Jennifer Billow is ready to take an extended summer break.
The Park City Education Foundation’s vice president of advancement will retire on June 30 after 15 years of overseeing the nonprofit’s events and fundraising. And that means this year’s Running with Ed, the 28.6 mile, eight-leg relay fundraiser, will be her last big event.
“This is super bittersweet,” Billow said with her voice full of emotion. “What’s great about Running with Ed is that it’s such a community event that is beloved by the community.”
Although Billow started working at the Education Foundation two years after the fundraiser started, she knew it was a good fit for Park City, but she has been taken aback at how popular it has become over the years.
“The Ed Foundation knew Ragnar was really big, so they decided to do a mini ragnar as a way to raise money, instead of selling wrapping paper and chocolate,” she said. “It’s healthy, and it really brings people together.”
Throughout the years, Billow has enjoyed working the event, which was started by the foundation’s former president and chief executive officer, Abby McNulty, and the Chelsey Electric family.
“Working with them and the committee to build this race and get it to where it is today is something you don’t get to do very often,” Billow said. “Seeing it grow and become more than a fundraiser was awesome, and I will miss it terribly.”
Billow started her career with the Park City Education Foundation in July 2011 as the events and marketing manager.
By that time, the foundation, which was established in 1986, was changing things.
“They were doing the first Red Apple Gala fundraiser during the year I started and morphing that from an auction/fundraiser into a more upscale event,” she said. “They already did two years of Running with Ed, and they needed someone to oversee these events that were becoming more complex and bigger. And Abby wanted to make the foundation more of a professional organization.”
Billow’s way into the job started through substitute teaching, after a 10-year career with Nestlé food.
“I had to travel 75% of the time, and my husband, Greg, and I wanted to start a family,” she said. “So, I decided to stay home for a while.”
At that time, Billow’s children — oldest Jeremy and younger twins Emily and Paige —were attending Parley’s Park Elementary School.
“I started volunteering in the classroom, and after a while I realized I was kind of ready to go back to work,” she said. “But I didn’t want to get back to a life of travel all the time. So I thought I would sub, mostly at Parleys.”
Billow learned a lot about teaching and teachers.
“They have no choice in the students they get, and they have to teach every student, no matter what their backgrounds are,” she said. “It’s also hard for teachers to miss a day of class. You have to get a sub. You have to get the lesson plans together.”
For a little while, Billow thought about going back to school to get a teaching degree.
“But I was in my 40s and didn’t really want to start over,” she said. “So, while I was subbing, I kept looking for another job, and this one opened at the Ed Foundation. I thought it would be a good way for me to put my business background together with this passion I found for public education.”
Billow grew along with the nonprofit and began to oversee its fundraising.
“I worked with donors individually, and we started a membership program — the Scholar Circle Honor Roll,” she said. “We also had a program called Beat the Call that we turned into Build the Foundation.”
At the same time, the Education Foundation’s need for communication and outreach increased, according to Billow.
“So, we did a constant-contact newsletter, and we dipped our toe into social media,” she said. “There was no Instagram when I started, but we put together a contest, Follow the Facebook Page, where we put people into a drawing for their Parent Teacher Organization or Parent Teacher Association to win $500.”
As Billow worked those jobs, she tapped into the foundation’s community of volunteers.
“We have had an amazing volunteer board of volunteers, committee volunteers and event volunteers,” she said. “That was another piece that was super eye opening. People want to donate their time to help, and the expertise we have in this town is so incredible.”
Billow credits NcNulty’s big-picture vision for implementing the Foundation’s long-standing programs, which include PACE (program for academic challenge and enrichment), CTE (career and technical education), Bright Futures, a program that helps first-generation students succeed beyond high school, and Elementary Visual Arts (EVA) with the Kimball Art Center.
“We are so much better when we collaborate,” Billow said regarding partnerships such as the one with the Kimball Art Center. We didn’t know anything about art lessons — that’s the Kimball’s expertise — but the Kimball couldn’t really get into the schools, and that’s what we can do. So, building that together was super gratifying. They created lessons and trained the teachers, and it’s had a 13-year run.”
The school district recognized the program’s popularity and importance and decided to make a change next year, Billow said.
“What’s exciting is they saw it as a regular part of the school day, so next year they will fund four, licensed art teachers for all four elementary schools and integrate art further into the curriculum, around other subjects,” she said. “That was a $150,000 program for us. So having the school district take over frees up funding for whatever the next thing will be for us to cover.”
Billow has enjoyed watching public education’s needs morph with the times while she has been at the Education Foundation.
“When I started, we would get grant requests to gamify math,” she said. “They would ask for a Nintendo platform that would be used to teach math, and it turned out to be a fun way to teach.”
So, the Education Foundation funded laptops for students.
“Now, we are cutting back on screens,” she said. “So, we fund the Yondr pouches, where kids carry their cell phones in these pouches that are locked for the day.”
Another shift in education is the attitude about college, Billow said.
“When I started, we all heard that everything was about four-year college, but as we now know, especially since COVID in a hospitality- and construction-driven economy, there are a lot of great and interesting jobs that pay well that don’t necessarily need a four-year degree,” she said. “Kids have different paths, and they are now graduating high school with certified nursing assistant credentials or drone certifications. So, they already have a start when they enter a one- or two-year certification program.”
Overall the Education Foundation funds upward of 100 different programs that fall into four different categories:
- Personalized Learning: Preparing Each Student to Meet Their Full Potential
- Real World Learning: Equipping Students for Tomorrow’s Challenges
- Elevating Educators: Supporting Educators In and Out of the Classroom
- Closing the Opportunity Gap: Every Child, Every Chance
The Park City Education Foundation knows the teachers and administrators are the experts with boots on the ground, Billow said.
“We’re much more successful when they come to us and tell us what they need,” she said. “We do have volunteer grant committees who vet every request, but we generally trust the schools to tell us what they need.”
One of the biggest challenges today is reaching the district’s 4,200 kids and 2,800 families, Billow said.
“When I first started, we sent out our newsletter, which used to be the best vehicle to do so,” she said. “Now, AI sorts that newsletter in their inboxes, so people may not see it. So, we’re trying to figure out how to get the word out so they understand that some of the things the schools need aren’t a regular part of the school day.”
But that challenge is small compared to the rewards, according to Billow.
“It’s about when you hear from students or parents or teachers who are excited about a program they were able to do because the funding made a difference,” she said. “There was a student who went through the music program and is now studying clarinet at the University of Utah. We covered a grant for the high school for private lessons for students, and he said he would not have had access to the different bands and instrumentation without those lessons.”
Still, nothing good happens without dedicated teachers, Billow said.
“The teachers and the school district are the best, bar none, and the Ed Foundation helps take teaching to the next level to reach students in different ways than just lecturing,” she said.
Running with Ed is one of those paths.
“The teachers are out there running and students are out there running,” she said. “We’re raising money for grants for teachers.”
The thing Billow will miss most is the people.
“It all comes back to working with the volunteers, who are so passionate, driven and smart,” she said. “I will miss the volunteer committees, some of whom I have worked with for a really long time, like 10 years. And the team I work with is just great because this is such a collaborative office.”
Billow plans to use her newfound time off to sleep and maybe get out of town for a while.
“My kids don’t live in Park City anymore, and my folks are in California, so I would like to do some traveling,” she said. “This has been a 15-year sprint working in the nonprofit world. So I want to take time to step back and see what the next thing may be.”
Still, Billow is proud of the work the Park City Education Foundation has done throughout her tenure.
“The public schools in Park City are so good, and the public support is really good,” she said. “I’d like to think the Ed Foundation had a little part in that.”
Running with Ed
- When: Saturday, May 16
- Where: Basine Recreation Fieldhouse, 1388 Center Drive
- Registration: runningwithed.com
- Web: pcef4kids.org
For information about the Park City Education Foundation, visit: pcef4kids.org