PNC Foundation Donates $100,000 to SEO Scholars San Francisco

Grant dollars will support SEO’s Instructor Bootcamp

SAN FRANCISCO, (Nov. 2, 2023) – The PNC Foundation has provided the Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO) Scholars San Francisco with a one-year, $100,000 grant to fund the organization’s Instructor Bootcamp for teachers. Those teachers provide high school students who participate in the SEO Scholars program with additional after-school instruction and coaching to help them successfully enter and graduate from college.

Each semester, SEO Scholars employs up to 40 part-time, local instructors, many of whom are just beginning their teaching careers. As part of the bootcamp, the teachers receive professional development to prepare them with critical skills. The bootcamp also lays the foundation for coaching and professional development each semester. Additionally, the PNC Foundation grant will support teacher observation tools and technical certifications for instructors.

“The teachers that SEO Scholars employs are critical to the success of our overall mission, because they give our students coaching and instruction that extends the learning our program participants receive every day at their high schools,” said Omar Wandera, SEO Scholars San Francisco executive director. “This generous grant from PNC Foundation will enable us to continue serving low-income, first-generation high school students who are furthest away from opportunity, while providing valuable training to many Bay Area teachers who could benefit from supplemental professional development. That’s what we call a win-win.”

High school students join SEO Scholars as ninth graders and progress through a rigorous after-school program that includes Core Academics, College Readiness & Admissions and College Persistence & Success. 90-percent of the students who complete the SEO program graduate from college. That far exceeds the national graduation rate of just eleven percent for low-income, first-generation college students.

“PNC is committed to supporting and strengthening the communities where we live and work,” said Megan Schoettmer, PNC regional president for Northern California. “We are proud to support SEO Scholars San Francisco, which provides deserving students with the education, skills, and mentoring necessary to succeed and thrive in college and ultimately in the professional world.”

SEO Scholars San Francisco will hold its annual Achievement Benefit Nov. 9. The event provides crucial funding for the organization to continue its work. To become a sponsor, donate or attend the benefit, you can get more information here.

About PNC Foundation?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

The PNC Foundation, which receives its principal funding from The PNC Financial Services Group (www.pnc.com), actively supports organizations that provide services for the benefit of communities in which it has a significant presence. The foundation focuses its philanthropic mission on early childhood education and community and economic development, which includes the arts and culture and promotion of racial and social justice. Through PNC Grow Up Great?, its signature cause that began in 2004, PNC has created a bilingual $500 million, multi-year initiative to help prepare children from birth to age 5 for success in school and life.

About SEO Scholars

For 60 years, SEO Scholars has been an innovator in education mentorship, peer-to-peer support, high standards, and networks to turn untapped potential into newfound greatness. We are creating an ecosystem of excellence and propelling human potential. To apply for the program, send an email to [email protected].

Media Contacts

SEO Scholars

Omar Wandera

(415) 529-4682

[email protected]

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PNC

John B. Patterson, APR

(760) 285-4128

[email protected]