Ford and USC Shoah Foundation Expanding IWitness Detroit Educational Program to Inspire Future Generations

• Ford Motor Company Fund builds on its commitment to education by
  teaming with USC Shoah Foundation – The Institute for Visual History
  and Education and expanding the IWitness program in the Detroit area
• Ford Motor Company is sponsoring the Institute’s IWitness Video
  Challenge, which encourages teens to learn about tolerance and respect
  for others
• Bill Ford is this year’s recipient of the USC Shoah Foundation
  Ambassador for Humanity Award for his leadership and corporate
  citizenry around education and community

DEARBORN, Mich.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Ford Motor Company Fund is building on its commitment to education by
teaming with USC Shoah Foundation – The Institute for Visual History and
Education and expanding the IWitness
multimedia program in the Detroit area.

Ford Motor Company will sponsor the Institute’s IWitness Video Challenge
for the next two years. The annual challenge invites North American
students, inspired by the voices in IWitness, to use their innovation
and creativity to bring positive value to their communities. Students
then build a video based on testimony that tells the story of how they
contributed to making their communities a better place.

IWitness is an educational website providing access to more than 1,500
full life histories, testimonies of survivors and witnesses of
genocides, including the Holocaust, from the Institute’s Visual History
Archive. IWitness learning activities promote digital literacy and
develop students’ 21st century skills, including teaching the basics of
research, archival curation and ethical editing.

“The work of USC Shoah Foundation is incredibly inspiring, as it is
making a huge difference in so many people’s lives,” said Bill Ford,
Ford Motor Company executive chairman. “We are excited to partner with
USC Shoah Foundation to engage young minds, bring history to life and
encourage today’s youth to build a better future.”

Ford Motor Company Fund’s contribution will help expand the IWitness
program in the Detroit area. The Fund will chair an advisory committee
that will facilitate the program’s mission. Ford’s sponsorship will help
support the annual challenge, and will be used as prize money in the
form of scholarships to regional and national winners. Education is core
to the mission of Ford Motor Company Fund, which invests more than $8
million a year in educational programs and initiatives around the globe.

Discovery Education, the global leader in standards-based digital
content and professional development for K-12, will lead administration
for the challenge.

Ford announced the donation and sponsorship with Steven Spielberg,
founder of USC Shoah Foundation, prior to the Institute’s annual gala.
Ford employees and Spielberg met with students from Henry Ford Academy
who are participating in the IWitness program and recently completed
projects on the subject of tolerance.

Bill Ford is this year’s recipient of the USC Shoah Foundation Ambassador
for Humanity Award for his leadership and corporate citizenry around
education and community. The award is being presented during the
Institute’s gala at the Henry Ford Museum.

“I am so pleased that USC Shoah Foundation will be joining forces with
Ford Motor Company to not only bring IWitness to a growing number of
educators and students across the Detroit region,” said USC Shoah
Foundation Executive Director Stephen D. Smith, “but also support the
nationwide IWitness Video Challenge. I have seen how previous IWitness
Video Challenges helped students gain insight, develop their values for
a more tolerant world, and learn how to participate in their
communities.”

USC Shoah Foundation and IWitness

USC Shoah Foundation – The Institute for Visual History and Education
IWitness program integrates testimonies of survivors and witnesses of
genocides, including the Holocaust. IWitness integrates testimony-based
education to boost students’ knowledge while developing their
critical-thinking skills and empathy for others.

Student assignments vary by activity, but include writing short essays,
building word clouds, analyzing photos, creating art projects, writing
poetry, making audio collages and constructing video essays. The goal is
to spark a motivation to act, and ultimately, to help mold responsible
participants in civil society.

According to USC Shoah Foundation, surveys show after participating in
IWitness, students are 93 percent more likely to believe it is important
to speak up against stereotyping and 61 percent less likely to believe
stereotypes are really true.

Note: For additional photos of the Sept. 10 event, visit media.ford.com.

About Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services

Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services works with community
and global partners to advance driving safety, education and community
life. Ford Motor Company Fund has operated for more than 65 years with
ongoing funding from Ford Motor Company. Ford Driving Skills for Life is
free, interactive, hands-on safety training focused on skill development
and driving techniques, while addressing inexperience, distractions and
impaired driving. Innovation in education is encouraged through Ford
Blue Oval Scholars, Ford Next Generation Learning and other inspiring
programs that enhance high school learning and provide college
scholarships and university grants. The Ford Volunteer Corps enlists
more than 30,000 Ford employees and retirees each year to work on local
projects that strengthen their communities and improve people’s lives in
more than 40 countries around the world. For more information, visit http://community.ford.com.

For news releases, related materials and high-resolution photos and
video, visit www.media.ford.com.

Contacts

Ford Motor Company
Karl Henkel, 313.402.2310
khenkel@ford.com
Ford
Motor Company Fund
Todd Nissen, 313.322.4898
tnissen@ford.com