AEF History
Founded by education champion Carolyn Warner, with the help of Eddie Basha and Bill Shover, the Arizona Educational Foundation has made a profound impact on Arizona’s public education landscape. Since 1983, AEF has reached more than 16 million students, teachers, and administrators.
A Legacy of Uplifting Arizona Public Education
Working in public education is a labor of love. Educators and school administrators shoulder the immense responsibility of preparing, educating and inspiring the young minds that will shape a better world for us all. And yet, public education doesn’t always get the respect it deserves. That’s why Carolyn Warner founded the Arizona Educational Foundation in 1983, with the generous support of William Shover and Eddie Basha Jr.. As the Arizona State Superintendent of Public Instruction at the time, Warner understood that public schools could achieve remarkable things, even when faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges. She was determined to change the narrative surrounding public education in Arizona and to highlight its profound impact on our communities.
The Arizona Educational Foundation (AEF®) was founded in 1983 by then Arizona State Superintendent of Public Instruction Carolyn Warner who believed that public schools were often unfairly cast in a negative light, despite being able to accomplish great things against seemingly insurmountable odds. She appealed to two longtime business leaders and friends, William “Bill” Shover (then Director of Community Relations for the Arizona Republic) and Eddie Basha (then President of the grocery store chain Bashas’) to help her start an organization that would celebrate excellence in public education and provide programs to support schools on a path to excellence. From the brilliant mind of Carolyn Warner and the generosity of Shover and Basha, the Arizona Educational Foundation was born.
AEF Timeline
2000
Arizona Teacher of the Year
A+ School of Excellence Award
Arizona Spelling Bee
Principals Leadership Academy of Arizona
Take Your Legislator to School
UnitedED
Polly Rosenbaum Writing
2020
2025
Arizona Teacher of the Year
A+ School of Excellence Award
Arizona Spelling Bee
Principals Leadership Academy of Arizona
Spheres of Industry
Take Your Legislator to School
teachSTEM
Our World
AEF Academy
More than 40 years later, AEF stands as a respected, nonpartisan leader in education across Arizona and continues its mission to celebrate excellence in public education and provide schools with pathways to opportunity. AEF’s flagship program, the A+ School of Excellence Awards, has been in existence since the organization’s founding. The program not only serves to identify, celebrate and recognize educational excellence in public schools throughout the state but also provides administrators with a framework for school self-assessment. AEF also facilitates the Arizona Teacher of the Year Awards, the Arizona Spelling Bee, the Principals Leadership Academy of Arizona and Take Your Legislator to School. We are continually developing innovative programs to meet current needs and prepare for the future, such as our teachSTEM program, designed to address Arizona’s critical STEM teacher shortage.
Public education transforms lives and we are committed to ensuring our schools continue to create opportunities for all students.
Carolyn Warner Legacy Award: Honoring Champions of Education
Each year, the family of Carolyn Warner honors their mother through the Carolyn Warner Legacy Award, recognizing champions of Arizona public education.
Support the Carolyn Warner Memorial Scholarship Fund
To honor their mother’s legacy and passion for education, her family established The Carolyn Warner Memorial Scholarship Fund which awards two annual scholarships:
- The Carolyn Warner Legacy Award honors an exceptional Arizona Teacher of the Year or Teacher of the Year finalist who continues to make a profound impact on Arizona education; and
- Career and Technical Education Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) Scholarship awarded to an outstanding JAG graduate.
All donations to The Carolyn Warner Memorial Scholarship Fund are matched 1:1 by The Doherty Foundation.