Arizona Has the Talent. Education Can Unlock the Opportunity.
By: Lorenzo Chavez, Executive Director, Education and Scholarships, Arizona Community Foundation
I spend a significant amount of time traveling across Arizona. From Sedona to Douglas, from Yuma to the Navajo Nation, I meet with parents, educators, school leaders, and community members. Despite the diversity of geography and circumstance, their goals and aspirations are clear: a future where every child has an opportunity to succeed.
That vision is not a dream. It is something we can plan for, invest in, and build collectively. Arizona has talent. It is time for education to unlock opportunities. That is precisely the role the Arizona Community Foundation (ACF) seeks to fulfill.
For five decades, ACF has served as one of Arizona’s largest scholarship providers and one of its most trusted philanthropic partners. Last year alone, we distributed more than $136 million in grants. Yet our impact extends beyond grantmaking. Our work centers on aligning resources with the most pressing needs, convening cross-sector partners, and maintaining a long-term commitment to communities well after initial investments are made.
The Opportunity to Meet the Moment
The data on education outcomes in Arizona is both clear and concerning. Fewer than one in four children from birth to age five have access to high-quality early learning. We know from decades of research that early literacy is foundational, and students who are not reading at grade level by third grade face compounding academic challenges throughout their educational journey. When statewide English Language Arts Proficiency declines from 39 percent to 36 percent, as it has in the past year, thousands of students will spend years attempting to recover academically.
Further along the education continuum, fewer than half of Arizona high school graduates enroll in any type of postsecondary education. The implications go beyond the individual and impact the economic vitality of our state. The lack of educational attainment costs Arizona an estimated $5 billion annually in lost economic productivity, reduced tax revenue, and increased reliance on our state’s economic systems. This is no longer an educational issue; it is a statewide economic imperative.
Compounding these challenges is the educator workforce crisis. Approximately one thousand teachers have left the profession since July 2025. A quarter of our teaching positions are vacant or filled by individuals with no certification. Educators are being asked to meet extraordinary demands without sufficient structural support.
“Arizona has talent. It is time for education to unlock opportunities. That is precisely the role the ACF seeks to fulfill.”
ACF as a Catalyst
Philanthropy cannot replace public funding, nor should it attempt to. Its value lies in what public systems often cannot do: move quickly, take calculated risks, and pilot innovative approaches before large-scale adoption. We can elevate effective organizations that lack visibility and incentivize collaboration among partners who would otherwise not be compelled to work together.
ACF works with more than 26,000 nonprofit organizations statewide. Our statewide lens allows us to connect partners across education, workforce development, and community systems to accelerate impact. For example, recent convenings of workforce partners have focused on identifying the components of a strong talent pipeline within the context of Arizona’s economy. This framework is vital to helping ACF understand gaps in talent pipelines directly from our partners so that we can better inform and catalyze funding.
We have also made a deliberate strategic shift in our scholarship strategy. While traditional two and four-year degrees remain critical, Arizona’s workforce demands increasingly include technical and vocational expertise. Expanding our scholarship eligibility to include credential-based and technical pathways ensures that students can pursue the option that best aligns with their aspirations and the labor market needs.
A Model for Catalytic Investment
One of the most powerful mechanisms in our work is the Ellis Center for Educational Excellence, a fund stewarded by ACF in partnership with a board of community leaders that invests in initiatives that strengthen learning outcomes from early childhood through college completion. The Ellis Center is a forward-thinking philanthropic model for flexible, long-term investment designed to adapt as educational challenges evolve.
Through enduring funding, the Ellis Center tackles systemic barriers by advancing programs that drive measurable impact. As an example, the LEAF program from A Stepping Stone Foundation is a two-generation model that strengthens both early Childhood literacy and parents’ educational attainment, demonstrating how lifting family stability improves student outcomes. Strategic partnerships that expand Promise scholarship programs within community colleges help first-generation students persist through degree completion. These investments illustrate how philanthropy can catalyze systemic change when aligned with data and partnership.
“The Ellis Center is a forward-thinking philanthropic model for flexible, long-term investment designed to adapt as educational challenges evolve.”
At the Ellis Center, we believe lasting educational change happens when communities, families and educators work together toward shared success. Our role is to invest with intention – to back ideas that lift learning outcomes today and transform opportunity for generations to come.” Michael Kelly, Chair, Ellis Center for Educational Excellence
Solutions and Results
The Ellis Center’s work does not stop simply at funding; it is ACF’s strategy for catalytic and systems-level change. The results we see across Arizona reflect this model in action.
One example is Read On Arizona, a statewide literacy effort supported in partnership by multiple philanthropic organizations that invested in the need for a literacy plan in Arizona. In 2025, partners launched Arizona Literacy Plan 2030, outlining critical strategies to improve student achievement in reading.
Another example of full-circle impact is the funding we provided to All In Ed, in partnership with the Roosevelt School District and Northern Arizona University’s K-12 Center. The grant focused on parent leadership programs that connect family engagement with educator workforce pathways, strengthening both schools and communities.
Finally, dual enrollment partnerships are expanding college access for high school students and removing cost barriers while increasing postsecondary momentum in communities that have historically faced structural barriers. Through our partnership with Accelerate ASU, we have helped students in Pinal County access dual enrollment, allowing them to take college courses while still in high school.
These initiatives share common characteristics: collaboration, evidence-based design, and sustained investment.
What You Can Do, Starting Today
Improving education outcomes requires broad community participation. Individuals can contribute by sharing information with families, volunteering with local organizations, or supporting initiatives that expand opportunities.
For donors, the ACF Education Innovation Fund provides a mechanism to leverage collective investment. Contributions of all sizes are pooled and strategically deployed toward initiatives that address early literacy, the educator workforce pipeline, and postsecondary pathways.
A Call to Community
At Arizona Community Foundation, community is our middle name. That is not a tagline. It is a commitment. Our education strategy is grounded in the belief that every child in Arizona deserves the opportunity to access quality learning regardless of geography, background, or income.
We have 47 years of proof that this work is possible. With strong partnerships and a commitment to innovation, we are positioned to continue advancing meaningful change.
Arizona has the talent; now it is time for education to help unlock opportunities. And Arizona’s students are depending on all of us to help.
To invest in Arizona’s students, consider giving to the ACF Education Innovation Fund.
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Lorenzo Chavez serves as Executive Director of Education and Scholarships at the Arizona Community Foundation, Arizona’s largest scholarship provider and a leading philanthropic organization with 47 years of service to communities across the state.