The Foundation’s goal is to aid educators, public servants, and students in achieving greater educational success.
The Foundation accomplishes this by offering specifically designed and administered grants and scholarships to individual educators, public servants, and college students designed to enhance their skills. In addition, the Foundation administers funds for the Minot Education Association’s Fund for the Improvement of Education and the Oakes Education Scholarship Fund.
It is with pride that the Foundation’s Board of Directors has established this special alliance with education and public service leaders who understand that their professional growth is the key to success.
NDU Foundation Board of Directors:
Lisa Wolf, Foundation President, Educator, Active member, Minot
Nick Archuleta, NDU President, Mandan
Karen Askerooth, Foundation Secretary, NDU-Retired President, Luverne
Alicia Bata, NDU Vice President K-12, Cavalier
Bret Dockter, Educator, Active member, Harvey
Gary Feist, Foundation Treasurer, NDU Vice President Public Employees, Bismarck
Sarah Fox, Educator, Active member, Mandan
Clarice Hackman, NDSU Library staff, Active member, Fargo
Derrick Hertz, CFO Railway Credit Union, General Public member, Mandan
Jason Rohrer, Horace Mann agent, General Public member, Minot
Brenda Seehafer, Foundation Vice President, NEA Director, Rolla
Josh Standing Elk, Educator, Active member, Bismarck
Scholarships and Grants:
The North Dakota United Foundation currently offers scholarships and grants specifically designed for individual educators, public servants, and college students to enhance their skills. Scholarships are available to North Dakota United members, including Student NDU and NDU-Retired members, as well as the dependents of all members. Seventeen scholarships and grants were available in 2024, including four new offerings:
- Holland Family Experiential Learning Grant – Available to assist members engaged in developing and/or presenting experiential learning to improve public service or public education in North Dakota. Preference will be given to experiential learning involving North Dakota studies.
- Dr. Joanne Pearson Fine Arts Grant – Available for an individual member or a group of members to enhance arts at the elementary or secondary level, support professional development, and/or support student activities in the arts including, but not limited to painting, sculpture, literature, architecture, cinema, music, and theater.
- Fern Pokorny Education Scholarship – Available to a student pursuing an undergraduate degree in elementary education from Dickinson State University. The student must be a graduate of a North Dakota high school.
- Harris & Arlyce Widmer Family Business Education Scholarship – Available to an active NDU member or dependent of an active member who is pursuing undergraduate or graduate education, or professional development opportunities in business education.
In May, the North Dakota United Foundation announced that over 50 NDU members and dependents had been selected to receive more than $37,000 total in scholarships and grants. Scholarships are open December 1st through March 31st, and grants are awarded year-round on a rolling application basis.
Giving Hearts Day:
Giving Hearts Day is a regional online giving event which raises funds for charities in North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota every year in February. One hundred twenty-four individuals, many of whom were non-members and businesses, contributed $8,768.75 which was matched for a total revenue of $17,537.50. The revenue was credited to the endowments selected by the donor. If no endowment was selected, the gifts were credited to the NDU Memorial Endowment.
Teacher of the Year Events:
The North Dakota United Foundation proudly partnered with the North Dakota State Teachers of the Year Chapter to offer a Day of Professional Learning for former Teachers of the Year and finalists in April on the Capitol grounds. The day provided Teachers of the Year with an opportunity to network, share best practices, and provide feedback to the Governor’s Task Force on Teacher Retention and Recruitment. In addition, an inaugural Celebratory Luncheon was held in September for the 2025 ND Teacher of the Year finalists, their friends and families, former Teachers of the Year, and partnering organizations before the announcement ceremony. These events were sponsored by a variety of businesses across the state.
Professional Development:
Promoting educational excellence through professional development has been a long-term goal of the NDU Foundation. With the dedication of fifty percent of the special assessment paid by NDU members to professional development, the Foundation was able to partner with the Professional Development team at NDU to provide quality coursework at no cost to NDU members in 2024.
At the date of publication, for the 2024-25 cycle there are 1,199 registrations for NDU professional development offerings including 60+ book studies, Podcast PD, ESP book study, Educator Ethics, Aspiring Educator courses, negotiations trainings and book study, and independent studies.
Local Educational Association Scholarship Programs:
- Ray Education Association created a scholarship program to honor deserving seniors in the community. This no-cost service provided by the NDU Foundation is available to all local education associations in the state.
- The Robert and Jane Lorch Family Education Endowment was established to benefit seniors attending Hillsboro High School. The Hillsboro Education Association is responsible for selecting recipients for this scholarship.
