The EconEd Foundation of San Diego was established in 1976 to encourage individual school boards to require education in economics at the high school level. Members of the EconEd Board assisted in lobbying the state legislature and were successful in having Senate Bill 1213 enacted which mandated senior economics.

In 1985, when S.B. 1213 became effective, it was evident that high school teachers assigned to teach Economics needed support since many had little interest or no educational background in economics. The EconEd Foundation then placed its main emphasis on assisting these new teachers of economics. Mentor teachers were identified and encouraged to hold workshops that emphasized the exchange of lesson plans and the distribution of classroom materials that assisted in teaching basic, practical economics to students at the high school level.

In 2006, the EconEd Foundation partnered with Cuyamaca College and has become the funding arm of the San Diego Center for Economic Education. This partnership assists in furthering the goals of both groups and most importantly, in helping students in their lives as consumers, investors, entrepreneurs, citizens and productive members of the workforce.

Through its financial support of the San Diego Center at Cuyamaca College, the EconEd Foundation is currently assisting K-12+ teachers in educating their students in economic ways of thinking and problem solving.