TechForce Foundation Announces its Board of Directors’ Officers and Celebrates Historic $1 Million Scholarship Month
SCOTTSDALE, AZ – August 11, 2025 – TechForce Foundation announced the election of its Board of Directors’ Officers and celebrated an extraordinary milestone: $1 million awarded in the month of June alone in student scholarships support. This achievement is particularly remarkable considering that just a few years ago, TechForce was awarding $1 million over the course of an entire year.
“This transformation from $1 million annually to $1 million in a single month shows the incredible growth and momentum of TechForce’s ability to fundraise and positively impact the education and skilled careers of thousands of students with financial need,” said Jennifer Maher, CEO of TechForce Foundation. “Our Board of Directors is committed to growing our capabilities so that no student who needs financial assistance to pursue their technical education and career as a professional technician is denied.”
Jon Vesely, newly elected President & Chairman of the TechForce Foundation Board of Directors, has challenged the organization to reach its potential: “While we’re budgeted in 2025 to award $6 million in scholarships and grants, a significant accomplishment, this is still only helping 1 in 7 students coming to us for assistance. When America desperately needs skilled technicians, we need to push ourselves, industry and donors to do more,” states Chairman Vesely. “Our goal is to build our capacity to raise and distribute the $30 million annually necessary so every qualified student gets the support they deserve”.
TechForce Foundation Welcomes New VP of Development
TechForce Foundation is proud to welcome George Giltner as Vice President of Development. George joins from his role as President & CEO of TechPoint Foundation for Youth, where he championed technical careers and education, supporting schools across Indiana. At TechForce, George will lead development efforts to build partnerships, secure resources, and fuel programs that connect students to careers as professional technicians.
Board of Directors’ Officers Focused on Growth and Impact
To drive this expansion, TechForce Foundation has appointed a dynamic slate of Officers to serve on the Board of Directors’ Executive Committee team:
- Jon Vesely, President & Chair – Partner, Vesely Investment Partners
- Angie Babin, Immediate Past President – Vice President of OEM Partnerships and Strategy, Caliber
- Denise Kingstrom, Vice Chair – Supply Chain Director, Coatings Solutions, BASF Corporation
- Chris Adams, Treasurer – Senior Vice President, Discount Tire
- David Ellis, Secretary – Owner, Ellis Automotive, LLC
- Jennifer Maher, Ex-Officio – CEO, TechForce Foundation
Major Donors Fuel Unprecedented Growth
Recent transformational gifts have enabled this record-breaking scholarship distribution, including major support from Ford Philanthropy, Ford Motor Company, and Christian Brothers Automotive. Additionally, two significant unrestricted grants from General Motors and Bridgestone Americas Trust are enabling TechForce to invest in its people power for growth and scaling to serve more students and tech schools nationwide.
“Capacity building is a significant priority for this new Executive Committee,” noted Maher. “These unrestricted grants allow us to strengthen our infrastructure and expand our capacity, ensuring we can process more scholarships, help more students find apprenticeships and jobs, and ultimately fill America’s critical skilled technician gap.”
TechForce continues to expand its impact across all sectors of technician employment, including automotive, aviation, collision repair, diesel, emerging technologies, machining, motorsports, welding and more. Recently TechForce expanded into the HVAC technician sector thanks to a sizable grant from Carrier.
“The pendulum has swung where now society understands that not every student wants or needs to go on to a four-year university and that technical education and skilled trades are a solid, viable pathway to sustainable careers. Most engines are now computers on wheels, and we need a highly trained, dedicated workforce to keep America rolling,” states Maher.
About TechForce Foundation TechForce Foundation is a national nonprofit 501(c)(3) with the mission to champion all students to and through their education and into careers as professional technicians. TechForce will award in 2025 $6 million in scholarships and grants to financially disadvantaged students, and hosts an online career hub for students to find schools, scholarships, apprenticeships and jobs. TechForce works to shift public perception of this high-tech skilled career, and provides hands-on career exploration and workforce development in communities across the country. For more information, visit techforce.org. Follow us on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin and YouTube.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Reagan Bender
360.820.9922
rbender@techforce.org
