Community

Jim Backer was founding President of the Chamber Education Foundation, a non-profit charitable foundation dedicated to improving public education in the Santa Clarita Valley, and he remains an active Board member serving a new term as President. Key programs of the foundation include:

· Teacher Tribute: An annual event recognizing the importance of classroom teachers.

· Principal for a Day: An annual event designed to bring business leaders into schools to “experience” the life of a principal.

· Grants: Grants are provided, through an application process, to teachers, to provide funds for the purchase of educational programs, models, or equipment that can enhance the experience of students and the community.

He is also President of the Foundation for Children’s Dental Health, a non-profit organization started in 1993 that is dedicated to providing dental care to children of low-income working families. The foundation sponsors one or two clinics annually for over one hundred children each.

JSB Development also supports numerous other philanthropic and community organizations in the Santa Clarita Valley.