MEDIA CONTACT:
Lindsay Hansen
C: 480.205.6195
lindsay@ldhconsulting.net
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 13, 2023
The Global Impact Challenge will reskill more than 200,000 makers and trade professionals in 2023
PHOENIX, Ariz. – Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK) announced the recipients of its second Global Impact Challenge. ElevateEdAZ is honored to have been named as a Makers Grant Recipient because of our efforts to prepare Arizona students for college and career through stronger alignment between education, business, and the community.
Initiated in 2021, the Global Impact Challenge grant program will award up to $25 million in grant funding over five years to nonprofits that are supporting trade workforce development initiatives in the construction and manufacturing sectors. With the first applications submitted in 2022, 182 entrants were evaluated based on number of people served, outcomes projected, sustainable impact, depth of programs, and diversity, among many other considerations. ElevateEdAZ was selected as one of 91 organizations that will help skill and reskill roughly 210,448 makers throughout 2023.
“ElevateEdAZ is able to impact students with meaningful opportunities to take part in high-wage, high-demand pathways, work-based learning engagements, internships, and job shadows, while preparing them for local workforce needs,” said Todd Sanders, president & CEO, Greater Phoenix Chamber Foundation. “This grant from Stanley Black & Decker will provide additional resources to help expand our efforts to additional schools and increase our reach to more students in the Greater Phoenix region.”
ElevateEdAZ has partnered with over 100 local businesses to provide internships, job shadows, mock interviews, and other career-connected learning to students and teachers in participating schools within Mesa Public Schools, Phoenix Union High School District, Paradise Valley Unified School District, Deer Valley Unified School District and ASU Preparatory Academy. More students and teachers will be afforded access to these work-based learning activities promoted through the ElevateEdAZ initiative as it expands into more schools and school districts.
ElevateEdAZ is working with schools and school districts to:
- Increase the number of students completing high-wage, high-demand career pathways through stronger pathway articulation and career awareness activities.
- Increase attainment of industry-recognized credentials and early post-secondary credit by removing barriers to dual enrollment and incentivizing students and teachers for improved outcomes.
- Provide more students with work-based learning experiences to apply academics through internships and job shadows.
- Empower educators to reimagine classroom learning through Educator Externships where teachers learn skillsets industry leaders are seeking in job candidates and can access pathways and support systems to integrate these skills into their curriculum.
“Stanley Black & Decker is immensely proud to support ElevateEdAZ as they work to skill and reskill the next generation of trade professionals,” said Stanley Black & Decker Corporate Responsibility Officer, Deb Geyer. “Currently in the U.S., there are an estimated 650,000 open construction jobs and 10 million unfilled manufacturing jobs globally. Our purpose is to support ‘Those Who Make the World,’ and being able to fund educational programs and non-profits that are revitalizing trade careers directly connects to our core mission. Thanks to this year’s Makers Grant Recipients, together we will be one step closer to closing the trade skills gap.”
To learn more about Stanley Black & Decker’s Global Impact Challenge, the 2022 recipients and how non-profits may submit for the upcoming application period, please visit EmpowerMakers.com.
To learn more about becoming a business partner with ElevateEdAZ, visit https://elevateedaz.com/business
and complete the ElevateEdAZ Business Partner Form. For more information on engaging your business, please contact Brittany Holmes at bholmes@phoenixchamber.com.
Todd Sanders, President & CEO of the Greater Phoenix Chamber, and Jennifer Mellor, Chief Innovation Officer for the Foundation, are available for media interviews.
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About ElevateEdAZ
Launched in 2020, ElevateEdAZ prepares individuals for college and career through stronger alignment between education, business, and the community. ElevateEdAZ is a strategic education initiative of the Greater Phoenix Chamber Foundation.
About the Greater Phoenix Chamber Foundation
The Greater Phoenix Chamber Foundation (the Foundation) convenes and catalyzes business, education, and community to enhance college and career readiness, develop a stronger workforce, and build healthier communities throughout Arizona.
The Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit organization, leads the charitable and education initiatives of the Greater Phoenix Chamber under the four pillars of education, workforce development, wellness, and research. Through strong alignment between education, business, and community, the Foundation prepares individuals for college and career and serves as an intermediary to convey workforce needs and champion scalable workforce solutions. In addition, the Foundation makes Arizona and the Greater Phoenix region known as destinations for healthy talent and healthy communities through workplace wellness efforts and publishes data-driven research to inform policymakers, business leaders, and the general public.
About Stanley Black & Decker
Headquartered in the USA, Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK) is the world’s largest tool company operating nearly 50 manufacturing facilities across America and more than 100 worldwide. Guided by its purpose – for those who make the world – the company’s more than 60,000 diverse and high-performing employees produce innovative, award-winning power tools, hand tools, storage, digital tool solutions, lifestyle products, outdoor products, engineered fasteners and other industrial equipment to support the world’s makers, creators, tradespeople and builders. The company’s iconic brands include DEWALT®, BLACK+DECKER®, CRAFTSMAN®, STANLEY®, CUB CADET®, HUSTLER® and TROY-BILT®. Recognized for its leadership in environmental, social and governance (ESG), Stanley Black & Decker strives to be a force for good in support of its communities, employees, customers and other stakeholders. To learn more visit: www.stanleyblackanddecker.com.
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