E3 Alliance Recognized by Bank of America as 2015 Neighborhood Builder® for Its Commitment to Higher Student Outcomes and Strong Economic Future
Press Release
November 4, 2015
Reporters May Contact:
Britney Sheehan
Bank of America
425-467-9744 512-223-7244
britney.w.sheehan@bankofamerica.com
Khotan Shahbazi-Harmon
E3 Alliance
kharmon@e3alliance.org
E3 Alliance Recognized by Bank of America as 2015 Neighborhood Builder® for its Commitment to Higher Student Outcomes and Strong Economic Future Neighborhood Builders helps nonprofits increase Central Texas impact through leadership development and $200,000 in flexible funding
AUSTIN- Bank of America has named E3 Alliance as a 2015 Neighborhood Builder. The nonprofit is being recognized for its work in Central Texas to create research-validated strategies that prepare students for higher education and the workforce of the future. Neighborhood Builders combines leadership development resources with $200,000 of flexible funding intended to help increase their capacity and impact in the Austin community.
“The measureable impacts made by nonprofits and their leaders as they tackle challenging community issues are vital to Austin’s economic growth,” said Nikki Graham, Austin Market President for Bank of America. “E3 Alliance’s game-changing work in the education realm not only benefits our students today, but also sets them up for success as tomorrow’s leaders and citizen contributors. With the resources provided through Neighborhood Builders, our hope is that E3 is able to enhance its programs and positive results.”
E3 Alliance is focused on building the strongest educational pipeline in the country to drive regional economic prosperity. A catalyst for change, E3 works collaboratively with schools, community organizations and businesses to provide the best information, leveraged resources and expertise to create the highest education outcomes for students across Central Texas. E3’s focus is systems-building through collective impact, and its model to transform education is based on three activities: 1) Produce ground-breaking action-research and analysis about education outcomes and trends and share findings with decision-makers to drive change; 2) Engage the community in unprecedented ways, bringing stakeholders together in tangible action planning to build the public will for change; and 3) Align education systems to bridge disconnects between institutions, overcome barriers to student success, share best practices and optimize resources to create the best possible outcomes.
The recently completed RAISEup Texas demonstration project launched in January 2011 based on data indicating that middle schools in Central Texas faced huge challenges, both in supporting struggling learners and in providing sufficient critical thinking skills to prepare students for college, career and life. The carefully designed, evidence-based project served 13,000 students in six schools, with 75 percent of RAISEup Texas schools in the target districts
receiving the state “Closing Performance Gaps” distinction versus 25 percent of all middle schools in the region. Amazing results were achieved by all students, but especially for struggling learners. RAISEup Texas struggling learners showed 10 times as many point gains in pre- versus post-test outcomes as their nationally-normed peers from across the country.
School districts and community leaders have called for expansion of this effort across Central Texas, targeting those schools with high populations of struggling learners that are not showing sufficient academic growth to close achievement gaps. With Bank of America’s support, E3 Alliance will be able to expand RAISEup Texas and take it to scale. This effort will directly impact 16 schools, 1,100 teachers and more than 28,000 students over the next four years while ultimately creating a true tipping point for population-level change across our region.
“We are honored to be chosen as a 2015 Neighborhood Builder,” said Susan Dawson, President and Executive Director of E3 Alliance. “Bank of America’s investment of $200,000 will help us further build capacity in our work to transform teaching and learning for middle schools to achieve higher student outcomes in Central Texas. We believe that a strong economic future is dependent on building the strongest educational pipeline in the country!”
Since 2004, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation has invested $183 million in more than 900 nonprofit organizations and provided leadership resources to nearly 2,000 nonprofit leaders through Neighborhood Builders and the Neighborhood Builders Leadership Program®. This long-term investment in nonprofit leadership development and capacity building is the largest philanthropic investment of its kind.
Neighborhood Builders is just one example of Bank of America’s broader corporate social responsibility efforts to build vibrant communities and economies. By advancing partnerships with nonprofits addressing needs related to community development, basic human services and workforce development and education, Bank of America is working to increase financial stability and help individuals and families find the pathways out of poverty.
About Bank of America Corporate Social Responsibility
At Bank of America, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is critical to fulfilling our core purpose of making people’s financial lives better. A commitment to growing our business responsibly is embedded in every aspect of our company, from our policies and practices to our services, products, governance and employee benefits. An important part of that commitment is forming strong partnerships across sectors, including nonprofit organizations serving community needs, bringing our collective networks and expertise to achieve greater impact. We’re proud of our employees’ volunteer efforts, support of diversity and inclusion, and environmental and social responsibility. Across our company, we’re focused on simplifying banking and investing, advancing better money habits and making an impact in communities around the world. Learn more at www.bankofamerica.com/about and follow us on Twitter at @BofA_News.
About E3 Alliance
Education Equals Economics (E3 Alliance) is a regional, data-driven, education collaborative based in Austin, Texas. We are leading the effort to build the strongest educational pipeline in the country to drive economic prosperity for Central Texas. We do this by using objective data and focused community collaboration to align our education systems so that all students can succeed. Together with the Central Texas community, we have created The Blueprint for Educational Change, our region’s strategic plan to build the strongest educational pipeline in the country.
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