Napa Valley Education Foundation History

In 1983, at the request of Napa Superintendent Dr. Robert Hansen, community leaders formed The Napa Valley Unified Education Foundation (NVUEF) to assist in funding K-12 public education. Dorothy Sercu, Bud Gelow and Frank Silva attended a foundations-related conference in September of 1983 in order to learn more about establishing an educational non-profit foundation. Later that same month, Vallergas Market provided the prize for a raffle that raised $2,000 to pay for costs associated with launching the NVUEF, with tickets sold to teachers and district administrators.

In October of 1983, a committee of 25 persons representing all segments of the community agreed to serve as the original Board of Directors. The law firm of Dickenson, Peatman and Fogarty provided pro-bono legal assistance in order to establish the NVUEF as a non-profit corporation with the first meeting of the Board of Directors held in November, 1983. The first officers of the NVUEF were Duncan Knudsen (President), Anne Kirlin (Vice President), Dorothy Sercu (Secretary) and Mel Gelow (Treasurer). The goals of the NVUEF as stated were:

• To enrich school programs
• To fund innovative educational techniques
• To maintain educational excellence by means of fundraising activities

In its first year of existence the NVUEF awarded mini-grants to teachers, held a student leadership conference, organized a dinner-dance fundraiser at Mondavi Winery and hosted the inaugural Napa Valley Wine Festival which raised $23,000 in support of the foundation’s activities.

In 2007, twenty-five years after it’s creation, the Board of Directors voted to officially change the name of the organization to the Napa Valley Education Foundation and updated the original logo as well. In addition, the Board adopted a new mission statement:

To support the healthy development of all students enrolled in the Napa Valley Unified School District by enriching school programs and fostering community support of educational excellence.

From its inception, the NVEF Board of Directors has continued to hold monthly meetings and has steadily increased its fundraising and school support. Since 1983, the NVEF has raised more than $1 million which has been used to support the Mini and Major Grants program, individual requests from teachers and other appropriate groups and district-wide programs. The NVEF’s significance is not measured in dollars alone. Its importance is in educational public relations, visibility in classrooms and support of teachers, response to the needs of the Napa Valley Unified School District when requested, and directing NVEF support aligned with our mission and vision to organizations identified by the Board of Directors.