Gift Through Philanthropist Steve Ballmer's Foundation Helps Communities In Schools of Chicago Expand Critical Supports Program to Students at Eight Chicago Public Schools

 

Gift Through Philanthropist Steve Ballmer's Foundation Helps Communities In Schools of Chicago Expand Critical Supports Program to Students at Eight Chicago Public Schools   

Former Microsoft CEO Donates $165 Million to CIS National, Including Major Grant to Chicago CIS Affiliate

CHICAGO — Hundreds of students at eight Chicago public schools will benefit from a major donation from philanthropist and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. His Ballmer Group has made a $165 million donation to the nonprofit Communities In Schools National, which will help grow a critical program of the local CIS affiliate. CIS of Chicago will receive more than $1 million over a three-year period as its share of the total Ballmer Group gift. That funding will enable CIS of Chicago to increase by more than 25% the number of CPS schools served by the organization's Intensive Program.

The Intensive Program places a CIS of Chicago Student Supports Manager on the ground at schools to collaborate with teachers, administrators, and community partners to ensure students access the resources they need to succeed in school and life. Each year, more than 98% of the targeted students who receive assistance through the Intensive Program are promoted or graduate from high school.

The Ballmer Group donation is funding the CIS National initiative called Scaling For Success. It is designed to catalyze local public and private investment to expand the national Communities In Schools work in Chicago and other high-need school communities across the United States.  

This new investment via Ballmer Group and Communities In Schools National enables CIS of Chicago to embed a full-time youth development expert in eight more Chicago Public Schools to provide direct counseling and mental health supports to more than 250 targeted students who need extra help. The gift will also help hundreds of additional students at these schools to access essential community partner supports and resources needed to succeed in school. The gift comes at a critical time, as the pandemic has created unprecedented need for Chicago's students and school communities.

"We are grateful to Ballmer Groups for its support of the Communities In Schools National network," said Jane Mentzinger, CIS of Chicago's Chief Executive Officer. "Their gift – the largest ever to the Communities In Schools National Network – will help our local affiliate here in Chicago achieve its end-of-decade goal of supporting as many as 350 CPS schools and their students on their journey to high school graduation and post-secondary success."

The Ballmer gift comes a year after another noted philanthropist, MacKenzie Scott, awarded Communities In Schools National and its Chicago affiliate run by Ms. Mentzinger a major gift to support its evidence-based work in high-need school communities.

Communities In Schools (CIS) of Chicago is a leading education nonprofit in Chicago dedicated to removing barriers so that students can unlock their potential and stay on the path to graduation. The organization partners with more than 230 Chicago Public Schools, connects them to needed programs and services, and provides one-on-one and group interventions, like counseling and supportive guidance, to students who need it most.

Each year, tens of thousands of Chicago's public-school students benefit from the work of CIS of Chicago. Backed by rigorous research, CIS of Chicago's programming has been shown to have positive impacts on student attendance and academic performance – leading indicators of graduation. Of the students who received targeted support each year, more than 98% are promoted to the next grade, and fewer than 1% drop out. To learn more about CIS of Chicago, please visit cisofchicago.org.

  

Latest Stories

Latest Podcast

STARR Community Services International, Inc.