American Honda Foundation Awards Grants to Support Literacy, Job Training and STEAM Education Programs

TORRANCE, Calif., Feb. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Honda Foundation has awarded grants totaling more than $324,000 for the fall 2020 funding period to six nonprofit organizations dedicated to enhancing science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM) education opportunities for young people. The grant recipients are Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Ohio in Cleveland, Latinitas in Austin, Texas, Literacy Matters Foundation in Minneapolis, Multi-Agency Alliance for Children (MAAC) in Atlanta, and The Fishing School and The Literacy Lab - both in Washington, D.C. Combined with the spring and summer 2020 grants, the American Honda Foundation has awarded more than $1.5 million to nonprofit organizations across America over the past nine months.

The American Honda Foundation awards grants to nonprofit organizations that share the core tenets, beliefs and philosophies of Honda, which are characterized by the following qualities: imaginative, creative, youthful, forward-thinking, scientific, humanistic and innovative. Since the Foundation's establishment in 1984, it has awarded more than $43 million to organizations serving over 118 million people across the U.S.

"Through our grant program, the American Honda Foundation helps young people reach their potential for academic and lifelong success," said Alexandra Warnier, executive director of the American Honda Foundation. "This funding will enhance programs that aim to create a pipeline to STEAM careers, close learning gaps, and provide students with life skills."

Following is an overview of the grant recipients and how the organizations will use the funds from the American Honda Foundation:

    --  Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Ohio: With over four acres in
        Cleveland's Morgana Bluffs Nature Preserve, local youth gain exposure to
        and build on STEM concepts through "fun with purpose" activities and
        experiments that encourage hands-on learning and the application of
        classroom concepts in math and science through real-world exploration.
        The American Honda Foundation grant will support activities at the
        Outdoor Learning Lab, including birdwatching using sensory and physical
        tools to spot birds as well as learning why snow happens and the
        math/science behind each snowflake.
    --  Latinitas: The organization addresses the underrepresentation of Latina
        and other women of color in technology fields by offering year-round
        opportunities for girls ages 9-18 to express themselves creatively
        through digital media, technology and other STEM enrichment activities
        that explore identity, culture and gender. Participants study
        filmmaking, graphic and web design, podcasting and photography, while
        also exploring the latest in 21(st) century storytelling such as coding,
        3-D printing and virtual and augmented reality. The grant will support
        Latinitas' virtual bilingual STEM programs.
    --  Literacy Matters Foundation: Grant funding will support the Mighty
        Doodle(TM) Literacy Program, which is designed to empower kindergarten
        through third-grade learners with the basic reading, writing and
        spelling skills to close the literacy gap. The program provides
        individualized, engaging child-friendly literacy instruction in a
        gamified lesson format using Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence.
        With real-time tracking and analytics, teachers can quickly identify
        where individual students need more help and assign specific tasks to
        address those needs.
    --  Multi-Agency Alliance for Children (MAAC): MAAC will use the grant to
        support their Employment and Training Program where young adults - ages
        18-24 and who have been in the foster care system - receive technical
        skills training and ongoing support that sets them on a path of
        self-sufficiency. Participants gain basic IT training and work toward
        achieving professional technical and computer science certifications.
        They also receive ongoing support in life skills, financial literacy and
        management along with other wraparound assistance.
    --  The Fishing School: Students learn to 'fish in the rivers of the mind'
        to build the academic and life skills necessary to achieve lifetime
        success. Students in first through fifth grades and their parents are
        grouped into cohorts upon enrollment and progress together through a
        multi-year program. The grant will support The Fishing School's
        afterschool and summer success programs, which engage students in
        hands-on, thematic STEAM activities that promote creativity,
        problem-solving, critical thinking as well as the development of core
        math and reading skills through technology.
    --  The Literacy Lab: The grant will support The Literacy Lab's Leading Men
        Fellowship, which provides young men of color who are recent high school
        graduates robust coaching and professional development. The Leading Men
        in turn, provide literacy intervention to disadvantaged pre-kindergarten
        students in Washington, D.C., Milwaukee, and Richmond, Va. Each Fellow
        is assigned to a single classroom for the entire school year, leading
        whole class, small group and one-on-one literacy interventions. In
        addition to closing the literacy gap, the Leading Men Fellowship exposes
        young men of color to a career in early childhood education, potentially
        helping to diversify the teacher pipeline.

For more information about the American Honda Foundation and its grant application process, visit www.honda.com/community/applying-for-a-grant.

About Honda Corporate Social Responsibility
For more than 60 years in the U.S., Honda has been committed to making positive contributions to the communities where its associates live and work. Honda's mission is to create products and services that improve the lives of people while conducting its business in a sustainable manner and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. Accordingly, Honda believes in helping people reach their life's potential through its focus on improving children's health, inspiring underrepresented students, preserving the environment for future generations, creating safety for everyone, and strengthening our communities. Learn more at http://csr.honda.com/.

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SOURCE American Honda Foundation