Clover Park Technical College Welcomes New Foundation Board President
The Clover Park Technical College Foundation welcomed Lori Banaszak as the newly-elected board president effective January 1, 2020. Lori, now retired, served in a variety of leadership roles in the Community and Technical College system before retiring from her final role as CPTC’s vice president for instruction in 2013.
The CPTC Foundation Board is a 16-member volunteer board who serve as the non-profits governing board and promote the Foundation’s mission to enhance CPTC’s work to educate tomorrow’s workforce.
Banaszak spent 22-years committed to the Washington state two-year community and technical college system. After retiring, Lori has worked as an education consultant. She currently serves as an Advisory Board Member for RISE to Empower, a non-profit focused on helping women and girls make positive choices.
Within her new role, Lori hopes to provide a unique perspective, given her experience at CPTC. She recognizes the challenges that the students and the college are currently facing. One area of focus for her as the board president will be to strengthen the relationship with the instructional programs and their advisory committees to benefit CPTC students further.
“I know from my previous experience how deeply faculty and staff feel about each student's success. I am equally inspired by the passion the members of the CPTC Foundation have for students,” Lori explained. “The reality is that the education a technical college provides quite often includes high-cost equipment that the students need to learn on and will use in their future careers. Unfortunately, the allotted state funding only covers a fraction of those costs. There is also such a great need for scholarship assistance for our students. The personal costs of college can cause stress and lead to students discontinuing their education at the college. The CPTC Foundation is instrumental in helping alleviate those burdens and ensuring that our students are prepared for their future careers. The Foundation’s commitment to empowering the students and faculty through endowments and scholarships is truly a team effort, and I am honored to a member of this group.”
Above all, Lori believes in the transformative power of education and is committed to reducing systemic barriers to equitable access. “I am excited to guide the Foundation Board over the next two years and work to advance and support the mission of the college. The staff and faculty at CPTC are, without exception, exemplary in their commitment to the students. That’s why I loved working at the college and why I am excited to come back and serve in this new role.”
To help raise funds for scholarships and college programs, the CPTC Foundation hosts three signature events. It encourages everyone to mark these dates on their calendars:
- CPTC Foundation Scholarship Celebration Dinner, Friday, April 10, 2020
- ScrambleForeStudents Golf Tournament, Saturday, July 11, 2020
- Andy Fritz Memorial Trek for Tech, Saturday, July 25, 2020
About the CPTC Foundation
The mission of the CPTC Foundation is to ensure the opportunity for the education of tomorrow’s workforce. The Foundation is governed by a volunteer board comprised of local business and community leaders and is guided by an executive director. Also, some college staff serve as Ex-officio directors, lending expertise to the Board.
The Clover Park Technical College Foundation Board of Directors is composed of local business and community leaders who volunteer their time and donate their talents and resources to raise funds for the CPTC Foundation.
The funds raised through their efforts support the College and students through student scholarships and emergency grants, acquisition of state-of-the-art equipment and technology, and faculty and staff professional development awards.
To learn more about the CPTC Foundation, visit http://friendsofcloverpark.org/.