How Your Support of AFE Can Make a Difference in the Floral Industry

Past Successes, Present Priorities, and Future Goals For over 60 years, AFE has been the leading source of funding for floral industry advances through scientific research, scholarships, internship programs, and educational grant funding for continued education for all industry members. This has been made possible through the continued support from the floral community that we serve. The future will continue to bring new challenges, and with your support, AFE can continue to expand resources and programs. As the year comes to a close, we’d like to thank our supporters for their generous contributions and share some of the impacts that your dollars have had:Advances Through Scientific Research Funding – Through working with leading floriculture researchers from universities across the U.S., AFE supports…

A Tour of Ball Horticultural Co. in West Chicago

Ball Horticultural Company’s mission is to be the world leader in the research, breeding, production, and marketing of ornamental crops. Their founder, George J. Ball’s motto was “All the Best and Nothing Else,” and it was evident that Ball puts these values to practice during our recent tour of Ball Horticultural Co. in West Chicago, which was seamlessly coordinated by Ball’s Director of Research Operations and AFE Board of Trustees member, Dr. Megan Bowman. Even though Ball is an international company that advances the industry on a global scale, it was apparent that they still keep the individual grower in mind in everything they do. Upon arriving at Ball, we were greeted by a riot of color from their display gardens…

Executive Director, Debi Chedester, AAF Receives the John H. Walker Award

We would like to extend a warm congratulations to our Executive Director, Debi Chedester! She recently received the 2022 John H. Walker Award on Sept. 8 during the Society of American Florists 137th Annual Convention in Orlando, FL.The John H. Walker Award was established in 1979 to honor the contributions of SAF’s former long-time Executive Vice President and recognizes floral association executives for the role they play as leaders of the industry.Debi has been with AFE since 2008 and worked for the Society of American Florists before that. During her time in the industry, she has been a passionate and dedicated leader, tackling challenges head-on and always keeping the success of the industry at the forefront of her work.Through her…

AFE Creates New Young Professional Advisor Position

Dr. Melinda Knuth to Serve as First Advisor to the BoardAs a part of the American Floral Endowment’s continued focus on the next generation of floral industry members, a special advisory position has been established for AFE’s Board of Trustees. The AFE Young Professionals Council Advisor to the Board is a special position that will engage and interact with the AFE Board of Trustees and Staff to represent the industry’s young professionals and share their perspectives. This new Advisor will participate in AFE Committee and Board meetings, share the perspective of the next generation, and influence how AFE engages with young professionals. It is a unique volunteer opportunity facilitating direct connection between longtime industry leaders and up-and-coming members. Each Advisor will come…

AFE Announces New Chairman and Trustee Appointments

AFE announces the appointment of its new Chairman of the Board and incoming Trustees. The announcement was made during AFE’s annual event, Funding the Future of Floriculture, held on Tuesday, September 6, 2022, in Orlando, Florida, at the SAF Convention.Current AFE Chairman Laura Shinall of FreshPath Marketing spoke about her two years of leadership during COVID-19 and her work with the Trustees during this most challenging time. She highlighted the advances made through AFE’s new Strategic Plan for 2022-2025, industry outreach, and collaboration. Shinall passed the AFE gavel to incoming Chairman Ken Young of Phoenix Flower Shops, noting, “The great work of the Endowment continues as it has for the past 61 years and will continue for decades more!” Young begins his…

Appreciation, Recognition, and Funding the Future of Floriculture

The Endowment hosted its annual event during the SAF Annual Convention in Orlando, Florida, on Tuesday, September 6, 2022.The afternoon was full of excitement as industry members and supporters joined together after a long three-year gap in AFE’s annual in-person events due to the pandemic. AFE Chairman Laura Shinall, Managing Partner of FreshPath Marketing, kicked off the event by welcoming everyone back and setting the tone for celebrating AFE’s supporters and accomplishments.“We’re excited and thankful to see everyone again and celebrate the many successes of the past few years,” noted Shinall, “It’s important to share the impact being made throughout the industry thanks to the many generous industry donors. Through contributions to AFE, industry members support innovative research, educational opportunities,…

AFE Surpasses 2022 Campaign Goal – Funding the Future of Floriculture

The Endowment celebrates and thanks the many industry supporters, sponsors, and friends who contributed to this year’s annual fundraiser, Funding the Future of Floriculture. Over $146,000 was raised in support of the floral industry through the Endowment.From May 16th through June 30th, 2022, AFE’s Board of Trustees and Staff connected with the floral industry through a virtual fundraising campaign to increase annual support for our critical research, education, and other floriculture programs setting a goal of $100,000. Over the month and a half, $146,850 was raised from over 80 donors and sponsors. Take a look at full the sponsor list here. This tremendous effort would not have been possible without the involvement of the floral industry. We are incredibly grateful for…

Funding the Future of Floriculture & AFE Reception

We have announced our upcoming Funding the Future of Floriculture Event and AFE Reception in Orlando, Florida, on Tuesday, September 6th, from 4:00 – 6:00 pm in conjunction with the SAF 2022 Annual Convention.  This two-hour event is scheduled just before the SAF Welcoming Reception and will include the announcement of our new Sustainability Initiative, special recognition of our incredible sponsors and supporters, and an industry networking reception. The event and reception are open to all SAF Convention attendees and local industry members at no cost. AFE Trustees have worked diligently over the past two years to develop new resources for the industry. Our annual funding covers new and innovative research, support for scholarships and internships, young professional development and…

Funding The Future of Floriculture Campaign Update & AFE Reception

Join Us in Funding the Future of Floriculture and In-Person at Our Upcoming Reception! There are only two weeks left to join us in Funding the Future of Floriculture Campaign!What do you see in the future of floral? We envision a growing industry that supports new advances through innovative research, shares and promotes continued education, and fosters the next generation through scholarships and internships. The campaign runs between Monday, May 16th and Thursday, June 30th. Make a donation today and join us this September for our AFE Reception at SAF 2022!After this year’s campaign, we will be celebrating our donors, sponsors, and supporters with an event at SAF’s 2022 Convention. We are so excited to to re-engage with our floral community in person after the last…

Hands-On Learning Supported by AFE’s Educational Grants

To your average non-industry member, the scope of horticulture and floriculture may not run far outside of lawn care and gardening. Education is an excellent place to start when it comes to showing the scale of our industry to a broader audience of students and encouraging them to enter our field. Oklahoma State University’s Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture recognized this and utilized support from the American Floral Endowment (AFE)’s Educational Grants to offer a successful Hands-On Horticulture course in 2021-2022. The result? Enlightened students with a deeper understanding of this field, newfound hort knowledge, and industry promotion. What began as an idea for an alternate science class became a fun, informative foundation for horticulture education at OSU. The…

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