitting in classrooms today. They are where students can explore career academies, advanced academics, the arts, athletics, industry certifications, leadership opportunities, and meaningful pathways to their future.

Public education may look different than it did when many of us were in school, but its promise remains the same: opportunity for every student.

Thank you to Brian Stephens and Caissa K12 for helping Florida’s education foundation leaders strengthen their voice as advocates for public education, students, teachers, and the local education foundations that support them.

Florida education foundation leaders are gathering in Daytona Beach with one goal in mind: strengthening opportunities for students across our state.

This week, 27 foundation leaders kicked off the Consortium’s annual leadership retreat, coming together to share ideas, discuss public education, participate in our annual board meeting, and hear from Brian J. Stephens of CaissaK12.

These moments of collaboration are where statewide impact begins, through shared learning, strong relationships, and a continued commitment to supporting students, educators, and local communities.

Thank you to Suncoast Credit Union for your Annual Partnership and for helping make meaningful convenings like this possible. Special thanks to Shimene Shepherd from the FUTURES Foundation for Volusia County Schools for helping organize this amazing convening.