Southern California Edison named “Bernard Osher Philanthropist of the Year” for support of California Community Colleges
Company honored for green workforce initiatives, contributions to California Community Colleges Scholarship Endowment
PALM SPRINGS, Calif.—October 14, 2010—Southern California Edison (SCE) has been named the “Bernard Osher Philanthropist of the Year” by the Network of California Community College Foundations (NCCCF) for its continued support and contributions to California Community Colleges. The honor came during the NCCCF’s annual Symposium, taking place this week.
SCE – one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, serving Central, Coastal and Southern California – has made a tremendous impact on community colleges through its support of workforce development and student financial needs.
Over the past year alone, SCE has contributed $1.4 million dollars to support scholarships for students at numerous colleges throughout Southern California. A large portion of that funding launched the “Green Jobs Education Initiative” in January 2010, a $1 million initiative which supports students with financial need who are enrolled in green job workforce preparation, training programs or studying key areas of the green economy for which workforce demand continues to grow, such as solar panel installation, water and wastewater management, sustainability planning, among others.
In addition, SCE gave $400,000 to community colleges for scholarship funds in fall 2009. Both contributions were leveraged with the ongoing Osher Initiative for California Community College Students, which provides a 2-to-1 match on every gift donated to the California Community Colleges Scholarship Endowment (Endowment) until June 2011. Thanks to the match, SCE’s combined gifts have triggered another $700,000 in match dollars from The Bernard Osher Foundation, resulting in $2.1 million in endowment funds that will provide scholarships to dozens of community colleges students each year, forever.
“We are proud to honor Southern California Edison for its important contributions to California’s Community Colleges and the impressive example of corporate citizenship it has demonstrated. Through its strong support and partnership with the system, SCE has sent the powerful message to other businesses and philanthropists that community colleges are not only worthy of investment, but a necessary partner in educating the workforce that industries will reply upon in the future,” said Shiloh London, Executive Director of the Network of California Community College Foundations.
The Bernard Osher Philanthropist of the Year is bestowed each year at the NCCCF Symposium to honor an individual or organization that has supported the California Community College through philanthropy. In 2009, the award was renamed in honor of Bernard Osher, who, through his foundation, bestowed the largest gift on a community college system in the nation’s history in 2008. The commitment included a $25 million lead gift to the California Community Colleges to launch the Endowment, and a pledge of another $25 million if the system collectively raises $50 million by June 2011. Mr. Osher was the NCCCF’s Philanthropist of the Year in 2008.
For more information about Southern California Edison and its philanthropy efforts, visit www.sce.com. Additional details about the NCCCF are available at www.ncccfweb.org.