It’s only been three weeks, but Ashley DeGree, the new President and CEO of Coronado Schools Foundation (CSF), is already making things happen. Last week CSF unveiled the theme for its 2024 Gala, New York, New York: a Night Out in the Big Apple. In addition to some intense gala-planning, DeGree says she’s been busy reaching out to donors, engaging with the community and running the organization.
“It surprises me how much money CSF is giving back to the schools, and what we are able to do with this amazingly generous community,” said DeGree. “Last year, we gave back $833,300 in order to fund the two STEM and arts pathways at all four of our public schools.”
DeGree says that she didn’t necessarily see herself taking over the role of president and CEO so soon, but she’s excited for the challenge. After all, she’s spent the last four years training. She started working at CSF part-time in the middle of the pandemic with two small children, and worked the last couple of years as the Director of Development, reporting to Michelle Gilmore, the former CEO. That’s on top of eight more years of nonprofit experience.
“I was able to work directly under Michelle for those four years and she’s such a good mentor,” said DeGree of her former boss, who moved on to a position at the Coronado Community Foundation. “And I’m really excited to be at CSF; my kids directly benefit from the fundraising we do. As do so many other kids.”
In the time DeGree has worked at the nonprofit, not only has she weathered a global pandemic, but she pulled off the very successful Island Paradise Gala and Tiki Club in a new format.
She’s also proud of the wildly successful Coronado Art and Wine Festival, a collaboration between CSF and the Coronado Chamber of Commerce, which is now in its fourth year. The event—which is free to the public—drew more than 12,000 guests, featuring more than 80 artist exhibits and 40 participating restaurants. This year, she hopes to put a bigger focus on student art that kids are creating in Coronado schools.
But she admits there are some challenges ahead.
First off, the Coronado Unified School District (CUSD) is underfunded, getting about $1,700 less money per student than other San Diego schools. By contributing to CSF, donors are directly funding important STEM and arts classes at all four campuses.
“This year, our students need our help more than ever,” said DeGree. “We don’t want to go back to a time when there isn’t art in the elementary schools. We want music and art, and we want our Innovation labs and robotics teams, we want broadcasting, ceramics, and we want environmental science at the high school.”
It’s also challenging to fundraise in a town with so many successful nonprofits, where everyone seems to be asking the same people for money. It’s critical that CSF educate the public on exactly what programs and classes the organization is paying for.
“We need to make sure everyone knows what we are doing and where the money is going,” said DeGree.
And sometimes, she says it’s easy to take some district-wide programs for granted.
“Of course there’s an art class at the elementary school,” she said. “Why wouldn’t there be? Well, actually it wouldn’t be there if people weren’t donating to CSF.”
Then there’s the shifting role the nonprofit could take when the district makes it to Basic Aid, whereby Coronado schools will be fully-funded by local property taxes. This means that CUSD could see additional ongoing revenues between $8 million and $12 million a year as soon as the 2027-2028 school year.
“It might open up a new door,” says DeGree. “If we’re no longer needed to fund teacher salaries for arts and science, we can offer some amazing new opportunities that the kids don’t have yet, that goes above and beyond what we currently offer.”
But DeGree knows one thing for certain: she believes in the power of the Coronado community.
“Coronado is such a generous and lovely community,” she said. “Being military – my husband is in the Navy – we’ve moved a lot and been a lot of places. And I think this is the most welcoming town and there are so many opportunities to give back, be involved and make it home.”
DeGree is looking forward to embracing her new role and creating positive impacts on learning for all kids in CUSD. She credits her staff for much of the organization’s success, saying they make a “huge” difference. But most of all, she feels lucky to be here.
“I don’t want to go anywhere else,” she said. “I love what we do here.”
Community members can learn more about the gala buy tickets and reserve tables here, and learn more all the programs CSF funds by visiting CSFKids.org.
