New Partnership to Boost Opportunities for Young Adults in Fairfield County Receives $200,000 Grant

Norwalk, CT September 11, 2015— Fairfield County’s Community Foundation launched its Thrive by 25 initiative with a highly attended, successful Kick-off Breakfast at the Trumbull Marriott this past Thursday. At the event, JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced that the organization is expanding their commitment to CT, joining the Community Foundation in supporting the Pathways to Careers Fairfield County pilot with a $200,000 grant. The grant is part of JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s New Skills at Work initiative, the firm’s $250MM, five-year workforce readiness initiative, which seeks to address the skills gap that exists across many industries, where not enough trained workers have the specific skills to fill the jobs available.

“At JPMorgan Chase, we believe we have a fundamental responsibility to use our resources and expertise to help the communities where we live and work. We are proud to be a partner with Fairfield County’s Community Foundation to help struggling youth in Fairfield County find pathways to real careers,” said Pepper Anderson, Head of JPMorgan Chase Private Bank in Connecticut.

Pathways to Careers Fairfield County is a multi-sector partnership with high-opportunity and high-growth employers and is based on Our Piece of the Pie’s Pathways to Careers model. Our Piece of the Pie, a Hartford-based, urban youth development and workforce opportunity non-profit organization, has developed the successful upstate CT Pathways to Careers program into a best-practice model for moving young people quickly into jobs with career pathways. Pathways to Careers Fairfield County will adapt this best practice model to the unique business and educational landscape in Fairfield County and to the myriad needs of Fairfield County young people.

“Through this program, a young person will be supported from college enrollment through entry into a high-demand, well-paying career,” said Hector Rivera, Chief Operating Officer from Our Piece of the Pie. “This is an exciting opportunity and, together with Fairfield County’s Community Foundation, JPMorgan Chase Foundation and our other great partners, we will help change the trajectory of so many young adult lives in this region.”

“I am thrilled to have the generous support and the confidence of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation to begin the planning for the Pathways to Careers Fairfield County pilot. We could not ask for better partners than Our Piece of the Pie and JPMorgan Chase Foundation in pursuing our vision to ensure that young adults Thrive by 25! If Fairfield County is to thrive, its young people must have tools, education and opportunities to be contributing citizens,” said Juanita T. James, President and CEO of Fairfield County’s Community Foundation.

Fairfield County’s Community Foundation promotes philanthropy as a means to create change in Fairfield County, with a particular focus on innovative and collaborative solutions to critical issues impacting the community. Individuals, families, corporations and organizations can establish charitable funds or contribute to existing funds. Fairfield County’s Community Foundation is in compliance with the Council on Foundations’ national standards, and has awarded more than $180 million in grants to non-profit organizations in Fairfield County and beyond. For more information, visit www.FCCFoundation.org.

Our Piece of the Pie, is a Hartford-based, non-profit organization dedicated to helping urban youth and young adults become economically independent via access to vocational training, college credits, life skills, internships and job experiences needed to obtain long-term, gainful employment. For more information, visit: www.opp.org.