This new corporate collaborative awarded Carver a $50,000 grant for our summer transition program for rising 9th graders at Norwalk’s two high schools.
Six local businesses created a partnership with Fairfield County’s Community Foundation (FCCF) to establish the Fairfield County Corporate Collaborative for Education Equity.
A multi-year local impact and funding collective, the founding corporate members seek to foster educational equity in Fairfield County by helping to reduce and eliminate disparities that impact the region’s most vulnerable pre-K through 12th-grade students, parents, and guardians as well as teachers and staff.
Participating companies work with FCCF to support local nonprofit organizations and initiatives in the Greater Bridgeport, Danbury, Norwalk, and Stamford regions with financial contributions, employee volunteerism and expertise, mentorship and internship opportunities, and other resources.
“As business leaders, we have an opportunity to support our community’s economic recovery while also addressing the educational disparities that impact far too many children and families in our county. Now more than ever, supporting education is critical to promoting equity, fairness, and opportunity for all,” said Marc Lautenbach, President and CEO, Pitney Bowes, who first extended an invitation to the other companies to form the collaborative. “It is unacceptable that entrenched educational gaps sharply divide Connecticut students along racial, ethnic, and economic lines. Stepping forward to help reduce these gaps is the right thing for all of us, and for all of our stakeholders.”
“We are grateful for the leadership of Bank of America, First County Bank, Lapine Associates, Pitney Bowes, Synchrony, and Xerox in forging this new education-focused collaborative,” said Juanita James, President and CEO, Fairfield County’s Community Foundation. “By pooling their philanthropic resources, leveraging the influence of their respective corporate brands, empowering their employees, and aligning around specific projects we believe we can make a meaningful and measurable difference in helping to close some of the opportunity gaps that exist in our region.”