Petaluma Educational Foundation incorporated September 30, 1982.

PEF files first 990 Tax Return, Gross Receipts = $20,377; PEF Logo Contest winner announced: Jim Balshaw, Casa Grande High School.

First PEF Grants: $18,000 awarded in “mini-grants” – limit $500

PEF Mission expanded to include all public, private, and not-for-profit schools, adding St Vincent’s schools as campuses benefiting from the mission of PEF.

First PEF Scholarships were awarded in the amount of $12,350. This same year, Invest in Education was launched to raise funding for PEF Grants for schools.

The Henris Family endowment established

Alphabet Soup Benefit Thrift Stores opens as a joint venture with PEF and Petaluma Boys & Girls Club. In 2009 PEF assumes sole ownership of the retail thrift operation

Travelling Lantern Theater Co. begins partnership with PEF to bring live theater performances to local schools

MacIlvain Scholarship was established with a $1,000,000 gift from Petaluma High School teacher, Shirley MacIlvain

Arnold Scott's estate leaves $800,000 to PEF to establish scholarships for Casa Grande High & Petaluma High graduates

The BASH celebrates $1,000,000 given to schools through the annual PEF Impact Grant Program

The annual PEF Grant award is increased to up to $15,000 per grant

PEF launches T.E.C. Initiative to bring innovative technology resources into the classroom

Milestones of $2,000,000 awarded through PEF grants and $2,000,000 in scholarships reached

PEF launches an annual Partners in Education program, welcoming Clover Sonoma, Petaluma Market, and Wells Fargo as $30,000 sponsors who are celebrated all year long for their contribution to local education through PEF

The annual PEF Partners in Education program now includes the Petaluma Health Care District.

The PEF Board Member Bus Tour becomes an annual tradition to visit our grants in action and hear directly from educators and students about the impact of their PEF grant on their campus

When COVID impacted how students accessed education, PEF adapted to the challenge by shifting our grant funding for one year to provide Technology (access & devices) and Social-Emotional Learning resources for all our schools with grants up to $5,000

PEF returns to our $15,000 per grant award model, but to support the ongoing challenges of COVID, we offered two separate grant rounds during the academic year

Exchange Bank joins the annual $30,000 PEF Partners in Education program, supporting all area students and schools every day of the year

PEF turns 40! Petaluma Educational Foundation has been Putting Education First for four decades

Awarded $262,826 in PEF scholarships to the Class of 2022, our highest total in the 32 years since

PEF has awarded more than $8.9 million to our students and schools through the mission of PEF