“The use of my Ed Fund benefits has elevated me to the top of my pay grade in my position.”
As we continue to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Education Fund, we’re sharing this 2023 testimonial of Ann Wallace from Kaiser Permanente Roseville. Ann’s story is just one example of how we’ve been making a difference since day one, supporting members like her in reaching their goals.
In recognition of the Education Fund’s 20th anniversary, here’s a success story from our 2012 Annual Report. With the support of the Education Fund, Jevry Norimarna went from Certified Nursing Assistant to Respiratory Care Practitioner at Kaiser Permanente. The support of his Career Counselor helped keep him on track and he graduated his program with honors, going on to receive a wage increase of 48%! Stories like this show the impact our programs and services have had on the lives of our members over the past two decades.
“I am grateful for this benefit that helps hard-working people like me to go back to school and move up in our careers.”
From the time I migrated to the USA from Indonesia, I planned to go back to school. I enrolled in a Certified Nursing Assistant Program, which opened my eyes to bigger horizons in the healthcare profession. I went on to get certified as an EKG technician and was hired at Kaiser Permanente, South San Francisco. When I learned about the Respiratory Therapy Program at Skyline College, I was eager to further my education but worried about finding the time to go to school. Luckily, my manager introduced me to the Stipend Program. If not for her, I would not have been able to complete my training. The program was not easy. For the entire two years, I took no vacations and did no socializing. I had to wake up at 3:00am every day to keep up with my classes. I was blessed to have Daisy Kinyauo as my Education Fund counselor. She was always on my side when I had questions. Everything paid off, and I graduated with high honors and was awarded “Outstanding Student.” In October 2010, I found a new benefitted job as a Respiratory Care Practitioner at my home facility, getting paid 48% more than I did before. I am now registered as a student at Oregon Institute of Technology to get my Bachelor’s degree in Respiratory Care so I can continue my professional growth.
Jevry with his Education Fund counselor, Daisy Kinyauo. “Because of her care, I felt I had the obligation to prove that I could do well in the program.”
We invite you to explore the report using the document viewer below, or feel free to view or download it in PDF format. Enjoy!
In 2025, the Education Fund supported nearly 24,000 learners as they took important steps toward advancing their careers, strengthening their skills, and creating new opportunities for themselves and their families.
Our Year in Review highlights the impact of those efforts by showcasing key achievements through data, milestones, and the real stories behind the numbers. Together, they reflect the determination, resilience, and growth of the learners we are honored to serve.
We are proud to celebrate these accomplishments and the meaningful contributions our learners make every day in their workplaces and communities. Their dedication continues to inspire our work and drive our mission forward.
Browse the full report using the viewer below or download the PDF to explore it in more depth.
In early August 2023, The Education Fund’s Executive Director, Rebecca Hanson, was a panelist in a webinar hosted by the Federal Reserve banks of Atlanta and Philadelphia, entitled “Shifting Perspectives and Expectations on Employment.” The webinar focused on the dynamics associated with achieving maximum sustainable employment at a crucial time in our nation’s economy.
Due to the pandemic, the U.S. labor market has undergone profound shifts that we are only beginning to fully appreciate. Hanson spoke on how the Education Fund’s work helps healthcare employees create new employment opportunities for themselves, as well as helping them to earn higher wages and become more financially stable in such a difficult economic climate.
Watch Education Fund Executive Director Rebecca Hanson participate in the webinar “Shifting Perspectives and Expectations on Employment”.
Since 2021 the Education Fund has supported more than 20,000 healthcare workers per year with our training and education programs. We’ve seen a quadrupling of people interested in pursuing different certificate and degree programs, and a real desire to figure out a longer term, more sustainable job and wage.
In the webinar, Hanson shared that “We’ve been able to partner with our employers to assess that for those union members who utilize our programs, they have 50% lower turnover than those who don’t. And a 48% average wage increase for those progressing through skill and certificate training into higher wage jobs. So it has a pretty big impact, and it also impacts the diversity of the patient care workforce. 70% of those we train are workers of color and 80% are women”.
“We’re really focused on offering training for those in nonclinical moving into clinical roles where we see the sharpest shortages and biggest retention issues. We’re supporting degree and certificate programs for clinical roles, and we’re offering skill courses and continuing education that help with retention,” said Hanson.
Watch the video or read the transcript to learn more about how the Education Fund and other organizations are working towards fostering maximum employment.