About Aws Foundation
Advance the welding and joining professions by supporting education, training, research, and workforce development to promote safety, quality and innovation in the industry.
Focus Areas
EducationScholarshipsWorkforce developmentResearchStandards and professional development
Who They Fund
welding trainees / skilled trades workforcegraduate students (masters and PhD fellows)university faculty / professorship holdersregional community organizations or beneficiaries (Detroit-area)
Funding Style
workforce_development_grantsscholarships_and_fellowships
About Aws Foundation
AWS Foundation Incorporated’s giving is built around welding education and workforce development, with a clear emphasis on training the next generation of skilled welders and supporting the institutions that teach them. The largest recent award in the data was a $160,000 professorship at Le Tourneau University for the Kielhorn Professorship, showing that the foundation supports both classroom instruction and long-term academic capacity. Its portfolio also includes major support for graduate research, such as a $70,000 graduate fellowship at The Ohio State University, alongside scholarships, training grants, and equipment-focused awards for schools and community programs. The foundation’s stated priorities include education, scholarships, workforce development, research, standards, and professional development, and its programs are directed toward students, graduate researchers, faculty positions, and technical training providers. Recent grants also show support for outreach into early pipeline programs, including a Light a Spark grant for a K-12 welding introduction effort, which points to an interest in expanding access to welding pathways before college or apprenticeship entry.
What Aws Foundation Funds
A central theme in AWS Foundation Incorporated’s grantmaking is workforce preparation through technical education. For example, it awarded $25,000 to Santa Fe Independent School District for a Welding Workforce Grant, and $25,000 to Greenville Technical College for the same program, both aimed at strengthening training pathways. Graduate-level research is another visible area: the foundation gave $52,500 to the University of Alberta for a Graduate Fellowship and $35,000 to Colorado School of Mines for a Graduate Fellowship, supporting advanced study connected to welding technology and innovation. It also funds pipeline outreach through Light a Spark, seen in a $142,468 grant to Just in Time Corporation, which ties welding exposure to school-based learning. Faculty and institutional capacity matter too, as shown by the Kielhorn Professorship at Le Tourneau University.
How Aws Foundation Gives
Typical awards cluster tightly around the mid-$20,000 range: the p25 is $22,989, the median is $24,916, and the p75 is $25,000. That pattern suggests many grants are standardized rather than highly customized, even though the foundation also makes larger commitments for professorships and fellowships. The recent grants list includes repeated award types across multiple years, especially Graduate Fellowships and Welding Workforce Grants, which indicates ongoing programmatic support rather than one-time giving. AWS Foundation Incorporated is a foundation, not an individual donor vehicle, and it does not make program-related investments. Some student scholarships and workforce grants are administered through AWS or foundation pages, and at least one program, Graduate Research Fellowships, accepts unsolicited applications.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$434K
Total Assets
$136.7M
Total Revenue
$11.1M
Total Expenses
$4.7M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $23K and $25K, with a median of $25K.
25th Percentile
$23K
Median
$25K
75th Percentile
$25K
Geographic Reach
National30 states funded
About 5% of grants go to recipients in PA.
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
Gesana Villegas
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Where Aws Foundation Funds
Top 2 recipient countries by grant volume for Aws Foundation.
| Rank | Country | Grants | Total | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United StatesDomestic | 62 | $1.8M | 96.9% |
| 2 | Canada | 2 |
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