A combined total donation of $187,000 for the Colorado branch of the nonprofit Teach For America was announced today.
LibertyGives, the charitable foundation of the Liberty Media Corporation went first in July, with a three-year, $75,000 challenge grant.
The challenge called on other corporate donors to meet or exceed LibertyGives’ initial gift.
JPMorgan Chase contributed $35,000 in funding — directly supporting seven Teach For America teachers currently at West High School in Denver.
Other donors included Murray Motors, Liberty Global, and U.S. Bank.
All of the money donated will go to support the ongoing recruitment, training and professional development of Teach For America teachers, also known as corps members, in the Colorado Springs and Denver areas.
Teach For America has been in Colorado since 2007. The program recruits recent college graduates to teach for two years in urban and rural public schools after a summer training program to prepare them for the classroom.
This year in Colorado, 330 corps members are reaching nearly 21,000 students. Another 550 alumni call Colorado home and work in other sectors to influence public education.
“In order for Colorado to retain its place as a gainful employer in technology and other growth areas, it’s critical that businesses with roots here invest in the development of our public schools,” said Greg Maffei, president and chief executive officer of Liberty Media. “We admire the mission of Teach For America and were pleased to have initiated such a successful outcome through this grant program.”
Earlier this year, Colorado’s Teach for America branch also received a three year grant of $3.1 million to allow the organization to double the number of members from 2007, and to support more local recruitment.
