The Public Education Foundation (PEF) will proudly host its annual Golden Apple Gala on January 4, 2025, at Paris Las Vegas. The highly anticipated evening will launch the Clark County School District (CCSD) Alumni of the Year Awards, highlighting the achievements of CCSD graduates.
In the inaugural year, PEF will celebrate the excellence and positive impact of the 2025 CCSD Alumni of the Year with impressive records of positively impacting our community: Bo Bernhard, Ph.D., Vice President of Economic Development at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), and Alex Bybee, Founder and Principal of Bybee Co.
PEF will also recognize Adrian Gonzalez, founder of Country Bars, as the 2025 Emerging CCSD Alumni of the Year.
“By celebrating leaders who graduated from our local public schools, we also celebrate the excellence found throughout CCSD that has prepared some of our community’s most successful business leaders, policy-makers, and community advocates,” said Peter Guzman, Chair of the PEF Board of Directors and President and CEO of the Latin Chamber of Commerce. “It is because of these visionaries and changemakers that the next generation of CCSD graduates are inspired to dream big and achieve more.
“While it is clear that we have much work to do as a community to improve our public schools, there are also untold numbers of hard-working educators and students and a strong base of CCSD Alumni who are transforming our community,” Guzman said.
PEF is honored to recognize the 2025 CCSD Alumni of the Year:
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Bo Bernhard, Ph.D., Vice President of Economic Development at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), graduated from Bonanza High School and has since built an extraordinary career in research, education, and community impact. His projects have been featured in prominent media outlets such as The New York Times, The History Channel, and all three major U.S. networks. His dedication and impact have earned him numerous awards, including the World Affairs Council’s International Educator of the Year Award, the Harry Reid Silver State Research Award, and myriad other prestigious honors.
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Alex Bybee, Founder and Principal of Bybee Co., has driven positive change in Nevada for over a decade. He is a graduate of Bonanza High School in the Clark County School District and the University of Nevada, Reno, where he received his B.A. in Political Science and served in student government. He often consults on issues such as public education, climate, social services, and mass-violence recovery. Having previously served as Chief Strategy Officer for Communities In Schools Of Nevada, he helped secure $25 million in funding and triple the organization’s budget.
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Adrian Gonzalez is the founder of Country Bars, a soap company he founded as part of his senior year project at Northwest Career and Technical Academy. Adrian is a 2024 CCSD graduate and will be honored as the first Emerging Alumni of the Year.
Major contributors to the gala include the NV Energy Foundation, Siriwan Singhasiri and Kenneth Lin Foundation, Select Health, Caesars Entertainment, Alan and Christy Molasky Family Foundation, Warner Bros. Discovery, Raiders, FanDuel, Intermountain Health, Don & Dee Snyder, The KeyState Companies, Cox Communications, Station Casinos, Bernhard Family, Acceleration Academies, Wynn Resorts, and MGM Resorts International.
While media are invited to attend the event on January 4, PEF can offer interviews with Board Chairman Peter Guzman and the inaugural CCSD Alumni of the Year recipients in advance of the Golden Apple Gala. Please email riley.caspersen@thepef.org if you would like to coordinate interviews.
To learn more about the Public Education Foundation, please visit thepef.org.
About Public Education Foundation
The Public Education Foundation (PEF) unites the community to inspire support of our public schools. In partnership with the Clark County School District (CCSD), PEF helps guide effective investments in education to meet the immediate, critical needs of our students, families, and educators. For more information about PEF, please visit www.thepef.org. Follow us on Facebook @ThePublicEducationFoundation, X/Twitter @ThePEFtoday, and Instagram @ThePEFtoday.
