Short History of the CATESOL Education Foundation

In the spring of 2006, Dan Fichtner and Karen Dennis, serving on the CATESOL Board of Directors, met after an LA Regional Conference to plan the creation of the CATESOL Education Foundation, as a 501-c-3 public charity.  The CATESOL Board of Directors had voted to give the $5000 donation to CATESOL from Dr. Sumako Kimizuka, a life-long learner and friend of CATESOL, to the new CATESOL Education Foundation as the start up funding. Dr. Kimizuka, a former USC Associate Professor of Asian Languages, had remembered CATESOL in her will to further the work of the organization. On December 7, 2006, our Articles of Incorporation were endorsed, bylaws developed, and a Board of Directors established. The founding members of the Foundation were Karen Dennis, Dan Fichtner, Karen Cadiero-Kaplan, Mary Herbert, and Kathy Hamilton. On June 18, 2007, the IRS stated the Foundation was exempt from federal income tax, and we were officially a 501-c-3 organization.

The 2008-2009 Board of Directors were Karen Dennis, president; Karen Cadiero-Kaplan, vice president; G. Vittoria Abbate-Maghsoudi, secretary; Don Sillings, treasurer; Dan Fichtner, director at large; Kathy Flynn, liaison between CATESOL and the Foundation and was concurrently serving as President of CATESOL. 
The 2009-10 Board of Directors were Dan Fichtner, president; Barbara Ishida, vice president, G. Vittoria Abbate-Maghsoudi, secretary; Don Sillings, treasurer; Belinda Braunstein, CATESOL liaison; Karen Dennis, director at large.
The 2010-2011 Board of Directors were Dan Fichtner, president; Barbara Ishida, vice president, G. Vittoria Abbate-Maghsoudi, secretary; Don Sillings, treasurer; Belinda Braunstein, CATESOL liaison; Karen Dennis and Ellen Lange, directors at large.
  • 2007  The Foundation funded $1200 for the LA Regional, including presenter, Dr. Cheryl Zimmerman’s honorarium. Nina Ito was LA Regional Conference Chair.
  • 2008  The Foundation gave its first $500 check to CATESOL for the annual conference held in Sacramento, chaired by Brett Thomas. After the conference, the Foundation also gave an additional $4000.
  • 2010  Foundation began to sponsor some special trainings on SDAIE/SIOP  methodologies and second language acquisition theory and strategies.
  • 2009-2010  The Tippy Schwabe Grant that promoted participation in CATESOL activities while MA and PhD graduate students in the UC Davis Linguistics Department, was started.
  • 2009-2015  The Foundation sponsored Sunday workshops & some presenters at the annual CATESOL conferences. Sponsored some Pre-Conference workshops when they were in existence.
  • 2010   Cloudburst Fund for the CATESOL Capital Chapter was established.
  • 2010   Gordon Johnson Memorial Fund was established to promote innovative ESL lesson plans.
  • 2011-2015  The Foundation had an Angel Fund to help CATESOL gather donations during a financial shortfall.
  • 2012   Hollywood Classroom Learning Project began as a joint venture between the Foundation and Rock Talk, Inc., to provide for brain-based teaching and learning with hit movies.
  • 2012  The Gail Weinstein Memorial Scholarship for graduate students and adult education teachers to develop a project in the classroom with immigrant students was established.
  • 2013   CATESOL/CSUF Leadership Project, modeled after the Tippy Schwabe Grant, was organized. Fifteen students in the TESL program to date have participated in this Foundation project that funds student membership for two years and requires attendance at chapter, regional, and annual conferences. Also participation in poster sessions, workshops, CATESOL Orange County   chapter and the CSUF TESOL Club is encouraged.
  • 2013-2015  The Foundation has hosted a Saturday night event at the CATESOL annual conference, called “The Sizzle” or “Saturday Night Fever” depending on the year.  The event has included music, dancing, a silent auction, and a raffle.
  • 2014 – 2015 The Foundation established a Regional Stipend Fund to help students attend Regional Conferences held throughout the state.
  • 2015-2016  The Foundation began distributing up to $1,350 annually to part-time ESL teachers and graduate students to attend CATESOL Regional conferences in San Diego, Los Angeles, and Northern California.
  • 2016-2017  Continuing to support the CATESOL organization, the Foundation raises Sponsorship funds annually to support their annual statewide conference. Our sponsors generously provided $12,500 to support teacher education this year.
  • 2017-2018  The Foundation added the “Spelling Bee”, which is an additional annual fundraising event on Friday evening of the annual CATESOL conference. This year four teams competed and raised $3,965 for general use.  In addition, the Saturday Night Sizzle netted over $2,000 with the addition of a silent auction. Memorial funds continue to bring in funding for general use and specific awards.
From this beginning the CATESOL Education Foundation has sponsored many CATESOL professional development opportunities and created new projects to enrich the learning of new speakers of English. Annual elections are held with some directors rotating.  The current 2019 CATESOL Education Foundation Board of Directors are Margaret Teske, president; Judy O’Loughlin, vice president; Nina Ito, secretary; Jun Li, treasurer; Monica Cueva, director of fundraising; Chelsea Lo, director of sponsorships; Helen Nam, director of awards; John Liang, director of web communications; Danielle Pelletier, CATESOL Liaison and concurrently president of CATESOL. Advisors are Don Sillings and Karen Dennis.
Past Recipients of Reigional Stipends