This weekend, leaders from Georgia Power announced a series of historic grants from The Georgia Power Foundation to UNCF to support HBCUs across the state. Over the next five years, the Foundation will award $500,000 in grants to assist the UNCF in its mission to provide equal access to college education through a robust and nationally-recognized pipeline of under-represented students. UNCF’s goal is to increase the total number of African American college graduates by focusing on activities that ensure more students are college-ready, enrolled in college and on track to graduate.
Over the past decade, Georgia Power and the Georgia Power Foundation have contributed $1.2 million in support of UNCF through initiatives focused on education, youth scholarships and STEM.
“We are grateful to the Mayor’s office for continuing to present this annual event to raise funds and visibility for the important work of UNCF and, on behalf of Georgia Power, we are happy to be able to expand our support of this impactful organization,” said Bentina Terry, senior vice president of Regional External Affairs and Community Engagement at Georgia Power and co-chair of this year’s UNCF Mayor’s Masked Ball Atlanta. “We believe that a quality education and uplifting and mentoring the next generation of Georgians through our time and resources is key to ensuring our city and our state remain a thriving place to live, work and serve.”
“For nearly 80 years, UNCF has helped more than one million students earn college degrees. None of this would be possible without partners like this year’s supporting sponsor, Georgia Power,” said Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. “They are a tremendous community ally, and I am grateful for Georgia Power’s significant contribution towards the education of students enrolled in HBCUs across the state.”
The new 5-year commitment follows a recent announcement by Southern Company of $10 million in grants to provide Historically Black College and University (HBCU) students with incentives to use their talents to drive economic development in the communities that surround their campuses through internships, leadership development and innovation to support career readiness. This is part of a broader $50 million multi-year initiative by Southern Company to provide scholarships, internships, leadership development, access to technology and innovation to support career readiness for students attending select HBCUs within the Southern Company system’s service footprint. Of that original commitment, $40 million has been pledged to date – including a $25 million founding partnership with Apple to launch the Propel Center; a new digital learning hub; business incubator; and global innovation headquarters in Atlanta for HBCU students; $5 million to increase access to technology for HBCU students.
