Action Items

• Give back and win big. The Annual Holiday Raffle & Auction is live. Get your tickets for the perfect holiday gift while supporting DC students’ career and technical education. 
  
  
• Register for the Destination DC Member Holiday Celebration on Dec. 17 at The Square. Celebrate the American Experience Foundation (AEF), soon to be NEXTDC. 
  
  
• Coolidge Media Network students attended the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) Annual Legislative Conference. See them in action as members of the press.  
  
  
• Learn how nearly 50 DC hospitality high school students participated in the AHEAD Howard University Campus Takeover.  

It’s that time of year! Purchase tickets for the AEF holiday fundraising raffle and auction.  

Enjoy the spirit of giving with $12,000 in prizes designed to spread holiday cheer. Find the perfect gifts for friends, coworkers, loved ones or yourself with unforgettable DC experiences. All proceeds benefit AEF’s work-based learning programs, internships and scholarships. 

Take a sneak peek at our new program pillars with themed auctions that encompass DC. Let’s network, educate, experience and travel together this season. 

AHEAD and AEF joined regional partners and universities for a full day of programming, career fairs and a speaker series at Howard University. Nearly 60 Academy of Hospitality & Tourism students from Ballou, Columbia Heights, Maya Angelou and Roosevelt participated alongside HBCU students to explore hospitality programs across the Northeast and the careers they inspire.  

Speakers included industry leaders Elliott L. Ferguson, II, president & CEO, Destination DC, Tara Higgins, president, Hargrove, and Omari Head, executive director, Howard University Marriott Sorenson Center for Hospitality Leadership.  

Three students from the Coolidge Media Network attended the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) Annual Legislative Conference this September at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. They spent the day immersed in journalism and conference planning with the CBCF marketing and communications team, led by Yolanda Raine, vice president, marketing and communications.   

Join us on Dec. 17, 8-11 a.m. at The Square for the Destination DC Member Holiday Celebration. Network with colleagues as DC scholars bring the festivities to life with fun activations, food and music!  

Tickets are $9.14 in a nod to the nine high schools with 14 Academies of Hospitality & Tourism, Culinary Arts, Mass Media and Sports Marketing that AEF supports across DC. All proceeds benefit year-round work-based learning programs that prepare students for college and career. 

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