KeyBank Foundation Invests $1.25 Million to Support Workforce Development, DEI and Education in Northeast Ohio

CLEVELAND, February 6, 2023 /3BL Media/ – The KeyBank Foundation is investing a total of $1,250,000 in seven non-profit organizations in Northeast Ohio to support workforce development, education, and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. These grants are part of KeyBank’s commitment to invest $40 billion in the communities it serves. 

“Cleveland is KeyBank’s hometown and we have a long, proud history of supporting organizations here and in all of the communities we serve,” said Kelly Lamirand, KeyBank Cleveland Market President. “With these grants, we are lifting up and amplifying efforts that will make our communities even stronger through workforce training, financial education and economic development.”

Organizations receiving funding include:

Cleveland Development Advisors Community Reinvestment Fund, Inc.
Cleveland Development Advisors - Community Reinvestment Fund (CDA-CRF) is a 501c3 nonprofit organization created by Cleveland Development Advisors, a real estate affiliate of the Greater Cleveland Partnership. Its mission is to promote inclusive and thriving neighborhoods in northeast Ohio by providing innovative financing solutions and technical assistance to catalytic real estate and business development projects.

Funding will support the Equitable Development Ecosystem Collaborative (EDEC), which will provide greater access, increased efficiency, and long-term success for developers of color in the real estate development industry. With a collaborative approach, the EDEC will bring together industry leaders and stakeholders, who will collectively work towards addressing industry wide challenges that developers of color are faced with. The anticipation is that the EDEC can charter a strategic plan to advocate and solve for these various challenges.

Urban League of Greater Cleveland
The mission of the Urban League of Greater Cleveland (ULGC) is to enable African Americans and other minority members to develop and exercise their potential on par with all other Americans through education, research, advocacy and provision of services.

Funds will support the ULGC’s UBIZ Program which makes capital and technical assistance readily available to serious and high potential African American small businesses who have challenges obtaining traditional small business loan. UBIZ was established in 2019 after a successful three-year capital pilot program. It was born out of a persistent challenge of African American and other disadvantaged small businesses in accessing much needed capital to adequately grow their businesses.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Ohio
The mission of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Ohio (BGCNEO) is to inspire and enable the young people who need us most to reach their full potential as productive, responsible, caring citizens. It provides safe, fun places for kids ages 6-18 to go after school. The Clubs’ focus on academic achievement, healthy lifestyles and character development. The Clubs’ youth development professionals provide programming that includes arts, athletics and homework help.

Funds will help support the Career Readiness Certificate Program which helps prepare teens to complete high school and enter post-secondary education or a job, as part of a plan that leads to a fulfilling, family-sustaining career with opportunities for advancement. To promote equity and reduce barriers, youth will leverage the time they already spend at their neighborhood club, and BGCNEO will provide transportation for off-site exposure and work experiences.

Ursuline College
Ursuline College’s mission is to offer holistic education that transforms students for service, leadership, and professional excellence. The College provides undergraduate and graduate programs that foster lifelong learning and personal wisdom in an environment characterized by Catholic and Ursuline heritage, women-centered learning, values-based curricula, and inclusive, global perspective.

Funds will support the College’s Master of Medical Science Physician Assistant Program and help build a diverse pipeline of highly skilled, compassionate health care professionals to meet the needs of medically underserved areas/populations, as well as to relieve workforce shortages among local health systems.  This effort will foster opportunities for students from diverse backgrounds to pursue careers as Physician Assistants and provide Physician Assistant students from all backgrounds with the skills and knowledge to be culturally competent clinicians, improving experiences for patients and reducing health and health care disparities.

Friends of Ginn Academy
The Friends of Ginn Academy provides support to the academic environment designed to provide educational instruction in core and elective subject areas at The Ginn Academy.

This grant will help the Youth Support Staff at The Ginn Academy. The staff that is the link between home and school, and the student and teacher. The Youth Support Staff is on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and is responsible for charting and monitoring attendance, academics and social-emotional behavior of their cohort of approximately 25 students. They are key to the success of urban males graduating high school and matriculating to college, workforce of the military.

City Year
City Year’s mission is to build democracy through citizen service, civic leadership, and social entrepreneurship. It fulfills this mission by focusing on improving education outcomes with the goal of helping all students graduate from high school, prepared for college and career success. To reach this goal, City Year unites highly motivated, young adult AmeriCorps members to serve as student success coaches in schools challenged by persistent inequity in our education system. City Year AmeriCorps members come from diverse ethnic, educational, and socio-economic backgrounds to engage in a year of full-time service, leadership development and civic engagement.

Funding will support the implementation of City Year’s evidence-based Whole School, Whole Child (WSWC) model in Cleveland schools. During the 2022-2023 school year, City Year Cleveland is serving in three Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) schools: Mound STEM Elementary, A.B. Hart Elementary, Harvey Rice Wraparound and one Breakthrough Schools campus: and Breakthrough’s E Prep & Village Prep Cliffs Campus (grades K-8). Through the WSWC model, diverse teams of AmeriCorps members ages 18 to 25 commit to a year of full-time national service as tutors, mentors and “near peer” role models in our partner schools. While there, they create lasting impacts on students’ lives by providing individual and whole school supports in the areas of learning and development proven to have the greatest impact on graduation rates and long-term success outcomes.  

City Club of Cleveland
The City Club of Cleveland was founded in 1912 and remains one of the oldest free speech forums in the United States. The City Club has hosted more than 7,000 speakers over the last 110 years, individuals from all walks of life, including a string of sitting U.S. Presidents, from Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama have addressed the City Club.

Funds will support the City Club’s commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and access. This grant will help construct the City Club’s new home in Playhouse Square that increases capacity to more than 300 guests. The facility will also include digital production upgrades that will allow the City Club to provide more access to its events and forums, creating opportunities for those who might not be able to attend in person to have a literal seat at the table.

Since 2017, KeyBank has invested more than $1.6 billion in Northeast Ohio through its National Community Benefits Plan, supporting affordable housing and community development projects; small business and home lending; and transformative philanthropy.

ABOUT KEYBANK
KeyBank's roots trace back nearly 200 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, KeyCorp is one of the nation's largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $189.8 billion at December 31, 2022. Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of approximately 1,000 branches and approximately 1,300 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank is Member FDIC.

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