Partnering for Progress: 66 Express Community Spotlight

Highlighting Local Organizations Driving Positive Change in the Region

Double Feature:

Educate Fairfax and SPARK

Partnering with Local Educational Foundations

To Put Kids in Optimal Position to Succeed

March 16, 2026 – Across the counties of Prince William and Fairfax in northern Virginia, more than 273,000 students attend 298 public schools and learning centers. Guided by dedicated teachers, administrators, and parents in both school systems, those students are being prepared to lead our region’s dynamic, technology-driven economy toward a promising future.

Year in and year out, I-66 Express Mobility Partners (EMP) community partners SPARK, the foundation for Prince William County Public Schools, and Educate Fairfax make sure those kids have what they need.

Educate Fairfax and SPARK, the respective 501(c)(3) non-profit educational foundations for Fairfax County Public Schools and Prince William County Public Schools, provide students with the resources, initiatives, and encouragement needed to be in the best position to learn, explore exciting career opportunities, and realize their full potential.

SPARK, which stands for Supporting Partnerships And Resources for Kids, serves more than 90,000 students across 99 schools and centers in Prince William County. As the education foundation for Prince William County Public Schools, SPARK connects businesses and community partners with schools to fund innovative classroom initiatives, expand STEM and hands-on learning opportunities, and remove barriers that stand in the way of student success. From supporting maker spaces and mobile STEM labs to organizing school supply drives, book distribution efforts, and in-school food pantries, SPARK works to ensure students are equipped, engaged, and ready to learn.

“Strong partnerships are the key to what we do. It’s because of our community and business partners that we can create and fund the beneficial programs that students might not otherwise have,” said Dawn Davis, SPARK’s executive director. “As we like to say, excellent schools are everyone’s business.”

Serving more than 183,000 students across 199 schools and centers, Educate Fairfax is the nonprofit foundation supporting Fairfax County Public Schools. The organization invests in innovative classroom grants, leadership development initiatives, and STEM-focused programming that expand what’s possible for both students and educators. Through scholarships, targeted funds like the Kids in Need and Innovators Funds, and community-wide drives to collect school supplies and food, Educate Fairfax helps close opportunity gaps and ensures students have both the resources and the enrichment experiences necessary to thrive.

“We firmly believe that our students are our strength,” said Dr. Lynette Henry, executive director of Educate Fairfax. “With strong partnerships from the community and the business sector, we’re able to provide our students with the best possible environment for exploring and learning.”

The support provided to schoolkids by SPARK and Educate Fairfax only means good things for K-12 education in Northern Virginia – which bodes well for the economic vibrancy of this region.

Backing Local Education From the Start

Educate Fairfax and SPARK represent two of the longest-running community partnerships sustained by I-66 EMP, the Manassas-headquartered transportation infrastructure consortium that designed, built, and operates the 66 Express Outside the Beltway in a public/private partnership with the Commonwealth of Virginia.

In fact, supporting education (and STEM education in particular) throughout the region we serve has been a top priority of I-66 EMP since our public/private partnership with the Commonwealth of Virginia began – even before the lanes of the 66 Express opened for business in November 2022.

What Our Partnerships with SPARK and Educate Fairfax Look Like

In 2020, SPARK chose I-66 EMP for the organization’s Business Partner Award. That was also the first year we teamed up with SPARK to sponsor and help judge the Prince William-Manassas Regional Science and Engineering Fair – and we’ve returned as a sponsor and a judge of the science fair in Prince William County nearly every year since.

In 2026 EMP expanded the support of future innovators and joined Educate Fairfax to sponsor and judge the Fairfax County Regional Science and Engineering Fair along with Prince William’s science fair.

“We thoroughly enjoy being part of the annual science fairs in Fairfax and Prince William, and not just because supporting STEM education is a key pillar of our community partnerships,” said Nancy H. Smith, I-66 EMP’s corporate affairs director. “It’s inspiring to see the students’ inventiveness and curiosity on display, so we’re pleased to team up with SPARK and Educate Fairfax to promote STEM learning and STEM thinking. There’s a lot of future engineers in those rooms.”

Supporting Education in Fairfax County

Our partnership with Educate Fairfax goes back to 2019, when I-66 EMP made our first contributions to the Kids In Need Fund and the Innovators Fund. We’ve continued regular support of Educate Fairfax’s primary initiatives, including a $13,000 donation for STEM-based grants in 2023 and a $15,000 contribution in 2025 to benefit the Kids In Need and Innovators funds.

In both 2024 and 2025, I-66 EMP funded a total of 35 need-based scholarships for students to attend the summertime Tech Adventure Camp. We were also honored to be named an Annual Partner of Educate Fairfax in 2024 and 2025

Including contributions totaling $67,500 to support the Access For All Fund during the COVID-19 pandemic and $15,000 to provide STEM-focused equipment to a pair of Vienna elementary schools, I-66 EMP has supported Educate Fairfax with more than $175,000 in contributions since our partnership began.

Connecting Prince William Students with Much-Needed Resources

Nothing should get in the way of a quality education. That’s why I-66 EMP has worked with SPARK to bring learning opportunities directly to students throughout Prince William.

With a $25,000 contribution in 2024, I-66 Express Mobility Partners helped spearhead SPARK’s initiative to bring a mobile STEM laboratory to Prince William County Public Schools. The mobile lab will provide hands-on science, technology, engineering and math experiences directly to students across the county. SPARK continues seeking additional business community support to secure the remaining funding needed to launch the program. The year prior, I-66 EMP contributed $23,000 to support the installation of new maker spaces at five Prince William County middle schools, expanding opportunities for students to engage in collaborative, project-based learning.

Building on that momentum, I-66 EMP contributed $20,000 in 2025 to support SPARK’s new Robo-STEM pilot program, which introduces students to robotics, coding and problem-solving through hands-on classroom experiences. The initiative is designed to spark early interest in STEM pathways while strengthening critical thinking and teamwork skills — helping prepare Prince William County students for the technology-driven careers of the future.

Looking Forward to the Region’s Future

Serving a technology-driven region such as Northern Virginia, I-66 EMP’s support for education in Prince William County and Fairfax County – particularly STEM education – remains a cornerstone of our community partnerships. That’s why we’re pleased to be longtime partners of both SPARK and Educate Fairfax, and anticipate growing those partnerships this year and beyond.

“Educate Fairfax and SPARK do amazing work to enhance K-12 education in our region,” said corporate affairs director Nancy H. Smith. “We’re proud to have partnered with these two wonderful organizations over the past seven years, and we look forward to supporting our local students as they get ready to be the leaders of the future.”

I-66 EMP’s support for education in Prince William County and Fairfax County – particularly STEM education – remains a cornerstone of our community partnerships. That’s why we’re pleased to be longtime partners of both SPARK and Educate Fairfax, and anticipate growing those partnerships this year and beyond

“Educate Fairfax and SPARK do amazing work to enhance K-12 education in our region,” said corporate affairs director Nancy H. Smith. “We’re proud to have partnered with these two wonderful organizations over the past seven years, and we look forward to supporting our local students as they get ready to be the leaders of the future.”