“Our partnerships reflect feedback and ideas that we received from employees, customers and community organizations, including many leaders in the African-American community,” said Wachovia Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ken Thompson. “We believe that these special efforts, combined with our high level of ongoing community support, demonstrate Wachovia’s strong commitment to serving groups and individuals who have been historically underserved.”
The new and enhanced partnerships reflect a total corporate contribution of more than $10 million over five years, which will be enhanced by additional volunteer support, employee giving and technical assistance. The national partnerships are dedicated to:
Preserving and promoting African-American history and culture. A significant partnership with the Association for the Study of African-American Life and History will support public education and awareness of African-American history told from African-American perspectives. As part of this partnership, Wachovia will support the creation of new curriculum resources for an innovative online education tool developed by the National Humanities Center for teachers and students.
Enhancing educational opportunities for African-Americans. Funding will support access to quality education through a significantly enhanced partnership with the United Negro College Fund, a new partnership with the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund, and continued support of the NAACP’s educational agenda, which is aimed at eliminating educational inequity in our nation's public schools.
Fostering economic opportunity for African-Americans. Support for a National Urban League initiative will help provide capital and technical assistance to minority-owned small businesses with annual revenues between $500,000 and $1 million.
“We’re pleased to partner with these highly regarded organizations to make a meaningful difference for African-Americans,” said Thompson. “These partnerships are consistent with our philanthropic priorities of improving education and strengthening neighborhoods. Today’s announcement underscores Wachovia’s ongoing commitment to serving all segments of our communities.”
This new community initiative follows Wachovia’s June 1 announcement of historical ties to slavery through two predecessor companies.
Wachovia actively supports its communities through financial commitments and employee volunteerism. In 2004, Wachovia provided $25 billion in community loans and investments to revitalize neighborhoods, and contributed more than $82 million to charitable organizations through company and foundation giving. Employees logged more than 600,000 hours of volunteer community service. Wachovia was honored with the Fannie Mae Community HERO Award, which recognizes creativity and leadership in mortgage and community lending. In the NAACP’s most recent Economic Reciprocity Initiative rankings, Wachovia received the highest grade in the financial services industry.
Wachovia Corporation (NYSE:WB) is one of the largest providers of financial services to retail, brokerage and corporate customers, with retail operations from Connecticut to Florida and west to Texas, and retail brokerage operations nationwide. Wachovia had assets of $511.8 billion, market capitalization of $78.2 billion and stockholders’ equity of $47.9 billion at June 30, 2005. Its four core businesses, the General Bank, Capital Management, Wealth Management, and the Corporate and Investment Bank, serve 13 million household and business relationships primarily through 3,126 offices in 15 states and Washington, D.C. Its full-service retail brokerage firm, Wachovia Securities, LLC, also serves clients through 699 offices in 49 states and five Latin American countries. Our Corporate and Investment Bank serves clients primarily in 10 key industry sectors nationwide. Global services are offered through 33 international offices. Online banking and brokerage products and services also are available through Wachovia.com.
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