The Oregon Community Foundation Awards First Grants From Oracle Settlement


The Oregon Community Foundation (OCF) has announced $459,308 in grants to seven regional STEM Hubs (science, technology, engineering and math) that support the development or expansion of Career Connected Learning (CCL) focused on girls, low-income youth, youth of color and/or rural youth. The grants were made from the $10 million donation Oracle is making to OCF in 2017 and 2018 as part of its Cover Oregon settlement with the State of Oregon. In addition to expanded CCL programming, each of the seven grantees raised required matching funds from local industry, foundations or government grants.

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CCL gives students the opportunity to explore different pathways, develop work-related knowledge and skills and connect their classroom learning to the world of work within the STEM and CTE (Career and Technical Education) fields.

“OCF is proud to be a steward of this investment in STEM Hubs in Oregon,” said OCF President and CEO Max Williams. “This first round of grants creates a pathway for girls, low-income youth, youth of color and rural youth to aspire to and enter CTE-STEM fields and supports OCF’s efforts to close the opportunity gap that many Oregon children face.”

Initial grants awarded include the following STEM Hubs:

Central Oregon STEM Hub, Redmond; $75,000 to align middle school electives with CTE-STEM opportunities at partner high schools while creating an authentic and relevant environment of career connected learning opportunities at the middle school level.

GO STEM Hub, La Grande; $19,950 as a planning grant to develop technology CCL opportunities for youth, educators and businesses in Eastern Oregon.

Lane STEM, Eugene; $74,443 to support Elevate Lane County which provides a continuum of CCL opportunities (mostly technology-focused) for students and teachers and will be expanding those opportunities to include the health and advanced manufacturing industry.

Mid-Valley Mid-Coast STEM/CTE Hub, Albany; $65,405 to expand the Pipeline Program, which (through collaboration with OSU and LBCC) provides a bridge from K-12 to post-secondary education and careers in CTE-STEM to rural and underserved populations in Linn and Benton counties.

Northwest STEM Partnership, Hillsboro; $74,510 to close gaps and expand CCL programming throughout Clatsop, Columbia and Tillamook counties through
activities including internship model expansion, college and career fairs, professional development, and OMIC alignment for teachers and students.

Portland Metro STEM Partnership, Portland; $75,000 to adapt the Patterns Science Sequence curriculum to embed CCL into core content classes for all sophomores, juniors and seniors.

South Metro-Salem STEM Partnership of Wilsonville; $75,000 to establish and expand the suite of CCL experiences for underserved students in Salem and outlying southern regions of the South Metro-Salem STEM Hub.

For more information about OCF’s grant programs, please visit https://www.oregoncf.org/grants

About The Oregon Community Foundation: The mission of The Oregon Community Foundation is to improve lives for all Oregonians through the power of philanthropy. OCF works with individuals, families, businesses and organizations to create charitable funds to support the community causes they care about. Through these funds OCF awarded more than $118 million in grants and scholarships in 2017. For more information about OCF, visit: www.oregoncf.org.