College Awarded $100K Cummings Grant to Support Students

June 9, 2022

Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology is one of 140 local nonprofits to receive grants through Cummings Foundation’s $25 Million Grant Program for 2022. The College will receive $100,000 over four years to increase diversity in technology fields and the building trades by providing access, equity, and multiple pathways into skilled careers.

The college is a Minority Serving Institution that serves a student body with 74% students of color and 57% first-generation college students. Students, who come from across greater Boston, have an average household income of $24,000 upon entry. The College offers certificate, associate degree, and bachelor’s degree programs in a wide variety of technical fields and trades, including Automotive, Construction Management, Computer Information Technology, Electrical Engineering, Engineering Technology, Health Information Technology, HVAC&R, Opticianry, and Practical Electricity.

Cummings Foundations’ generous grant—which is in addition to the $12.5M, 10-year unrestricted pledge to the college that the Foundation announced earlier this year—will fund student scholarships and help the College train and place more skilled workers from diverse backgrounds into high-demand, good paying technology careers. Increased earnings over the course of a lifetime transform the lives of students, as well as their families.

“Cummings Foundation understands how important it is to invest in our students and ensure that they have access to the economic opportunities connected to the high-demand, high-paying technology careers that are driving the Massachusetts economy,” said President and CEO Aisha Francis. “The college is committed to ensuring the tech workforce of the future will be highly trained, career-ready, and diverse.”

The Cummings $25 Million Grant Program supports Massachusetts nonprofits that are based in and primarily serve Middlesex, Essex, and Suffolk counties. The college and the other grant recipients were chosen from a total of 580 applicants during a competitive review process.

Through this place-based initiative, Cummings Foundation aims to give back in the areas where it owns commercial property. Its buildings are all managed, at no cost to the Foundation, by its affiliate, Cummings Properties. This Woburn-based commercial real estate firm leases and manages 11 million square feet of debt-free space, the majority of which exclusively benefits the Foundation.

“We are so fortunate in greater Boston to have such effective nonprofits, plus a wealth of talented, dedicated professionals and volunteers to run them,” said Cummings Foundation executive director Joyce Vyriotes. “We are indebted to them for the work they do each day to provide for basic needs, break down barriers to education and health resources, and work toward a more equitable society.”

With the help of about 90 volunteers, the Foundation first identified 140 organizations to receive grants of at least $100,000 each. Among the winners were first-time recipients as well as nonprofits that had previously received Cummings Foundation grants. Forty of this latter group of repeat recipients were then selected to have their grants elevated to 10-year awards ranging from $200,000 to $500,000 each.

“Our volunteers bring diverse backgrounds and perspectives, which is so critical to our grant selection process,” said Vyriotes. “Through this democratized approach to philanthropy, they decide more than half the grants every year.”

This year’s grant recipients represent a wide variety of causes, including food insecurity, immigrant and refugee services, social justice, education, and mental health services. The nonprofits are spread across 45 different cities and towns.

The complete list of 140 grant winners, plus more than 900 previous recipients, is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.

Cummings Foundation has now awarded more than $375 million to greater Boston nonprofits.

ABOUT CUMMINGS FOUNDATION

Woburn-based Cummings Foundation, Inc. was established in 1986 by Joyce and Bill Cummings and has grown to be one of the largest private foundations in New England. The Foundation directly operates its own charitable subsidiaries, including New Horizons retirement communities, in Marlborough and Woburn, and Cummings Health Sciences, LLC. Additional information is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.