The Iowa Restaurant Association Education Foundation, the charitable arm of the Iowa Restaurant Association is the leading education resource for the development of a professional and highly skilled hospitality workforce in the state of Iowa, building connections between educational entities and industry employers seeking trained, qualified students and job candidates. For Iowa’s current hospitality industry workforce, the IRAEF delivers education and communication programs to train, grow, retain, and advance employees.
ProStart, a two-year high school program, is one of the largest industry supported career education programs in the nation. The program develops students for long-term, successful careers in the restaurant and hospitality industry and is creating a pool of talent right here in Iowa. With 1,100+ students at 27 Iowa high schools, Iowa ProStart is leading the way in Career and Technical Education in the state. Nationally, the program reaches over 150,000 students in more than 1,900 high schools across all 50 states, Guam and the Department of Defense Education Activity schools in Europe and the Pacific.
The IRAEF Needs Your Help!
Contributions and donations are needed to continue providing valuable resources to support ProStart educators and students and to carry out other important IRAEF workforce initiatives. Funding also supports the Iowa ProStart Invitational that sends winning teams to compete in the National ProStart Invitational, mentoring and internship opportunities for students, scholarships, and professional development and recognition for educators.
The Iowa Restaurant Association Education Foundation is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization, therefore donations are 100% tax-deductible.