Boys & Girls Clubs of America Expands Effort to Close Digital Divide with More Than $3 Million in Comcast Foundation Grants
My.Future Initiative Celebrates One Year Anniversary of Providing
Hands-On Technology Training to Help Youth Succeed in the Digital Age
ATLANTA & PHILADELPHIA–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Boys
& Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) and Comcast
NBCUniversal announced today the Comcast
Foundation has invested more than $3 million in BGCA’s My.Future
technology initiative. The grants are part of the company’s five-year
partnership with BGCA, which was announced last year and is valued at
tens of millions of dollars. The grants will further develop the
My.Future technology platform and curriculum and give more Clubs access
to the technology, tools and teachers to activate the program. My.Future
provides hands-on technology training to equip Club kids with the skills
needed to compete in a 21st century economy.
BGCA is using $1.5 million to further develop and build-out the
My.Future program. The remaining funding is being awarded to
approximately 90 local Boys & Girls Clubs across the country to provide
Club staff with training and to purchase state-of-the-art equipment that
reflects today’s mobile environment, including computers, tablets,
smartboards, digital cameras, music studio tools and video-editing
technology needed for the Clubs to fully implement and teach the
My.Future curriculum.
“With the ever-changing technological world we live in, it is our
responsibility to make sure that kids and teens are equipped with the
tools and resources needed to compete for 21st century jobs,
leadership opportunities and to thrive in today’s digital world,” said
Jim Clark, President and CEO of BGCA. “Thanks to our partnership with
Comcast NBCUniversal to create and continually evolve our My.Future
program, we’ve seen valuable impact for Club members, improving digital
literacy from igniting passions in robotics to coding and game design.
We are excited to see the program grow and influence even more Club
youth.”
“Comcast NBCUniversal is proud to partner with BGCA to expand My.Future
to help conquer the digital divide,” said David L. Cohen, Senior
Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer, Comcast
Corporation. “My.Future is an exceptional initiative to help educate
today’s youth about our digital world, and I commend BGCA for their
dedication to teaching Club members the skills they need to pursue
bright futures.”
My.Future is a cutting-edge technology education initiative that
provides hands-on experiences and enables Club members to select from
more than 40 activities to help them understand how to safely and
productively engage online and identify and develop digital interests –
from Internet basics for technology beginners, to robotics, coding, game
design and online journalism for advanced learners.
Since 2011, Comcast and the Comcast Foundation have dedicated more than
$240 million in cash and in-kind support to fund digital readiness
initiatives nationwide, reaching nearly 3.2 million people through
non-profit, digital literacy partners, including Boys & Girls Clubs of
America. Comcast has supported local Boys & Girls Clubs for more than a
decade, providing more than $100 million in cash and in-kind
contributions.
About Boys & Girls Clubs of America
For more than 100 years, Boys & Girls Clubs of America
(GreatFutures.org) has enabled young people most in need to achieve
great futures as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Today, more
than 4,100 Clubs serve nearly 4 million young people annually through
Club membership and community outreach. Clubs are located in cities,
towns, public housing and on Native lands throughout the country, and
serve military families in BGCA-affiliated Youth Centers on U.S.
military installations worldwide. They provide a safe place, caring
adult mentors, fun, friendship, and high-impact youth development
programs on a daily basis during critical non-school hours. Priority
programs emphasize academic success, good character and citizenship, and
healthy lifestyles. In a Harris Survey of alumni, 54 percent said the
Club saved their lives. National headquarters are located in Atlanta.
Learn more at http://www.bgca.org/facebook
and http://bgca.org/twitter.
About Comcast Corporation
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) is a global media and
technology company with two primary businesses, Comcast Cable and
NBCUniversal. Comcast Cable is one of the nation’s largest video,
high-speed Internet and phone providers to residential customers under
the XFINITY brand and also provides these services to businesses.
NBCUniversal operates news, entertainment and sports cable networks, the
NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, television production operations,
television station groups, Universal Pictures and Universal Parks and
Resorts. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com
for more information.
About the Comcast Foundation
The Comcast Foundation was founded by Comcast Corporation in June 1999
to provide charitable support to qualified non-profit organizations. The
Foundation primarily invests in programs intended to have a positive,
sustainable impact on their communities. The Foundation has three
community investment priorities—promoting service, expanding digital
literacy, and building tomorrow’s leaders. Since its inception, the
Comcast Foundation has donated more than $170 million to organizations
in the communities nationwide that Comcast serves. More information
about the Foundation and its programs is available at www.comcast.com/community.
Contacts
Boys & Girls Clubs of America
Sara Leutzinger,
404-487-5624
sleutzinger@bgca.org
or
Comcast
Katie
Lubenow, 215-286-5691
katie_lubenow@comcast.com
or
Lisa
Ferri, 215-286-7676
lisa_ferri@comcast.com
