A SEASON OF POWERFUL CHANGE
CTE FOUNDATION'S 2025-2026 IMPACT REPORT
FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Dear Friend,
This year, our community proved something it has long believed: when you give a young person real experience, you change the trajectory of a life. For more than a decade, CTE Foundation has worked to connect Sonoma County students with the skills, mentors and opportunities that lead to meaningful careers. In 2025-2026, that work reached further than ever before.
We deepened our investments where Sonoma County needs them most – in healthcare, in classrooms and in the systems that tie education and industry together. And in our newest innovation, we launched Path to Purpose, placing 105 students into real workplaces alongside 42 local employers. The results, you’ll see below, are not just ideas on paper. They are real young people in our community who discovered their purpose, teachers who gained new tools and local employers who met their future workforce.
None of it happens alone. To our funders, partners, educators and the employers who opened their doors: thank you. The future workforce is already here – and together, we’re giving them the tools and opportunities needed to make their dreams a reality.
Eli Weinzveg
Executive Director, CTE Foundation
IMPACTS AT A GLANCE
Our investment strategy works at three levels at once – supporting individual students, strengthening whole schools, and aligning the regional systems that connect education to industry.
STUDENTS.
Real internships, certifications and career-connected experiences that let every student discover a path.
SCHOOLS.
Flexible, trust-based funding that gives classrooms and educators what they need, now.
SYSTEMS.
Convening districts, colleges, employers and funders around one regional vision for student success for all 16,000 high schoolers in Sonoma County.
731
STUDENTS RECEIVED
enhanced career-connected learning experiences through CTE Foundation in 2025-2026
25+
HIGH SCHOOLS
involved in our work across Sonoma County
105
STUDENTS PLACED
into Path to Purpose internships
$350K+
RAISED AT 2026 SPARK THE FUTURE
our annual signature event
$316K+
INVESTED IN HEALTHCARE
workforce development in 2025-2026
$128K+
REGIONAL SYSTEMS INVOLVEMENT
distributed in 2025-2026
2025-2026 BY THE MONTHS
A YEAR OF MOMENTUM
From welcoming a new Executive Director to celebrating 105 interns, here is how our year unfolded.
JULY 2025
CTE Foundation welcomes our new Executive Director, Eli Weinzveg.
Our federal ARPA workforce contract enters its final year.
SEPTEMBER 2025
Path to Purpose launches - a countywide internship initiative developed with the Sonoma County Office of Education.
NOVEMBER 2025
Our Executive Team visits Arizona for the Accelerate Ed Convening and presents to other organization leaders focused on work-based learning.
DECEMBER 2025
Path to Purpose earns a Gold Resolution from the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors.
JANUARY 2026
105 Path to Purpose interns begin their placements.
The 2026–27 Partnership Funding Opportunity (PFO) grant cycle opens to schools.
CTE Foundation's partnership plays an integral part in Elsie Allen High School exiting Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) status.
FEBRUARY 2026
CTE Foundation receives a Gold Resolution from the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors proclaiming February 2026 as Career Technical Education Month in Sonoma County.
MARCH 2026
Our Executive Team visits Ohio for the Accelerate Ed Convening and presents to other organization leaders focused on work-based learning.
APRIL 2026
Spark the Future raises $350,000, with 14 classrooms featured in the Student Showcase.
Thank you to our Presenting Sponsor, Keysight Technologies, and our Student Showcase Presenting Sponsor, Redwood Credit Union!
We host the Innovation in Action regional school-redesign showcase at Analy High School, supporting the New School Model (NSM).
MAY 2026
The STEM Kit Lending Library in partnership with Switch Vehicles Inc. and Sonoma Clean Power completes beta testing with teachers.
JUNE 2026
The spring Path to Purpose cohort wraps with an Employer Celebration honoring partners and the 105 students who completed internships.
BUILDING THE FUTURE WORKFORCE
INVESTING IN STUDENTS, SCHOOLS AND SYSTEMS
We believe every young person deserves the opportunity to discover their purpose, pursue their passions and build a future filled with possibility. Our work is driven by a simple but powerful vision: a Sonoma County where students have access to rewarding careers that strengthen their lives, enrich our community, and meet the evolving needs of our local workforce.
Through innovative programs, strategic investments, and transformational partnerships with schools, postsecondary institutions, employers and community leaders, we are reimagining the education-to-career journey. We break down barriers to opportunity, expand access to real-world learning experiences, and connect students with the skills, relationships and pathways they need to thrive.
HEALTHCARE
Building Sonoma County's Care Workforce
Across schools, pathways, continue to be one of the systems that connect education to industry. CTE Foundation invests where the need is greatest, building opportunities that help every Sonoma County student discover a path to a meaningful and rewarding career.
One of the most critical areas of need is healthcare. As one of Sonoma County’s largest and fastest-growing employment sectors, healthcare faces persistent shortages of nurses, technicians, and other skilled professionals. By strengthening pathways from high school into these high-demand, family-sustaining careers, we are creating opportunities for students to achieve economic mobility while helping build the workforce our community depends on to stay healthy and thrive.
– $316K+ raised for healthcare workforce development through partnerships such as Sutter Health, Kaiser Permanente, and the Center for Well Being.
– 30 students supported in a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) certification program through a partnership with FOX Pacific Academy, funded through Sutter Health’s community benefit investment and supported through the leadership and coordination of Elsie Allen High School Foundation, as well as a County Medical Services Program (CMSP) grant.
– Four healthcare industry forums convened with employers and educators.
– Founded and now lead the region’s health-careers education collaborative – now known as the North Bay Health Pathways Alliance – and joined the statewide California Health Professionals Consortium.
– Participation in the California Health Professionals Consortium, helping align local efforts with statewide workforce strategies.
REGIONAL SYSTEMS
Changing the System, Not Just the Classroom
Lasting change takes more than individual programs – it takes aligning the whole system. As the region’s education-to-career intermediary, CTE Foundation convenes districts, colleges, employers, and funders around a shared vision for student success.
– More than $1 million distributed through federal ARPA workforce investments since 2021, supporting career pathway development, school redesign, and workforce innovation efforts across Sonoma County.
– $128,819 invested this year in regional initiatives including Innovation in Action, career pathway development, and CTE awareness campaigns developed with Santa Rosa City Schools.
– Convening regional leaders through the Superintendent’s Council and other cross-sector partnerships focused on strengthening career-connected learning.
– Hosting Innovation in Action, a regional showcase highlighting innovative school redesign efforts and future-ready learning models.
– Continued leadership within the Redwood Coast K-16 Collaborative, helping align secondary, postsecondary and workforce systems.
– Representation in AccelerateEd and the national Pathways Impact Collaborative, where Sonoma County is helping shape conversations around the future of education-to-career pathways.
CLASSROOMS
Funding What Our Classrooms & Educators Need, Now
Our Partnership Funding Opportunity (PFO) is a grant program grounded in trust-based philanthropy, giving schools and districts the flexible funding they need to meet their students’ and educators’ evolving needs. Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, PFO empowers local educators to experiment with new and innovative education strategies. These strategies provide authentic learning opportunities that help students explore and prepare for meaningful careers in Sonoma County.
– $140K+ invested in 2026–27 school grants.
– Funding supports equipment, certifications, internships and career pathways in local schools.
– More details coming soon!
INNOVATION *NEW*
STEM Kit Lending Library
Innovation means preparing students for the careers shaping tomorrow’s economy. In partnership with Sonoma Clean Power, CTE Foundation launched the STEM Kit Lending Library, a new initiative designed to expand access to hands-on engineering, clean-energy, and technology learning experiences throughout Sonoma and Mendocino counties.
Following successful beta testing with educators during spring 2026, teachers will soon have access to classroom-ready kits featuring clean-energy and engineering projects, including electric skateboard and scooter builds.
The STEM Kit Lending Library represents a new model for increasing access to high-quality STEM experiences, ensuring students can explore emerging industries regardless of geography or school resources.
OUR GROWING IMPACT
BUILDING A REGIONAL TALENT ECOSYSTEM
Our vision is a Sonoma County where every young person – regardless of background – can find a path to a career that sustains them and strengthens our community. What began as targeted investments in individual classrooms has grown into a connected regional ecosystem linking students, educators, employers and community partners.
To date, CTE Foundation has supported students in 30 high schools while helping strengthen pathways to careers, college and economic mobility through partnerships with Sonoma County Office of Education, Santa Rosa Junior College and the Redwood Coast K-16 Collaborative.
30
HIGH SCHOOLS SUPPORTED SINCE 2012
PATH TO PURPOSE - PILOT YEAR
FROM INTEREST TO OPPORTUNITY
One of the ways CTE Foundation connects education and workforce is through career-connected learning experiences. In 2025-26, that work included the launch of Path to Purpose, a countywide internship initiative developed with Sonoma County Office of Education.
105
STUDENTS PLACED
in professional internships
42
EMPLOYER PARTNERS
mentoring student interns
4,335
REAL-WORLD HOURS
completed by interns
84%
WORKPLACE READINESS
as rated by employers
91%
STUDENTS FELT PREPARED
supported, connected and future-ready
“Path to Purpose gives students like me the confidence to walk into a room we never thought we’d belong in, and realize that we’re going to own that room someday.”
– Rosy · Student intern, Santa Rosa Community Health
“Our team wanted to keep our intern on as long as we possibly could. It was affirming, inspiring and we truly enjoyed having our intern around.”
– County of Sonoma · Path to Purpose
LOOKING AHEAD - JULY 2026 - JUNE 2027
WHAT'S NEXT
In the year ahead, we aim to:
Launch the STEM Kit Lending Library
Continue Healthcare Workforce Development
Expand Regional Partnerships
Increase Classroom Investments
Grow Career-Connected Learning Opportunities
BECAUSE EXPERIENCE IS EVERYTHING.
THE FUTURE WORKFORCE IS ALREADY HERE.
Every student deserves the opportunity to discover purpose, build skills and thrive. Together, we’re preparing the next generation of leaders, creators and professionals.