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Chosen by GMB employees, ACE Mentor Program, Michigan CASA, New City Kids, and Grand Rapids Urban League are helping communities flourish, creating opportunity for all
GMB Architecture + Engineering, a 53-year old firm of educational planners, architects and engineers, announced today a $20,000 gift to four organizations who are working to impact students and their communities. Michigan CASA, New City Kids, Grand Rapids Urban League, and ACE Mentor Program each received $5,000 to help propel their missions and continue their work in their communities.
GMB believes education provides transformational opportunities for our communities, industries, and our world, and recognizes that we are just one part of an ecosystem of people, communities, and ideas working to foster continual learning opportunities for students of all ages. As an integral part of furthering that purpose, GMB wants to continually partner alongside others with kindred endeavors to accomplish more, together. This year, all of the firm’s employees worked in groups to research organizations whose great work in the community impacts students in many areas of their lives, fosters continual learning, and creates opportunity for all. In addition to partnering with the selected organizations to assist in many of their initiatives, the GMB Foundation is contributing a monetary gift for each organization to use in fueling their causes and programming.
GMB is providing a named scholarship for both the Indianapolis, Indiana, and Lansing, Michigan, affiliates of the ACE Mentor Program. Additionally, GMB employees will be involved through mentoring, sharing experiences, and leading project site visits for students in the program. ACE is a free, award-winning afterschool program designed to encourage high school students to pursue careers in architecture, construction, and engineering, including skilled trades. Founded in 1994, ACE now has more than 70 affiliates in 37 states, and hundreds of alumni who have been inspired to find career success in these industries.
“We’re grateful for the opportunity to provide additional scholarships for students to experience the architecture, construction and engineering industries, particularly in Indianapolis and the new Lansing affiliate,” said Khalil Berryhill, regional director, ACE Mentor Program. “Beyond this gift, GMB’s partnership and active involvement in sharing their expertise with students in the program is invaluable.”
Michigan CASA is the statewide association for 28 local programs for “Court Appointed Special Advocates for children,” and has allocated these funds for the 2022 educational series. The monthly training series for nearly 100 CASA directors, staff, and volunteers covers important topics such as diversity, equity, and inclusion, trauma, and best practices for those who work with children in the foster care system.
“We thank GMB Foundation for this incredible gift that will support our on-going Educational Series trainings in 2022. With this generous donation, Michigan CASA will continue to provide financial support, training and services to help the local programs operate in the most effective way possible to be able to provide best interest advocacy to the children of our state,” said Patty Sabin, President/CEO of Michigan CASA.
Giving youth a safe space to explore music and academics in a creative and fun environment, New City Kids offers afterschool programming for local low-income youth in urban areas. This year, the organization planned to hire 50 teenagers as tutors and music instructors, up from 42 last year. The group’s directors had faith that support for the initiative would come, and had more than 75 eager students apply to fill the 20 open positions. Now they can ensure all 50 student instructors earn a paycheck for their valuable work, inspiring others in the program to develop their own skills and talents as viable income-generating career paths.
“We are thrilled to have our community behind us to support in such tangible ways,” said Christy Knetsch, executive director of New City Kids. “Because of this generous gift, we will be able to ensure that our teenagers earn a paycheck for their hard work as tutors and music instructors.”
The Grand Rapids Urban League of West Michigan works to help all people, especially minorities and people of color, to achieve self-sufficiency and equality through a variety of programs that address employment, education, housing and health. The Urban League’s Center for Education Innovation and Parent Empowerment supplies resources and a place where people come together to creatively solve issues and advance student, family, and community success in all aspects of education.
“We sincerely appreciate the investment in the Grand Rapids Urban League and the work we’re doing in our community to empower people through self-sufficiency and equality,” said Gregg Hampshire, director of the Center for Health, Wellness and Youth at Grand Rapids Urban League.
“GMB is a people-first employee-owned company that believes strongly in extending our values of learning, growing, and giving into our communities. By encouraging our employees to put forward organizations in their own communities, we’re able to contribute to initiatives that our people are passionate about and where the impact can be more greatly felt in our ecosystem,” said GMB CEO David Bolt.
Learn more about GMB and the learning ecosystems they’re creating at www.gmb.com.
About GMB
Opportunity for all. That’s the world GMB strives to see. Our integrated team of educational planners, architects and engineers are just one part of the learning ecosystem that will make that happen. GMB believes education provides transformational opportunities for our communities, industries and our world. GMB is evolving our business to foster a culture of continual learning inside and outside our organization.
As a learning organization structured for ideation, innovation, and sharing of knowledge, GMB’s hubs of experts in Grand Rapids, Holland and Royal Oak, Michigan, and Indianapolis, Indiana, design and engineer projects throughout North America.
Whether in a building or a park, in a course or a career, we believe it takes an ecosystem of people, companies, communities and ideas to foster learning opportunities for students of all ages. We believe that by investing in our future and creating learning ecosystems, we can provide opportunity for all. Learn more at www.gmb.com.
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