With new leadership, the Renton Technical College Foundation hopes to support students with more resources.

Heather Winfrey will be the newest face on staff at the school’s upcoming dinner and silent auction in April. She is the new foundation director.

The “Garden Under the Stars” fundraising event is 6 to 8:30 p.m., April 12 at RTC, 3000 N.E. Fourth St., Renton.

Scott Bond, CEO of the Washington State Hospital Association, will be the featured speaker addressing RTC’s health-care programs. Funds raised from the dinner will go toward scholarships for students at the college.

“This board is incredibly invested in the one thing that can’t be taken away from us, right: education,” said Winfrey in a recent interview.

She comes to RTC from, most recently, the Apprenticeship and Non-Traditional Employment for Women non-profit, as their executive director. Winfrey said she is interested in engaging donors throughout the community, long-time supporters and those unfamiliar with RTC.

“We’ve got a really great opportunity here to connect back to donors and alumni and bring the community together to celebrate what the college is all about,” she said. “And that’s what this dinner is all about.”

The event will be held in the college’s cafeteria and catered by RTC culinary students.

Angela Wingate, foundation president, reports that tuition for students has gone up 24 percent in the last two years.

“And right now we’re facing a time when it may go up even more,” she said. “So tuition keeps increasing, it’s getting harder and harder for people especially lower-income (people) to stay in school.”

Winfrey said she wants to look at ways the foundation can support students, departments and faculty, but also foster relationships and networking.

“So the college is a responsible place,” Winfrey said. “The board wants to ensure that we are helping students, who are looking at those high-demand opportunity jobs, get to those jobs and make a permanent economic change in their lives.”

Tickets to the dinner are $50 general admission, $25 for RTC Advisory Committee members, $2,000 for a premier table, $1,000 for a gold table and $400 for a dinner/auction table sponsor.

For more information, visit www.rtc.edu.