About Us

About AIEF

Vision

The Vision of AIEF is to be the leading organization that facilitates research, scholarship, and education for the information management profession.

Mission

The Mission of AIEF is to provide current and relevant resources to information management professionals allowing them to advance the profession.

Values

  • Sustain the visibility and value of leading-edge research, and encourage lifelong learning in information management.
  • Maximize and leverage investments in the information management field to support the profession and the professional.

What is AIEF?

AIEF is an education and research funding resource to be used by individuals and organizations for the advancement of knowledge in the field of information management.

For independently verified information about the Foundation, visit GuideStar, the National Database of Nonprofit Organizations.

Our History

In January 1973, ARMA International, an association for records and information management professionals, created an education and scholarship fund. ARMA created this fund to grant scholarships to individuals enrolled full-time in a higher learning institution and pursuing a degree in the field of records management.
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By the mid-1990’s, ARMA’s Board of Directors realized that the fund did not meet the needs of individual association members, potential information practitioners, or the field of records and information management. Consequently, in January 1996, the Board recommended that ARMA International change the education and scholarship fund to a tax-exempt organization, i.e., a non-profit Foundation. In March 1996, the Board of Directors of ARMA International created this organization, calling it the ARMA International Educational Foundation (AIEF).

In August 1997, AIEF was incorporated in Kansas and received 501(c)(3) tax exempt status the following January. AIEF broadened the funding opportunities for grants and scholarships to individual students and practitioners pursuing practical and scholarly knowledge in the field of information management. In addition to scholarship opportunities, AIEF also encouraged research in the areas of information management by funding research projects. AIEF also distributed the findings to the information management community and provide the final reports freely on its website.

In September 2015, AIEF separated from ARMA International, operating as an independent, self-operated non-profit organization. ARMA International continued to endorse AIEF and allowed it to use of ‘ARMA International’ as a part of its name.

With all of the changes AIEF’s mission continues to be the same: provide scholarships and implementable content to aspiring and current information management professionals in order to help the information management profession grow.

Since its inception in 1996, the ARMA International Educational Foundation has provided over $300,000 in educational scholarships and certification reimbursement awards to over 125 aspiring or current informational management professionals. The organization has also funded over 30 research projects and contributed over $150,000 towards these projects.

How We Envision AIEF

AIEF’s focus is the field information management (IM) which we define as: including the responsibility for establishing and implementing policies, systems, and procedures to capture, create, access, distribute, use, store, secure, retrieve, and ensure disposition of an organization’s records and information assets. IM is an essential component for information governance, which holds organizations and individuals accountable for the proper handling of information assets. IM enables awareness to both business and technology changes enabling any organization to respond, with confidence, to changing needs.

Board of Trustees

Robert McLauchlin

Chair

Kathleen Timothy

Chair-Elect

Charlie Sodano

Treasurer

Anita Vannucci

Michelle Matzke

Deborah Ellis

Amitabh Srivastav

Nate Hughes

Brett Wise

Wendy McLain

Joshua Bullough