Raytheon Technologies has announced a ten-year, $500 million initiative to advance equitable opportunities in STEM education, career development, and community well-being.
The Connect Up initiative, in partnership with the National Academy Foundation, SMASH, Girls Who Code, Student Veterans of America, American Corporate Partners, The Mission Continues, Feeding America and Boys & Girls Clubs of America will leverage philanthropic capital, public/private partnerships, and employee volunteerism to help improve access to STEM education, particularly in communities of color; advance education goals and help military personnel and their families transition back to the civilian workforce; and create opportunities for a more equitable future for children and young people. To help advance those goals, the company will challenge its hundred and eighty thousand global employees to conduct a million acts of volunteer service in 2021, starting with its first-ever Global Month of Service in April.
“The measure of business success must include community growth,” said Raytheon CEO Greg Hayes. “The Connect Up program leverages our global reach, the expertise and passion of more than a hundred and eighty thousand employees, a heritage of era-defining engineering and technology ingenuity, with a track record of solving some of society’s biggest challenges. Through focused investments, volunteer commitment, and strategic partnerships, we will create lasting, multi-generational impact in education opportunity, armed services support and local community relief.”