Education Foundation President Sets Goals for New School Year

June 14, 2011

Lisa Raskin, who served as president elect of the Plano ISD Education Foundation during the 2010-11 school year and whose development efforts helped the Foundation raise $920,000 for programs benefiting Plano ISD students and staff, will become president of the Foundation on July 1.

Lisa Raskin is pictured with past president Michael Urtso, who passed the president's gavel to Ms. Raskin at a recent meeting of the Education Foundation.

As a nonprofit organization, the Foundation works to generate private support for priority projects identified by Plano ISD for which tax dollars are not available. The mission of the organization is helping all students in Plano public schools achieve their full potential by providing financial support to educators and academic programs. All contributions to the Foundation remain within the district.

An active community and district volunteer, Ms. Raskin said, “The Plano ISD Education Foundation’s support of Plano ISD is more important than ever during these difficult economic times. Plano public schools are the cornerstone of our community. Despite the current legislators' severe budget cuts to public education funding, so far many partners are meeting the challenge to give. We feel confident that they will continue to support our school system and that the Foundation will continue with plans for aggressive growth and development.”

Education Foundation Goals

Lisa Raskin is pictured at the Foundation's 2010 CEO Breakfast in October, 2010, with Gary Kelly, Southwest Airlines CEO; Dr. Doug Otto, Plano ISD superintendent of schools; and Michael Urtso, 2010-11 Plano ISD Education Foundation president.

Ms. Raskin also outlined new Foundation endeavors. “This will be a crucial year for the Foundation as we embark on unprecedented budget cuts to public education. The Foundation is working to grow our almost million dollar annual gift to Plano ISD to assist the school district in delivering excellent education. The Foundation will continue working through its second year of a five year strategic plan. The strategic plan is preparing the organization to grow and to raise additional dollars to help offset the growing financial challenges of the school district.”

She continued, “This year, we will be focused on continuing to expand our depth of giving in the community. The Foundation will continue its efforts to increase corporate support while focusing on growing individual support through initiatives such as the community honor roll and building the alumni network.”

“In addition, as part of the strategic plan, the Foundation will focus on increasing awareness of our brand in the community. This spring, the Foundation unveiled a new logo. As part of that initiative, we will begin increasing our communication strategies with the community through a new website, social media and continued outreach efforts.”

Michael Urtso, outgoing Foundation president, said, “Lisa Raskin’s efforts and leadership have raised more than $900,000 for public education and for programs benefiting Plano ISD students, teachers and families. I am confident that, with her leadership, expertise and spirit of service, she will take this most vital organization to even higher levels of support for our district.”

Monica Shortino, Foundation executive director, said, “Our Foundation volunteers are among the most energetic, dedicated and creative people in our community. Plano ISD is fortunate to have such dynamic leaders such as Lisa Raskin who inspire others to join in partnership with the Foundation to support Plano schools.”

About Lisa Raskin

Lisa Raskin is pictured with Beverly Elementary School teachers who captured one of the Foundation's "Grants to Educators" in 2010. Also pictured are members of one of the Grant Patrol teams.

Lisa Raskin served on the Plano ISD Education Foundation Board of Directors as development chair during the 2010-11 school year. She previously served as the chair of Ski Plano 2009 and 2010. Ski Plano is the annual fundraising public event benefiting the school district and boasts nearly 800 guests, including community leaders, elected school board members, representatives of the business community, teachers and principals.

Ms. Raskin just completed service as president of the Women’s Auxiliary to Children’s Medical Center at Legacy, an organization launched in 2010 in response to the opening of the Legacy campus. The auxiliary’s approximately 200 members raise funds and provide support to the hospital.

She is a past-president of the Junior League of Plano, now Junior League of Collin County (JLCC), which is an organization of more than 900 women that has an extensive impact on the Collin County community not only through volunteer programs but also via significant various agency funding. She has held many other JLCC leadership roles and continues in a leadership role as a sustainer.

Lisa Raskin (right), 2010 Ski Plano chair, is pictured at the event with Leslie Baker of Texas Health Center for Diagnostics & Surgery, and Beth Webb, then Plano ISD Education Foundation president.

Ms. Raskin also served as a member of the Serenity High Advisory Board, successfully developing and implementing a volunteer recruiting program for the school. She has also served as president of the Kappa Kappa Gamma Richardson/Plano Alumni night group. This organization supports the community via an annual fundraising initiative. She has also held several other leadership roles within the organization.

She has been an active member of the PTA and has held board positions including ways and means VP and positions supporting school directory advertisement sales and reading ambassador and room mother for her children’s classes.

Ms. Raskin is a licensed CPA and maintains an independent consulting practice, although she is not actively operating the practice. She specializes in corporate financial analysis, pro-forma financial statement development as well budget and forecast development.

She and her husband Mark Raskin have two children, Lauren and Jared.

2011-12 Foundation Board of Directors

The Board of Directors consists of business and community leaders who work to maintain excellence in the Plano schools. In addition to President Lisa Raskin, the 2011-12 officers are: Mitch Bramlett, President Elect; Rebecca Egelston Caso, Secretary; and Dennis Oliver, Treasurer.

Foundation Directors for 2011-12 are: Sally Bane, Jaime Beringer, Keith D. Braley, Chris Brunner, Jean Callison, Windon Chau, Mary Jo Dean, Samir Deshpande, David Doyle, Harvey Fishero, Robert Fitzgerald, Diane Gerstner, Marshall V. Johnson, DDS, MS, Robin Joseph-Williams, Cathy Larson, Don McClure, Jim McGee, Charlie Miller, Joa Muns, Octavio Ortiz, Kelly Palmer, Kathy Schell, Kandi Sigona, Ralph Stow, Michael Urtso, Mary Von Ahnen, Kyle Walters and Beth Webb. Ex-Officio members include: Dr. Doug Otto, Superintendent of Schools, Angela Miner, Plano ISD Council of PTAs, and a representative from the board of trustees. The Foundation Board of Honor includes the Late Jim Boswell, Joan Slater, Rebecca Morris, Rutledge Haggard and John Wroten.

The Plano Independent School District continues to work closely with the Plano ISD Education Foundation to ensure academic success of all Plano ISD students. For further information or to make a donation, visit the Plano ISD Web site at www.pisdeducationfoundation.org or contact Plano ISD Education Foundation at 469-752-8272.

About the Plano ISD Education Foundation

The Plano ISD Education Foundation is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization with the mission to help all students in Plano public schools achieve their full potential by providing financial support to educators and academic programs. The Foundation provides grants to educators, programs that support academic enrichment to Plano ISD students, emergency assistance for teachers and staff members in crisis, as well as programs aimed at recruiting and retaining quality teachers. To learn more about the Plano ISD Education Foundation, contact Executive Director Monica Shortino at 469-752-8272.

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