Written by Zach Snell, Appleton Education Foundation Board Member
For the last 27 years, the Appleton Education Foundation (AEF) has raised and directed private funds to bolster the dedicated effort and innovation of educators in their classrooms. Over these nearly three decades, the Foundation has delivered, assessed, and adjusted tactics on a journey to becoming a cornerstone of educational success in the Appleton community. While we are proud to celebrate more than $6 million in grants to date, we continue to seek new and more effective ways to strengthen and enhance education in our community.
In 2024, the drive to continue improving our efforts was refueled through a strategic planning exercise. This process gave staff and board members the opportunity to pull back the curtains and spend time digging into areas where we felt we were hitting the mark, identify where we may need to devote more attention, and be honest about where we may need to let go. As you can imagine, this can be a painstaking and messy process. But as a long time donor and board member, I was delighted to have the opportunity to celebrate all of the amazing work of the Foundation in recent years, and for the chance to challenge ourselves to be even better in the future.
As a result of this work, we have reshaped our vision and mission statements to provide the “north star” that all of our efforts will drive toward while providing the flexibility to continue serving the ever-evolving educational needs of our community.
Over the next three years, AEF will continue to focus on:
- purposeful fundraising
- effective grantmaking
- organizational excellence efforts
These areas have helped build our legacy as a steadfast source of support for educational needs in Appleton, while ensuring that future generations of students in our community have every opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive.
I invite you to support our efforts by following us on social media, attending an upcoming event, and donating.
Zach Snell is an Appleton North alumnus, current AEF board member, and past president of AEF. Zach serves as the Director, Member and Community Engagement for BetterLife, an insurance company.