American College of Financial Services: New York Life Contributes $1.25M to American College Center for Economic Empowerment and Equality

BRYN MAWR, Pennsylvania, Oct. 29 (TNSOps) -- The American College of Financial Services issued the following news release:

The American College of Financial Services is proud to announce a contribution of $1 million by New York Life, America's largest/1 and most admired/2 mutual life insurer, and a contribution of $250,000 by the New York Life Foundation, for the American College Center for Economic Empowerment and Equality. These major gifts, announced at the 15th annual Conference of African American Financial Professionals (CAAFP), are some of the first The College has received in support of The College's commitment to closing the racial wealth gap with lasting collective, community-focused solutions. For its leadership, New York Life will be recognized as a Founder's Circle donor and the New York Life Foundation will be recognized as a Partnership Circle donor to the Center.

"The generous support of New York Life and the New York Life Foundation is a seed of opportunity to take huge strides towards measurable impact in our collective effort to promote economic justice and uplift underserved communities," said George Nichols III, President and CEO of The American College of Financial Services. "We are tremendously grateful for these critical investments that will allow the Center for Economic Empowerment and Equality to collaborate with others seeking to write a new narrative in history around economic equity and social justice."

New York Life and the New York Life Foundation's financial support will help with the expansion of the Center's Four Steps Forward initiative and programs to reach underserved communities and increase their opportunities for economic mobility, as well as educate and empower Black financial professionals as they start and grow their careers. This seed funding is critical to expanding the Center's financial education programs for Black women, bolstering the Center's scholarship programs for HBCU and early-career financial professionals, and implementing a new approach to study groups for Black financial professionals.

"Growing and developing a diverse and educated force of financial professionals who mirror the diversity of our communities is aligned with New York Life's mission of providing financial security and peace of mind to our customers, " said New York Life Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ted Mathas. "We are proud to partner with The College to help provide access and education to financial professionals of color so that more families in America have a chance to build financial security and economic mobility."

New York Life's contributions align with the company's initiatives to close the racial wealth gap, which includes the company's $1 billion impact investment initiative. As part of this initiative, New York Life is partnering with diverse asset managers, federally chartered community development financial institutions, and other mission-driven organizations to invest in underserved and undercapitalized communities over the next three years with a focus on supporting small businesses, affordable housing, and community development. Overall, New York Life has a longstanding record of supporting organizations that support the Black community. During the last 20 years, the company has provided more than $28 million to such organizations.

Inspired by New York Life's tradition of service and humanity, the New York Life Foundation invests in programs that benefit young people, focused on educational enhancement and childhood bereavement support. In particular, it recognizes the systemic inequities in the educational system. Since 2014, the New York Life Foundation has dedicated over $63 million in grants and programs to support education for middle school youth students and since its founding in 1979, it has made nearly $380 million in charitable contributions to national and local nonprofit organizations.

Footnotes:

1/ Based on revenue as reported by "Fortune 500 ranked within Industries, Insurance: Life, Health (Mutual)," Fortune magazine, 6/1/2021. For methodology, please see http://fortune.com/fortune500/.

2/ As reported by "Fortune 2021 World's Most Admired Companies ranking within Insurance (Life and Health)," Fortune magazine, 2/1/2021. For methodology, please see https://fortune.com/franchise-list-page/methodology-worlds-most-admired-companies-2021/.

URL: American College Center for Economic Empowerment and Equality