Donor Profile: Karen and Ward Cunningham
BEF NEWS
Donor Profile: Karen and Ward Cunningham
Tuesday, September 13th, 2022
When Karen Cunningham was a Beaverton School Board member, she remembers being forced to frequently make budget cuts that meant schools didn’t have any “extras.” “But they’re not really ‘extras’,” she says, “they’re the special projects and innovative ideas that have the power to change the trajectory of our students’ lives.”
“I saw how BEF makes those projects happen, really enriching our students’ education and engaging kids with hands-on learning. BEF helps fill some of those gaps in the District budget,” she continues. “BEF engages people beyond their own local school in a way that makes it better for all of us, and levels the playing field to make the whole community stronger.”
That’s why Karen and her husband, Ward, have supported Beaverton Education Foundation every year since 1999. They first donated when one of their sons volunteered for BEF’s fall phone-a-thon. Then Karen began her 12 years on the School Board in 2001, and she later took on the role of School Board liaison to BEF’s board.
Karen and Ward are long-time advocates for public education and equity in education. Together they ran a computer consulting business together for many years, and she also taught computer science at Portland State University. They are so committed to Beaverton schools that they worked to ensure that their then-unincorporated Garden Home neighborhood became part of Beaverton rather than Portland, so they wouldn’t lose their connection to Beaverton School District.
“We feel strongly that public education is one of the most important things we can do as a society. Giving to BEF is our very small way of enhancing it,” explains Karen.
