Program Includes Eight Texas Colleges and
Universities; 21 Higher Education Partners and Major Employers in
Communities Across the U.S.
Multiple colleges and universities in Texas, including Dallas
College-El Centro Campus and Prairie View A&M University, and
Bank of America today announced a new multimillion dollar jobs
initiative to help students of color complete the education and
training necessary to be successful in today’s workforce as part of
the bank’s commitment to advancing racial equality and economic
opportunity. This initiative builds on Bank of America’s ongoing
work in Texas to address the underlying issues facing individuals
and communities of color who have been disproportionately impacted
by the current health crisis.
“Advancing economic mobility
through education and workforce training is a priority for Bank of
America in Texas and across the country,” said Jennifer Chandler,
Dallas market president for Bank of America. “Creating meaningful
career opportunities that include a pathway to reducing student
debt, obtaining health care and retirement benefits will ultimately
help Black and Hispanic-Latino students build net worth, help their
families, and have ripple effects across our communities and
greater economy.”
Dallas College-El Centro Campus and Prairie View A&M
University are each receiving $1 million as part of the bank’s $25
million, nationwide initiative with partnerships at 21 higher
education institutions, including community colleges, historically
Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and Hispanic-serving
institutions (HSIs). Bank of America is also partnering with and
providing funding to the Aspen Institute to convene the
participating higher education institutions for technical and
programmatic assistance and to share best practices.
“The current times have been very challenging and disruptive for
our students, often causing them to question whether they can
continue their studies,” said Dr. Ruth Simmons, president, Prairie
View A&M University. “Efforts by Bank of America to encourage
their persistence and ambition are very much needed and will create
a pathway for many to remain enrolled and complete their education.
We are grateful for the timeliness and generosity of these
actions.”
Additionally, the bank has expanded its support of higher
education institutions across the state by providing incremental
funding to:
- Alamo Colleges – St. Philip’s Campus
- Huston-Tillotson University
- St. Edward’s University
- Texas Christian University
- Texas Southern University
- University of North Texas
- University of Texas at Austin
- University of Texas at Arlington
This is in addition to the $15 million in philanthropic grants
Bank of America has made to support education and workforce
development in Texas over the past five years.
Today, less than 40% of community college students earn a
certificate or degree within six years of enrollment.1 For students
of color, graduation and completion rates are particularly low
–28.8% for Black students and 37.1% for Hispanic students.2 The
ongoing challenges stemming from the coronavirus have exacerbated
the financial struggle of HBCUs and HSIs, both public and private,
as they seek to serve students from the most vulnerable
communities.
“The Black and Latino students who attend Dallas College, an
amalgam of seven community colleges in Dallas County, will receive
job application and career counseling as soon as they enroll on
campus. We are preparing our students with relevant skills as well
as degrees,” says Dr. Pyeper Wilkins, vice chancellor of Dallas
Colleges. “Our partners, private companies of all sizes and across
many industries in and around Dallas, are in need of such
graduates.”
“I applaud Bank of America for its commitment to education and
workforce initiatives across Texas, including their generous
support for Aim Hire Texas,” said Margaret Spellings, former U.S.
secretary of education and chief executive officer of Texas 2036.
“This new statewide workforce initiative, co-chaired by Texas 2036
and The Commit Partnership, will work to ensure Texans have access
to more effective and innovative workforce training programs and
drive coordination and data-driven planning across the state. Their
early investment will ensure more Texans are matched with good jobs
that support a thriving state well into the future.”
Bank of America will work alongside other major employers in
Texas to ensure these programs target the region’s specific hiring
needs that will help Texan businesses grow and create clearly
defined career pathways to future employment.
“AT&T is committed to creating economic opportunities and
fostering upward mobility for Black, Hispanic and underserved
communities that face long-standing social inequities and higher
unemployment,” said Mike Peterson, vice president, AT&T-Texas.
“Our contribution to this effort underscores our ongoing commitment
to helping students succeed in the classroom and beyond. As we
continue on this journey, we aspire to continue to remove barriers
to academic success and career growth, and to help all students
make their biggest dreams become a reality.”
“Like Bank of America and AT&T, IBM is committed to helping
students build their skills to better prepare for the future of
work,” said Dexter Henderson, IBM senior location executive,
Austin, HBCU graduate and board of trustee member, Huston-Tillotson
University. “We recognize that equal access to skills and jobs is
the key to unlocking economic opportunity and prosperity for Black
and Latino students. We are deeply focused on creating statewide
and national opportunities for students to gain in-demand skills in
emerging technologies across hybrid cloud, quantum and AI so they
can flourish in the digital economy.”
The initiative is part of the bank’s recent $1 billion,
four-year commitment to advance racial equality and economic
opportunity, and its $25 million commitment to enhance up-skilling
and reskilling for Black and Hispanic-Latino individuals. Bank of
America also recently announced:
- Seven Completed Equity Investments in Minority Depository
Institutions and Community Development Financial Institution
Banks
- $2 Billion Equality Progress Sustainability Bond
- Universal ESG Reporting; International Business Council of
World Economic Forum
- Recognition as Top Global Bank on Fortune’s “Change the World”
List
- Support of Boys & Girls Clubs of America With $1 Million
Grant to Support Educational Programs
- $250 Million in Capital and $10 Million in Philanthropic Grants
to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs)
1 (Bailey et al. 2015) - Bailey, Thomas, Shanna Smith Jaggars,
and Davis Jenkins. Redesigning America’s Community Colleges: A
Clearer Path to Student Success. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard
University Press, 2015. 2 Columbia Teachers College – Community
College Research Center – Community College FAQs:
https://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Community-College-FAQs.html.
Bank of America At Bank of America, we’re guided by a common
purpose to help make financial lives better, through the power of
every connection. We’re delivering on this through responsible
growth with a focus on our environmental, social and governance
(ESG) leadership. ESG is embedded across our eight lines of
business and reflects how we help fuel the global economy, build
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work for, invest in and do business with. It’s demonstrated in the
inclusive and supportive workplace we create for our employees, the
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impact we make around the world in helping local economies thrive.
An important part of this work is forming strong partnerships with
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networks and expertise to achieve greater impact. Learn more at
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(@BofA_News).
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201119005481/en/
Reporters may contact: Carla Molina, Bank of America
Phone: 1.512.397.2402 carla.molina@bofa.com
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