Congratulations to SDEF 2023 GRADUATES:
Teacher Scholars: Kassandra Delacruz and Sophia Leon
Teacher Scholar completing the Credential program: Anna Gossens
STEM Scholars: Fowsiyo Aden, Hy Huynh, Andrea Tran, Sara Toumi, Mabel Munoz, Jonathan Razo and Tert Soriano

Welcome Incoming SDEF Scholars Fall 2023:
Teacher Scholars: Abigail Gonzalez and Daphne Nguyen
STEM Scholars: Saynab Aden, Fadumo Jama, Hajir Al Obaidi, Rhilo Sotto

Have a great summer! 

Our website will be getting an exciting new look and features this summer. Check back in September! 
Scholar  applications for 2024 will be available in November 2023.

SDEF INVESTS IN THE FUTURE

The San Diego Education Fund invests in the future by ensuring there are home-grown teachers and 

STEM professionals ready for the workforce. We provide scholarships from the first day of college to 

graduation for first-generation, ethnically diverse, low-income graduates of San Diego Unified School

 District. For example, SDEF has returned over 405 former students as SDUSD teachers working in over 

75 schools. 


Our Scholars know first-hand the challenges of growing up in a poor neighborhood where schools are 

often a haven and a teacher provided the need encouragement which helped build their self-esteem 

and allowed their faith in themselves to blossom. In addition to investing in a Scholar for their entire

 college career, SDEF scholarship support includes stipends every semester, a mentor/counselor to 

assist/refer with scholastic and personal challenges, access to an emergency fund, networking 

opportunities with fellow Scholars and professionals in education and STEM, and assistance with 

employment at SDUSD once they obtain a teaching credential.


SDEF believes that education provides the basis for individual opportunity and economic vitality. 

As Thomas Jefferson and Horace Mann argued, free access to public education and the health of

our democracy are inextricably linked. To remain a strong democracy, public education must 

provide the nation's youth with the knowledge, the foresight, the vocabulary, and the analytic skills

that responsible citizenship demands. 


     JOIN US TO INVEST IN THE FUTURE of 21st CENTURY LEARNING
The term "21st-Century skills" refers to certain core competencies such as collaboration, digital literacy, critical thinking, and problem solving that schools need to teach to help students thrive 
in today's world. 

We know why a postsecondary degree or credential matters. The Lumina Foundation says that nearly 
12M net new jobs this decade will require an undergraduate degree or certification, while only 80,000
new net jobs await those with a high school diploma or less. Beyond that, we know a postsecondary 
education leads to higher earnings, lower unemployment, increases the tax base and offers greater
civic engagement.

JOIN with us to continue the SDEF legacy of providing scholarships for low-income, ethnically diverse 
SDUSD graduates. It is now, more than ever, a critical key to rebuilding a strong economic future. 
With the uncertainties of the present, there are certain facts that guide our future—there will always
 be a need for teachers and scientists to educate, innovate, serve, and heal.


 

           PLEASE CLICK THE BELOW DONATE BUTTON TO SUPPORT OUR SCHOLARS 
SDEF EIN is 95-6095413