MAT Program Receives $100,000 Sun Family Foundation Award

By Sofia Del Fine
August 27, 2026

The UC Irvine school of Education's Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program received a $100,000 award from the Sun Family Foundation to support ongoing professional development for mentor teachers and supervisors. The funding will provide valuable opportunities to strengthen the support and guidance provided to MAT candidates throughout their teacher preparation.

The grant proposal, Classroom-to-Career Pipeline: Sustaining Transformative Educators Across the Professional Continuum, seeks to invest in the capital of mentor teachers and supervisors and grow the talent and agency of transformative educators in a sustainable manner. The goals of the project are: 1) provide training to increase mentor teachers' capacity to teach from a culturally, linguistically, historically, and environmentally responsive lens; 2) create space for ongoing supervisor inquiry in professional learning communities; and 3) collaborate with district partners to create an equity-centered ecosystem for educators across their professional journey.

Evelyn Young (left) and Stacy Yung

Congratulations to the MAT program, Yung and Young on the award, and thank you to the Sun Family Foundation for its support of our teacher preparation community.