September 18, 2019
The following article is from Corporate Volunteerism Council – Twin Cities.
ECMC Group, winner of the CVC-TC Game Changer Award in 2017, is a nonprofit corporation focused on helping students succeed by providing financial tools and services, nonprofit career education and funding for innovative programs to help students achieve their academic and professional goals. A key element of ECMC Group's values and mission is its dedication to serving communities in need through its strategic partnerships and emphasis on employee inclusion in community involvement initiatives.
A few examples of ECMC Group's strategic partnerships include:
- Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest (JAUM) and ECMC Group recently partnered to create the ECMC Group Education Center as part of the new JA Finance Park in St. Paul. The ECMC Group Education Center provides hands-on opportunities for middle and high school students to learn about the importance of financial literacy and lifelong learning. It also illustrates the various paths to a career via postsecondary education. To learn more about the ECMC Group Education Center at JA Finance Park, view a video here.
- ECMC Group also partners with BestPrep through its eMentoring Program. In the 2019-20 academic year, ECMC Group Minneapolis employees volunteered their time to electronically communicate and meet face-to-face with local high school classes to discuss topics such as college and career experience, workplace etiquette, and professional ethics. ECMC Group employees are already looking forward to partnering with BestPrep's eMentoring Program this upcoming academic year.
In addition to the strategic partnerships, ECMC Group also emphasizes employee inclusion in its community involvement initiatives. The organization provides 16 paid volunteer hours annually for employees to use at ECMC Group-sponsored activities during their normal work hours. This includes activities such as school supply drives, reading to classrooms and food-packing events. In addition, ECMC Group also will make a monetary contribution to a cause based on hours volunteered by an employee outside of business hours. Additionally, the Charitable Gift Match program allows employees to donate to a cause of their choice and have ECMC Group match that monetary donation up to $500 per employee, per year. Lastly, the GO! Program—Generating Outcomes: Funding education innovation in our communities—is designed to involve employees in nominating and selecting nonprofits they support to receive a grant ranging from $5,000-$25,000. The 2019 27 organizations in Minnesota received a combined $435,000 in grant donations.