1996: Co-founders Trish Millines Dziko and Jill Hull Dziko opened TAF’s doors. After a 7-year career in the technology industry, Trish left her role to launch TAF in an effort to ensure students of color had access to the skills needed to compete in the growing technology scene.
2004: After leading programs designed to prepare teenagers for tech-focused summer internships TAF recognized the need to grow beyond after-school programs and built a five-year strategy to reach more students and bring equitable learning directly to their classrooms.
2008: TAF Academy (now TAF@Saghlie) formed, becoming the only public school in Washington State to be co-managed by a nonprofit and a school district.
2014: TAF launched STEMbyTAF School Transformation (now TransformED) program, a partnership model aimed at transforming public schools by bringing its TAF Academy learning model to students everywhere.
2015: The Martinez Fellowship Program joined TAF, supporting its vision of equitable public education by providing and supporting pathways to teaching, early career coaching, and ongoing professional development for teachers of color.
2017: TAF Academy merged with Saghalie Middle School to form TAF@Saghalie.
2020: Seeing a clear gap in representation in public school administration and educators, TAF expanded its professional learning offerings to better support aspiring teachers of color and white ally leaders to create an teacher and administrator demographic that represents the student population.
2022: TAF launched The Convening, a BIPOC centered space designed to give education professionals tangible actions and a support network to make their learning environments anti-racist and liberatory from the ground up.
2025: TAF expands beyond western Washington by partnering with Yakima School District to bring our TransformED model to Stanton Academy.
Commitment to Students –TAF is committed to creating better outcomes for students of color so they may create the world they envision personally, locally, nationally and globally.
Equitable Practices –TAF fosters environments with structures and systems that are inclusive and ensure all employees have what they need to succeed while pursuing our mission.
Continuous Improvement and Learning – We actively, collectively improve, share knowledge and evolve.
Integrity – Carry out all our work with the greatest responsibility and accountability
Authenticity – TAF operates from a place of being your authentic self with consideration for the good of the whole.
Collaboration– Decisions are not made in silos. All aspects of our work involve collaboration for the good of the whole.
In order to be the best we can be for our stakeholders and ourselves, our team has committed to the following culture codes: