Ford Motor Company Fund Goes to School with Innovative Education Programs, New Investments
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Ford Motor Company Fund helps kick off the new school year with more
than $1.7 million in education grants and scholarships -
Five automotive design students receive the first scholarships awarded
in honor of William Clay Ford -
Each year, Ford Fund invests more than $8 million to advance
educational opportunities and assist students in developing essential
workplace skills
DEARBORN, Mich.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Automotive design can stir a person’s deepest passion. Rami Khoury knows
the feeling. So does Konnor Bartels. They are two of the first five
winners of the William Clay Ford Automotive Design Scholarship, honoring
Mr. Ford’s legacy of design innovation and leadership.
“I look at the automobile as a rolling sculpture on wheels,” said
Khoury, a student at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif.
“All of these shapes and forms that move on the street, and yet carry
people to their destinations. It has both form and function.”
Bartels, a student at Cleveland Institute of Art, has always liked
creating designs and bringing them to life. “Design fuels my passion and
desire to create,” he said. “I am excited by the collaboration, the
creation, the story and the user.”
The $1 million William Clay Ford Automotive Design Scholarship, honoring
William Clay Ford’s outstanding contributions to automotive design, will
award $10,000 to five outstanding college sophomores or juniors each
year for 20 years. It’s one of several new initiatives Ford Motor
Company Fund, the philanthropic arm of Ford Motor Company, is launching
to accelerate its commitment to helping young people reach their
potential.
All told, Ford Fund is investing more than $1.7 million in new and
ongoing global educational programs, part of more than $8 million
annually in scholarships, grants and other initiatives that offer
promising and at-risk students the opportunity to follow their career
dreams and hone essential workplace skills. Ford Fund also is focused on
helping vulnerable students stay in school and graduate, keeping them on
track for future success.
In addition to continuing signature education programs such as Ford Blue
Oval Scholars, Ford Next Generation Learning and Ford Freedom Award,
Ford Fund’s educational investments getting underway include:
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Alan Mulally Engineering Scholarship:
Ford created the
new Alan Mulally Leadership in Engineering Scholarship to develop
engineering talent. The global $1 million program, which starts this
fall, awards 10 scholarships for $10,000 each to outstanding
engineering students at 10 partner universities.
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Ford College Alliance (FCA):
FCA will provide $500,000 in
scholarships to engineering, IT and business students at select
universities, plus $150,000 in university vehicle team funding and
$50,000 in school grants.
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Ford Driving Dreams:
Ford Driving Dreams recently
launched in Panama and will soon be underway in Arkansas, California,
Illinois, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin to help Latino
youth graduate from high school on time and pursue higher education.
The Ford Driving Dreams initiatives include drop-out prevention
grants, book donations and a motivational tour featuring pep rallies,
scholarships, and contests that are investing $520,000 in local
communities. By the end of this school year, Ford Driving Dreams will
have reached more than 40,000 students in more than 40 markets and
will have delivered more than $3 million in educational resources
since 2010.
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Ford College Community Challenge (Ford C3):
This
global competition encourages college students to put their knowledge
and creativity to work by taking the lead in developing projects
around the theme of building sustainable communities. Ford C3 has
launched in Brazil, China and the United States, which also includes
the Ford Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCU) Community
Challenge. New this year are Ford C3 grants in Ghana, Kenya, Morocco
and South Africa. Ford is also making grants to Tribal Colleges and
Universities in the Native American community in the U.S. for the
first time. Ford’s investment in C3 grants and supporting programs is
$525,000.
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Heart Behind the Oval:
College students and high school
seniors in the Ford Blue Oval Network are asked to propose a project
with a local nonprofit that addresses “Building a Brighter Future.”
Students and their non-profit partners have the opportunity to earn
$10,000 in support.
Henry Ford believed deeply that education was the key to success and he
acted by founding schools and developing other learning opportunities
that helped benefit generations of people and their communities. Today,
education remains a pillar of Ford Fund’s efforts to create a better
world through innovative programs and strategic investments aimed at the
next generation of innovators and world leaders.
“The tools have changed dramatically since Henry Ford’s day but the
goals are the same – teach young people the essential skills they will
need to succeed in the workplace,” said Jim Vella, president, Ford Motor
Company Fund and Community Services. “Education is a critical ingredient
in determining individual and community economic success, and Ford Fund
is always looking ahead for new ways to help.”
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.
About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in
Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles across six
continents. With about 195,000 employees and 66 plants worldwide, the
company’s automotive brands include Ford and Lincoln. The company
provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more
information regarding Ford and its products worldwide, please visit www.corporate.ford.com.
For news releases, related materials and high-resolution photos and
video, visit www.media.ford.com.
Contacts
Ford Motor Company Fund
Todd Nissen
313.322.4898
tnissen@ford.com