Invest In Others Awards Six Grants As Part Of Its Inaugural Grants For Change Program

ANDOVER, Mass., Dec. 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Invest in Others Charitable Foundation ("Invest in Others"), a nonprofit dedicated to furthering and amplifying the charitable work of financial professionals and their firms, has awarded more than $125,000 to six charities as part of its inaugural Grants for Change program, providing critical support to a wide range of initiatives that offer life-changing opportunities to benefit underserved communities.

From financial literacy to college readiness and homelessness, the six grants will serve communities of color across a wide swath of the country, including Memphis, Philadelphia, Austin, Baltimore, Washington, D.C. and Atlanta. The grant recipients include:

• ARISE2Read
• Catch the Next, Inc.
• Literacy Institute for Financial Enrichment
• Rainbow Village
• Rho Education Foundation
• Stocks in the Future

Griffin Capital made a substantial financial commitment as the lead sponsor of Grants for Change. Other sponsors of the program include BNY Mellon | Pershing, Cetera Financial Group, Fidelity Investments, Hightower and JConnelly.  

"We are grateful to our sponsors and proud to support local nonprofits making a difference in their communities," said Megan McAuley, Executive Director and President of the Invest in Others Charitable Foundation. "We hope these grants help the six charities in their efforts to level the playing field and provide opportunities to communities of color. This is particularly significant at a time when so many of these organizations and those they serve are struggling with the disproportionate effects of COVID-19." 

Nearly 300 members of the financial community, including wealth managers, asset managers and other financial service professionals, submitted grant applications on behalf of the charities they serve. A diverse panel of judges evaluated the applications according to key criteria, including demographic makeup of target communities, anticipated number of people served and expected results.

"With our Grants for Change program, Invest in Others is working to create more inclusivity, not only in the charities we help serve but also within the broader financial community," said Invest in Others Chairman Mark Goldberg. "For the first time in our 14-year history, we opened this grant program to any employee of the financial services industry. Our community aspires to include all manner of diversity, to include all professionals that service clients and, specifically, those that engage in the worthwhile cause of the betterment of others."

Amir Reda, an asset manager with T. Rowe Price and board member of Stocks in the Future, a nonprofit that teaches financial literacy to low-income middle school students in underserved Baltimore neighborhoods, secured a $25,000 grant that will allow the organization to broaden its program to include high school students, pregnant teenagers, young adults and ESOL students using a new Spanish curriculum.

"We are in a moment where the wealth gap has grown to the point that it's worse than it was during the French Revolution," said Reda, noting that Stocks in the Future is also looking to extend the program outside of Baltimore. "You can't be something unless you see something. It's important for children in these communities to be able to see that there is a way out of poverty-stricken environments."

For children living in low-income communities, community college can provide an affordable pathway to obtaining a four-year degree. But, too often, when students from underserved communities graduate from high school, they are deemed not college-ready and placed in developmental math and English courses. Catch the Next, Inc., an Austin-based nonprofit, works with majority Latinx students to help students exit these "gatekeeper" courses and go on to earn credits toward their eventual degrees.

"These are really challenging times for higher education," said Lillian Gray, an executive at Bank of America and Catch the Next, Inc. board member who secured a $25,000 grant for the nonprofit. "Often it only takes one generation to potentially transform a family's destiny, and education is central to that. My grandfather didn't finish high school, yet his children finished college and I graduated from Yale. Too often, race, income-level and immigration status are predictive of educational attainment. All students should have the opportunity to benefit from the life-changing opportunity of a college degree."  

To learn more about the six 2020 Grants for Change recipients, visit investinothers.org/grants-for-change.

About the Invest in Others Charitable Foundation
The inspiration for the Invest in Others Charitable Foundation came directly from the financial advisors who invest in others by giving back to their communities with overwhelming generosity and dedication. Since its founding in 2006, Invest in Others has amplified these efforts by providing a platform for advisors and other financial professionals to increase awareness, visibility, and funding to their favorite nonprofits. Over the past 14 years, IiO has given more than $3 million to 300+ charities across a variety of causes, including health and wellness, education and youth programs, arts and culture, hunger and poverty prevention, military and veterans and more. For more information, visit investinothers.org or follow Invest in Others on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

Media Contact:
Jessica Dunham, Director of Programs and Communications|
Invest in Others Charitable Foundation
[email protected] | 781.304.4812

SOURCE Invest in Others Charitable Foundation