Fidelity Invests in Students’ Future
Fidelity Investments, one of the world's largest providers of financial services, has built a long-term partnership with Points of Light to help revitalize the learning environments for underserved middle school students across the United States.
The Fidelity at School partnership taps the power of Fidelity employees to support local schools in the company’s strategic markets around the theme of helping middle school kids stay on track by creating pathways to college and career success.
Fidelity employee volunteers partner with HandsOn Network affiliates, an enterprise of Points of Light, to participate in “School Transformation Days,” which focus on major school renovation projects and year-round volunteering activities. Since its launch in 2010, the program has received tremendously positive feedback and praise from Fidelity employees, students, teachers, HandsOn Network affiliates and partners, along with recognition from local, state and national elected officials.
Beginning this month through September, projects will be undertaken at 12 middle schools in Albuquerque, N.M.; Boston; Covington, Ky.; Dallas; Fort Worth, Texas; Jacksonville, Fla.; Jersey City, N.J.; Merrimack, N.H.; Providence, R.I.; Raleigh, N.C.; and Salt Lake City. Most of these schools have been a part of all three program years.
These School Transformation Days are Fidelity’s largest annual employee volunteer effort. The company expects more than 2,000 employees to take part and their efforts will total more than 9,000 hours of community service.
“The middle school years play a critical role in keeping students inspired and prepared for high school,” said Betsey Brew Boyd, vice president, Fidelity Investments. “While we believe that all kids have the potential to succeed and make this happen, not all of them have the opportunities, environments or support systems to get there. Our aim is to bring renewed energy and enthusiasm to middle school students and help them make a successful transition to high school and, ultimately, to graduation.”
Nationwide, 7,000 students drop out of school every day and only about 70 percent of students graduate from high school with a regular high school diploma, according to a report by the Committee on Education & Labor. In addition, nearly half of dropouts occur in the ninth grade.
As a result, school transformation projects were identified through intensive “Community Design Days” where school administrators, teachers, students, parents, civic leaders, Fidelity employees and HandsOn Network staffers identified projects that would help support dropout prevention efforts by inspiring students on the importance of college and a life of meaningful work.
The partnership that Fidelity and Points of Light have with the schools represents a multi-level strategy to encourage employee and student interaction throughout the year. With the assistance of business units throughout Fidelity, employee volunteers partner with schools and focus on designing outreach programs that will help middle school students grasp the urgency of high school preparedness and the critical importance of a college education.
Fidelity is a Points of Light Leadership Partner, recognized for its commitment to corporate service and its leadership in showcasing the value created through employee volunteer programs. Points of Light’s Leadership Partner Program recognizes and engages companies and business leaders whose social responsibility investments have resulted in significant advancement of its mission to inspire, equip and mobilize people to take action that changes the world.