The San Francisco 49ers Foundation announced on Tuesday night a partnership with Learning by Giving Foundation -- a non-profit started by Doris Buffett that educates the next generation of philanthropists -- to teach 49ers STEM Leadership Institute (SLI) high school students the business of philanthropic giving through an exclusive pilot program to begin in 2019. The collaboration comes during the Learning by Giving Foundation's 15th anniversary and will pave the way for one of the 49ers SLI students to a receive full-ride academic scholarship over the next three years.
Learning By Giving (LxG) is a unique course in experiential philanthropy offered at 35 colleges and universities nationwide. Each LxG class is given $10,000 in funds to give away to a community organization by the end of the semester to allow students to learn about effective philanthropy firsthand. The pilot program being offered to 49ers SLI students at Santa Clara High School marks the first time that LxG content is presented at that education level.
"The world needs young philanthropists and we're thrilled to team up with Learning by Giving to create a unique philanthropic course for 49ers STEM Leadership Institute students that can become a model course for high schools nationwide," said 49ers Foundation executive director Justin Prettyman. "Our inaugural 49ers STEM Leadership Institute class is preparing for their 2020 transition to college and our work with Learning by Giving will enable these students to increase their educational opportunities while providing them the tools to give back."
Students who have completed the LxG program at the high school level as part of 49ers SLI will be eligible to apply for a Learn.Lead.Give. scholarship. Upon acceptance, one student per year from this pool of applicants will be awarded a Learn.Lead.Give scholarship, full-tuition for four years to either Stanford University or University of California, Berkeley – two Bay Area universities which participate in LxG at the collegiate level.
"One of the things that makes this program special is that it not only allows us to reach students at an even younger age to spark their interest in philanthropy, but it deepens our program on the West Coast at a time when more people than ever are interested in donating their time, talent and treasure in ways that impact the greater good," said Amy Kingman, Learning by Giving Foundation executive director. "In honor of our 15th anniversary, we launched the Learn.Lead.Give. Scholarship earlier this year in Boston. We're excited to extend that opportunity to those who complete the Learning by Giving high school program as part of 49ers SLI, and to encourage and support these young leaders as they continue their philanthropic education in their community."
Since its inception in 2003, more than 4,200 LxG students have directed more than $2.6 million to 676 community-based nonprofits around the country.
The STEM Leadership Institute, launched in 2014 in partnership between the 49ers Foundation, Chevron, Silicon Valley Education Foundation, and the Santa Clara Unified School District, currently hosts five cohorts of scholars totaling 300 students enrolled in the 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th grade program, which expanded to Santa Clara High School in fall 2016.
