Support comes as part of Bank of America’s Neighborhood Builders program, which empowers high-performing nonprofits to address pressing community challenges
HARTFORD – Bank of America has announced the Connecticut Public as the 2016 Neighborhood Builder recipient. The nonprofit is being recognized for its work at the Learning Lab, which partners with Hartford Public Schools to teach hands-on media skills to students. The Lab also runs job skills programs for veterans.
Through Neighborhood Builders, the bank provides nonprofits with a unique combination of leadership development, $200,000 in flexible funding, a network of peer organizations across the U.S. and the opportunity to access capital in order to expand their impact in the Greater Hartford community.
“Connecticut Public Broadcasting plays a unique role in Hartford, keeping us all informed while also supporting the community through programs like the Leaning Lab,” said Kevin Cunningham, Connecticut president, Bank of America. “The Neighborhood Builders program is designed to connect outstanding nonprofits, like CPBN, to the funding and leadership development resources they need to scale their impact and help our community to thrive.”
CPBN has made a tremendous impact through their work with the Learning Lab, seeing increases in graduation rates for students and especially through the veteran skills training program, which has an 85 percent job placement rate. The Neighborhood Builder grant will allow these critical opportunities to reach more Hartford residents.
“CPBN is grateful for Bank of America’s continued support of our community education initiatives,” said Connecticut Public Broadcasting’s President & CEO Jerry Franklin. “When we envisioned the Learning Lab, we hoped to provide resources and hands-on media instruction to members of the Hartford community including high school students, veterans and adult learners. The Neighborhood Builders Grant will not only allow us to continue with this mission, but it will also provide our Learning Lab instructors with necessary leadership development training.”
Since 2004, through Neighborhood Builders, Bank of America has helped nonprofits create greater impact in their communities and better prepare for the future by providing the tools and resources they need to develop stronger strategic plans, chart a succession plan, navigate through tough economic times, and enhance their funding opportunities. Since the program’s inception, Bank of America has invested more than $180 million in 900 nonprofit organizations across the country, providing leadership resources to nearly 2,000 nonprofit leaders, and the program has been recognized as the nation’s largest philanthropic investment in nonprofit leadership development.
Neighborhood Builders is a signature demonstration of the bank’s work to address issues fundamental to economic mobility in order to build thriving communities and illustrates how strong cross-sector partnerships and local community leaders can play a meaningful role in positioning communities for success. The awardees are selected by a local market selection committee with representation by local community leaders from diverse sectors.
About Bank of America Environmental, Social and Governance
At Bank of America, our focus on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors is critical to fulfilling our purpose of helping make people’s financial lives better. Our commitment to growing our business responsibly is embedded in every aspect of our company. It is demonstrated in the inclusive and supportive workplace we create for our employees, the responsible products and services we offer our customers, and the impact we help create around the world in helping local economies thrive. An important part of this work is forming strong partnerships across sectors – including community and environmental advocate groups, as well as non-profits – in order to bring together our collective networks and expertise to achieve greater impact. Learn more at www.bankofamerica.com/about and connect with us on Twitter at @BofA_News.
About Connecticut Public Broadcasting
The Connecticut Public (CPBN) is home to CPTV, WNPR and the Learning Lab. CPTV is a locally and nationally recognized producer and presenter of quality public television programming, including original documentaries, public affairs and educational programming. WNPR is an affiliate of National Public Radio, Public Radio International and American Public Media. The Learning Lab serves high school seniors through a partnership with Hartford Public Schools and the Journalism and Media Academy Magnet School. It is also home to the Institute for Advanced Media, a program that provides the men and women of our armed forces and adult learners an opportunity to learn skills necessary for the 21st century digital media workplace. For more information, visit cpbn.org.