Building Thriving Futures: KeyBank Partners With Urban Arts To Create Career Pathways Through Digital Gaming

Through its funding priorities in education and workforce, KeyBank Foundation has committed a $300,000 community impact grant payable over three years as an investment in Urban Arts, a national nonprofit organization located in New York City that teaches video game design to historically underserved youth as a pathway to college and career. They provide students with a comprehensive curriculum in the art and technology of game design through computer science, coding, animation, music and storytelling. They also offer top-tier college access and scholarships services, and connect alumni to mentorship and internship opportunities at leading corporations, generating a new and diverse talent pipeline.

“Urban Arts’ mission aligns with our commitment to support organizations and programs that prepare individuals for thriving futures,“ says John Manginelli, Market President for KeyBank’s Hudson Valley & Metro NY market. “They are transforming lives and cultivating next-up talent nationwide, and we are proud to support their efforts.”

Urban Arts teaches STEM and STEAM through digital game design, a novel approach that

• boosts persistence in the computer sciences for youth from low-income communities,
• generates technically expert and creatively confident youth ready for college and career, and
• ensures a more equitable future economy.

When students make their own video game, they actually learn high-level computer science literacy—multiple programming languages, animation, sound production, digital art, story-telling—as well as collaboration and leadership, skills necessary for all future jobs. “There is no other organization that offers programs that allow you to not only explore what you're passionate about—the arts, such as video games—on top of things that are more technical or skill-based like programming and music production. You truly get the best of both worlds and it's really flexible,” says Sydney E. an Urban Arts game designer and current rising sophomore at Barnard College.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, careers in computer and information technology are projected to grow 11% from 2019 to 2029, faster than the average for all occupations. Still, women and people of color are grossly underrepresented in the creative tech workforce and beyond across nearly all industries. “At Urban Arts, we imagine a world where young people gain economic mobility through meaningful careers as creators, thinkers and leaders in the creative and technology fields,” says Philip Courtney, CEO of Urban Arts.

Urban Arts is generating a new diverse talent pipeline in three distinct steps.

• They offer a multi-year STEM education program in schools nationwide and at their Learning Lab in New York City. Game On, their custom high school college curriculum, has just been endorsed by the College Board.
• Their college access program enrolls 100% of Urban Arts’ seniors into college. They’ve earned $25M in scholarships since 2017.
• Further, Urban Arts connects their alumni to mentorships and internships at leading companies, generating exposure and access to the world of work.

“KeyBank has long maintained a focus on college attainment, and through KeyBank Foundation we partner with nonprofit organizations that are moving the needle in college enrollment and retention rates for underserved students,” says Manginelli. “We want young people to achieve the skills, education and capabilities they need to succeed in current and future employment opportunities.” Manginelli went on to say, “At KeyBank, we prize a culture where diversity is valued and inclusion is fostered, and we seek partners, like Urban Arts, who bring innovative programs and approaches that solve a community need.”

KeyBank Foundation grants are part of a $40 billion commitment for lending and investments across Key’s national footprint established in 2017 and supporting affordable housing and community development projects, home, and small business lending in low- and-moderate income communities, and philanthropic efforts targeted toward education, workforce development, and safe, vital neighborhoods.

Urban Arts is grateful for KeyBank Foundations’ investment in their transformational outcomes. Together, the two organizations are helping to build a powerful, creative, and inclusive future.

For more information on Urban Arts, visit www.UrbanArts.org

For more Information on KeyBank Foundation, visit www.Key.com/Foundation.