IBM Grants $40,000 to American Indian College Fund to Continue Scholarship Program

DENVER, Jan. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- IBM awarded $40,000 to the American Indian College Fund to support American Indian students' pursuit of higher education. A large portion of the grant continues the IBM Tribal College Scholarship Program for the 2010-11 academic year, providing scholarship support to Native American students studying science, technology, engineering, mathematics, or business at the nation's tribal colleges and universities.

A portion of this gift went to help support the 2010 annual Flame of Hope Gala. The event raises awareness and funds to help Native students achieve their educational and career goals.

"IBM and the Native community within is a proud supporter of many initiatives, including the American Indian College Fund in the form of scholarships for Native students attending the tribal colleges and universities," said Michele Morningstar of IBM's Diversity Center of Competence. "We not only want to help provide opportunities for students to attain their academic dreams but also help them pursue their personal and professional endeavors with access to the tools and technology needed to succeed in the 21st century."

"We are honored to be a part of IBM's philanthropic efforts," said Richard B. Williams, President and CEO of the American Indian College Fund. "Their longtime support of the Fund has allowed numerous Native students to obtain a college degree, and for that we are grateful."

About IBM

The objective of IBM's philanthropic initiatives is to strategically focus our best and most valuable resource — our technologies, especially the innovative solutions that come from our world class research laboratories, and our employee talent and expertise.  We apply it against critical societal issues and problems such as education, health, energy and the environment, language/literacy, sustainable and vibrant cities, disaster relief and culture to assist communities around the world.  Our key programs include the Corporate Service Corps, which annually deploys teams of selected high potential employees to emerging regions to work with government, nonprofit and non-governmental organizations on critical local projects; World Community Grid, which utilizes grid computing technology to harness the tremendous power of idle computers to perform specific computations related to critical research around complex biological, environmental and health-related issues; and our On Demand Community volunteer initiative,  which has facilitated the contribution of over 10 million hours of volunteer service to schools and nonprofit organizations around the world by our employees and retirees. For more information about IBM's philanthropic work, please visit http://www.ibm.com/ibm/ibmgives/.

About the American Indian College Fund

With its credo "Educating the Mind and Spirit," the American Indian College Fund is the nation's largest private provider of scholarships for American Indian students, providing an average of 6,000 scholarships annually for students seeking to better their lives and communities through education and support to the nation's 33 accredited tribal colleges and universities. For more information about the American Indian College Fund, please visit www.collegefund.org.

SOURCE American Indian College Fund