PEF’s 40th Anniversary Gala
Join us for a meaningful evening celebrating the Philadelphia Education Fund’s 40-year legacy of expanding opportunities for students across the city to achieve success after high school. In honor of this milestone anniversary, we’re delighted to be hosting an evening gala event, to honor the impact built over four decades while engaging in a forward-looking conversation about what the future of education demands and what is possible when we act together.
Honorary Co-Chairs
Dr. Tony Watlington, Superintendent, School District of Philadelphia
Katherine Gilmore Richardson, City Councilmember At-Large
Gala Co-Chairs
David Baker and Irene Levy Baker
La-Toya and Otis Hackney
Master Class & Panelists
A 40th anniversary is both a milestone and an inflection point. At this year’s gala, we celebrate the students, partners, and champions who made PEF’s work possible, while also asking: what does the next chapter demand of us? During the Gala’s featured panel discussion, leaders from higher education, K–12, and industry will examine what may be the most consequential question facing our students and our region: what role must colleges and universities play to truly drive economic mobility?
Moderated by Michael Smerconish, SiriusXM, CNN host
David L. Cohen, U.S. Ambassador to Canada (retired)
John Fry, President of Temple University
Farah Jimenez, President and CEO of the Philadelphia Education Fund
Pedro A. Rivera II, Ed.D., President of Thaddeus Stevens College
Among our distinguished panelists is Ambassador David L. Cohen, whose career spanning city government, higher education, and the private sector is itself a testament to the powerful connections between education and economic vitality. Pedro Rivera, former K-12 Superintendent, former Pennsylvania Secretary of Education, and now President of Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, brings a rare perspective on what it takes to move a student from classroom to career across every level of the education pipeline. John Fry, President of Temple University and former longtime leader of Drexel University, brings insights from his career that has been defined by leveraging higher education as a driver of innovation, partnership, and economic growth across Philadelphia.
Together with PEF’s President and CEO, Farah Jimenez and moderated by SiriusXM, CNN host Michael Smerconish, the panel will explore the partnerships, policies, and institutional commitments needed to ensure that the talent being developed in our communities can thrive in a rapidly changing economy, and that education remains what PEF has always believed it to be: the most powerful engine of opportunity we have.
RECOGNIZING OUR GENEROUS GALA SPONSORS!
MASTER’S LEVEL SPONSOR
ASSOCIATE’S LEVEL SPONSOR
David Baker and Irene Levy Baker
Mark and Penni Blaskey
John and Jennifer Ginelli
Alquon Hodges
La-Toya and Otis Hackney
Joann Mitchell
HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL SPONSOR
Arthur and KC Baldadian
Thomas and Julie Ball
The Gabler Family
The Haque Family
Margaret W Steele
IN KIND SPONSORS
