The American Water Charitable Foundation will present a check for $10,000 to Jobs for the Future on Friday in a noon ceremony at the Tennessee American Water downtown office. The check will be presented by Deron Allen, president of Tennessee American Water, to Nancy Hoffman, vice president of Jobs for the Future.

The grant will fund the Pathways to Prosperity Network, a collaboration between the Pathways to Prosperity Project at Harvard Graduate School of Education, Jobs for the Future, and nine states focused on ensuring that many more young people complete high school and attain a post-secondary credential with currency in the labor market.  The goal is to support young people in entering an initial career while leaving open the prospect of further education.  

The funds will support the Pathways to Prosperity Network through the Public Education Foundation and will be used to support the Southeast Tennessee STEM Innovation Hub’s initiatives to expand STEM education to all students in the region.  Chattanooga and Upper Cumberland are the regions selected by Tennessee as the initial sites for building pathways. 

“JFF and its Chattanooga partner, the Public Education Fund, are grateful to the American Water Charitable Foundation for the support it is providing to enhance the outcomes of young people in education and in the labor market,”  said Ms. Hoffman.  “Society and the economy will benefit if a greater number of young people choose and are prepared for high skill careers that will allow them to fill regional employer needs and build a stronger middle class in their communities.” 

“The American Water Charitable Foundation seeks to support our employees' efforts to give back, through donations and volunteer efforts, to the communities we serve, and Jobs for the Future was selected for a grant based on what our employees felt were important needs in their communities,” states Mr. Allen. “We are proud to support Job for the Future’s vision of doubling the number of low-income youth and adults who attain postsecondary credentials by 2020.”

Established in 2010 with a founding contribution from American Water, the American Water Charitable Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that provides a formal way to demonstrate the company’s ongoing commitment to being a good neighbor, citizen, and contributor to the communities where American Water and its employees live, work and operate. The Foundation helps support American Water employee-identified nonprofit endeavors. 

The donation to Jobs for the Future is one of five, one-time grants recently awarded by the American Water Charitable Foundation to select organizations in the company’s service areas.  In a recent survey, American Water employees ranked veterans, youth, community, environment and health/welfare as the most important types of services supported by nonprofit organizations. Potential grantee organizations were then selected in each of these categories on a competitive basis according to criteria established by the foundation’s Employee Advisory Committee.