Learn about our donors and the work they do.
The Applied Materials Foundation
Michael and Susan Dell Foundation
With an early start to a stellar tennis career, Andy Roddick finished as the number 1 Junior in the U.S. in 1999, and was ranked as the number 1 Junior in the U.S. in 2000. Just one year after turning pro in 2000, Andy began the Andy Roddick Foundation with the goal of improving the quality of life and enhancing educational and economic opportunities for children, based on the principles of respect for family, education and morality.
Since 2001, Andy has logged a 155 mile-per-hour tennis serve, and more than $10 million in philanthropic giving to organizations that serve children in need. Believing that every child needs a support system to allow her or him to have hope for a bright future, the foundation raises money through events, galas, and endorsements including Andy’s work headlining national advertising campaigns for Lacoste, Babolat, Rolex, Lexus and American Express.
The Foundation is a long-time generous supporter of Austin Partners in Education, providing grant funding to support our work in Classroom Coaching programs across Austin during 2011- 2012.
Andy and his family are active throughout the year raising funds and awareness across the country for the causes the Foundation supports. Locally, he hosts the annual Andy Roddick Foundation Gala, an event that includes a live auction, dinner and top name entertainment. In 2011 the event at the ACL Live Moody Theater headlined a musician who played at Andy and his model/wife Brooklyn Decker’s wedding – Sir Elton John – and raised $1 million for charities that evening.
(Pictured at right: Andy and Sir Elton John)
Austin-based beneficiaries of the Gala include:
- Austin Partners in Education – providing innovative volunteer-driven programs in reading and math designed to improve student academic performance and help prepare Austin ISD students for college and career. APIE serves economically disadvantaged students in predominantly Title I schools, aiming to break the cycle of poverty through education.
- Austin Children’s Shelter - providing a safe home for children and youth who have experienced significant loss, trauma, abuse and or neglect in their lives. This includes support for young adults age 16 – 22 who are ‘aging out’ of the foster care system and are served by a Transitional Living Program.
- A Glimmer of Hope – committed to improving the lives of young people and senior adults by addressing imbalances in the areas of health care, education, life skills, fine arts, safety and basic needs. The Foundation supports Camp Glimmer, giving hundreds of children the happy opportunity to experience a first-class summer camp.
- KIPP Austin Public Schools – providing college preparatory education to low income students in East Austin. KIPP Austin is part of the national Knowledge is Power Program network of free, open-enrollment, college preparatory public schools.
- The Settlement Home for Children – providing quality residential care while resolving emotional, behavioral, and familial problems in children who have been abused or neglected. The residential treatment center in North Austin provides for girls ages 7 – 17 who need moderate or specialized level care. A Foster Family program also provides safe healing families for boys and girls from birth through age 18.
Andy and the Foundation also launched the Andy Roddick Youth Tennis Program, developed in partnership with the Rene Lacoste family and foundation, with the goal of bringing health and wellness to underprivileged children through weekly tennis clinics and mentoring sessions. The program focuses not only on tennis, but also on values, social and career potential, nutrition and more. He has also presented and held tennis clinics as part of the Special Olympics.
Other programs supported by the ever-expanding resources of the Foundation include the Children’s Diagnostic and Treatment Center, The Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas, Miami’s Children’s Hospital, and A Safehaven for Newborns.
A world-recognized athlete, Andy’s accomplishments and accolades, both on and off the court, are many. He was the youngest player ever to be named American Tennis Players (ATP) Athlete of the Year, and was twice nominated for ESPY’s Best Male Tennis Player of the Year. From 2000 – 2010 he was ranked in the top 10 tennis players in the world, playing in 25 Davis Cup matches and reaching the finals at Wimbledon three times. He has appeared on CNN, the Late Show, Saturday Night Live, the Today Show and MTV, as well as Interview and People magazines.
He has also received the Arthur Ashe Prestigious Leadership Award by the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health, and the Heineken Star Award for his success both athletically and philanthropically.
Austin Partners in Education is deeply grateful for Andy’s philanthropy and wish him continued success both on and off the court.
Funding Teacher Professional Development via Environmental Institute
Jane Ogbeide and Paula Bostick from Burnet Middle School spent a week in Silverthorne, Colorado this summer
learning new teaching tools for conducting hands-on investigations around environmental issues with their students. They were among 40 teachers from communities across the country who attended the Key Issues Institute through sponsorships by APIE supporter 3M.
The Institute offers a national teacher professional development training program designed to promote a collaborative approach to investigating environmental issues. Training includes problem solving, lab activities, data collection and simulations. The curriculum meets national education standards in several core disciplines, and is designed to develop complex problem solving and build 21st century learning skills in students.
Ms. Ogbeide (left) and Ms. Bostick (below) were given curriculum materials and lab equipment to use in their classrooms at Burnet Middle School, and will be supported online by staff and fellow educators that attended the training. 
Since 1997, 3M has sponsored more 200 teachers from across the U.S. to attend Key Issues Institute, inspiring and motivating teachers and spreading a real world learning model for exploring environmental issues around the country.
Locally 3M has built a strong partnership with Wooten Elementary, and is increasing its commitment to Burnet as the pipeline toward graduation for the children 3M supports starting in elementary school. Russell Bridges, Manager of Government and Community Affairs at 3M explains, “The best way to build on our long-time commitment to the children at Wooten is to assure that they continue to have challenging learning experiences once they move on to Burnet. Science teacher Andy Lyons was our first Burnet participant at Keystone seven years ago. Each year, I depend on Andy to help recruit more teachers who can benefit from this program.”
Empowering the Next Generation of Innovators
With the goal of advancing education and improving communities worldwide, Intel Foundation funds more than 200 education initiatives in 60 countries. Historically one of APIE’s largest private donors, Intel focuses on programs that increase interest and success in math and science education. Their APIE funding supports Classroom Coaching programs boosting student academic and numerical fluency in middle schools from under-resourced communities.
Whether locally or across the globe, Intel programs serve and inspire youth in under-served communities by providing opportunities for collaboration and the building of technology skills.
Much of Intel Foundation programming focuses on ensuring girls are actively involved in STEM (Science,Technology, Engineering and Math) programs including the Intel Learn Program. Intel’s education programs enable the next generation of engineers and scientists and include the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) and The Intel Science Talent Search, the world’s largest high school science research competition.
Intel Science Talent Search (Intel STS) is America's oldest and most highly regarded science competition. Forty of the brightest minds, selected from more1,600 high school seniors, gather in Washington, D.C. to showcase their original scientific research and compete for $630,000 in awards and prizes.
(See student interviews on Intel's YouTube channel.)
Even closer to home, their work in Austin ISD is supporting APIE’s Classroom Coaching programs. “There is a direct correlation between students failing middle school Science and students who have not mastered reading skills,” says APIE Executive Director Kathrin Brewer. “Intel is helping us locally build the next generation of scientists and engineers by supporting our programs to build foundational math and reading skills in Title I schools for economically disadvantaged youth.”
Here in the U.S., Intel is working to improve student achievement in math by partnering to design and deliver teacher training including 80 hours of math instruction for K-8 teachers. A recent study from the University of Chicago indicates that female elementary school teachers who are anxious about math may undermine girls’ confidence in their math abilities. Intel® Math boosts confidence at the teacher level, creating an enthusiasm that then conveys to students.
The Intel® Teach program helps teachers effectively integrate technology into classroom teaching to promote collaborative learning with an emphasis on critical thinking and problem solving. In collaboration with the Texas Education Association (TEA), over 64,000 Texas educators have completed Intel Teach professional development. The program has trained over 9 million teachers in more than 60 countries and is the largest and most successful program of its kind.
Intel® Teach Elements is a new series of engaging online professional development courses for educators. Designed for teachers with intermediate technology skills, there are no prerequisites; courses are available to anyone, anywhere, conveniently online. Courses provide deeper exploration of 21st century learning concepts: (Assessment in 21st Century Classrooms, Collaboration in the Digital Classroom, Project-Based Approaches, Leadership in the 21st Century, and Thinking Critically with Data.)
Lastly, Intel employees make a difference in their communities by volunteering in local classrooms, supporting science fairs, serving as mentors and endless other opportunities to support STEM initiatives. Through Intel’s Volunteer Matching Grant Program, employees can earn $10 per volunteer hour for schools and organizations. In 2010 Intel employee’s donated $70,000 to 10 Austin area schools and non-profit organizations.
Educators may access Intel's free online courses here.
Follow this link to more about Intel’s Educational Initiatives.
The Applied Materials Foundation in Central Texas
Corporate Citizenship Improving Life for Low Income Communities
As do most technology companies, Applied Materials, Inc. supports schools in the development of science and math scholars. They also have a broader vision and have partnered with non-profit programs, including Austin Partners in Education (APIE) to increase the quality of education from pre-K through college for underserved youth. They are implementing an extensive Education Initiative to close achievement gaps.
Michele Walker Moak, Manager of Global Community Affairs for Central Texas explains: “We researched and identified critical leverage points by age groupings, and explored the barriers to student success. We find and fund the non-profits that are best suited to success in breaking through these very specific barriers so that we can achieve success at each of these intervals.”
The focus of the first two strategic leverage points (age 0-3, and age 4-5) emphasizes preparing children to enter kindergarten ready to learn. Readiness means children must have adequate health care, appropriate language development, early learning enrichment, school readiness development, and parental involvement in activities that promote literacy. Because more than 60 percent of children from low-income families in the U.S. have no age-appropriate books at home , Applied Materials partners with BookSpring’s Reading is FUNdamental program to give these children books.
For children age 6-8, predictors of success include reading on grade level by Grade 3, strong language development programs, and parental involvement in reading skills acquisition. The barriers they have identified include a lack of qualified teachers, inadequate after school care or enrichment, and inadequate parental involvement supporting reading development. Children who are not proficient readers by 4th grade are four times as likely to drop out of high school.
Applied Materials’ partnership at Pecan Springs Elementary with APIE’s 2nd grade Reading Classroom Coaching and the Spanish –language, Compañeros en Lectura, is part of its success strategy for six through eight-year-olds. Reading Coaches work with children each week at Pecan Springs and 924 students in schools throughout Austin. On the standardized Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA), Pecan Springs participants have increased more than 2.5 levels in a half year, as compared to 1.5 levels for their non-participating peers.
“It’s wonderful to see students so engaged in the classroom and receiving the specialized attention they deserve,” Walker-Moak said during a recent visit to the Pecan Springs reading program. “I love watching students discover themselves through reading. The volunteers do such a wonderful job of personalizing the program and meeting the student on their level.”
“We also fund AISD programs that bring commended schools to a higher standard,” Walker-Moak says. She references work with AISD’s Dr. Meria Hohenstein when she was the Principal of Pecan Springs Elementary School, to assess areas of greatest need. “Dr. Hohenstein came up with a formula – she said this is where I get state money, this is where I get Title I funding, and these are my gaps – so we knew where we could help. We bought materials, funded teacher professional development, and paid for lead teachers at key grade levels. In two years that school went from Commended Accountability Ranking to Recognized, Gold Performance. “
For students in high school, Applied’s focus shifts to ensuring successful transitions and creating multiple settings for success. They identify academic support opportunities, provide courses that demand higher-order thinking, and provide multiple pathways for learning differences. Building skills for a successful transition to post-secondary institutions is a high priority. Partners include Breakthrough (Applied Materials is the Founding Funder for that organization), ChemBridge Manor mentoring, College Forward, AP Strategies, and an Interventionist in Manor.
Applied Materials funds much of its work utilizing The Applied Materials Foundation, the philanthropic arm for the company. Their funding strategy is focused on the whole student, and an entire community. “We’re not focused on strictly STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) – we are building a program that provides a total education focused on academic outcomes for low income students. We’re not out to create the next generation of engineers, we want to create the next generation of fully developed children,” says Walker-Moak, adding that they also fund basic needs, environmental education and the Arts including work in arts education with MindPOP.
Employees support their mission to assist low income populations by contributing to the Capital Area Food Bank. With matching funds from the Applied Materials Foundation the annual food drive is the largest employee-based food drive in Central Texas, and in 2010 raised more than $120,000 to feed hungry Central Texas families.
An employee giving program, also matched in funds from the Foundation, provided more than $1 million in support to local community needs last year.
Austin, TX –Austin Partners in Education’s Classroom Coaching has received a grant from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation to increase student outcomes at key academic watersheds. The $150,000 grant supports the placement of more than 850 trained volunteers in small interactive groups of students in Austin ISD.
Focused on early Reading, middle school Reading and Math, and College Readiness, coaches support thousands of students in weekly 45 minute sessions involving the entire class. During sessions, the teacher works individually with students and assesses need. Additional coaches help hundreds of struggling students with daily support to accelerate their academic progress. The funding supports Austin Partners in Education’s efforts to serve 89 percent or higher economically disadvantaged student populations in under-resourced communities.Chase has provided grant funding to Austin Partners in Education and the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce to support efforts to prepare a highly-educated workforce and help all Austin-area students graduate ‘College Ready.’
The $100,000 grant will be used in collaboration with the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce’s College Readiness initiatives. The Chamber partners with local not-for-profits with performance targets for increasing graduates who are college- and career ready. This grant supports the extension of College Readiness programming in math and reading coaching that supports students on a college-going path.
Austin Partners in Education (APIE) works with Austin ISD Advance Programs to identify, inform, advise, and tutor high school seniors who have qualified for graduation but are not College Ready according to the Texas Success Initiative. These students will need to take additional (non-credit) developmental courses in college, increasing their investment in time and money to graduate. 
“Chase is committed to increasing the number of high school graduates who are college ready,” said Joe Holt, Chairman of Chase in Austin. “If we can help students make the leap into college, they’ll be better prepared to pursue the career of their dreams.”
Holt is past chair of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, whose support of College Readiness initiatives includes Austin Partners in Education and Skillpoint Alliance.
With the support of Chase, Austin Partners in Education (APIE) collaborates with Austin ISD to provide students outreach, one-on-one advising, and intense short-term tutoring sessions. Austin Community College provides additional support and testing through their College Connections program.
This year, Austin Partners in Education and Austin ISD collaborated to inform 1,300 target students and their parents of their College Readiness status. Each student also received individual counseling and advising. Each of these students was offered College Readiness tutoring. Sessions were held on 12 high school campuses.
“We are so thankful to the commitment Chase has shown toward academic success for Austin ISD school children,” said Mark Curry, Chairman of the Board of Directors for APIE. “They provide a great example for our business community.”
In addition to outreach to seniors in its College Readiness program, APIE builds a college ready pipeline starting in second grade. APIE recruits, trains and places more than 850 volunteer classroom coaches into 2nd and 6th grade Reading, and 8th grade Math classrooms in Austin ISD. Coaches work with small groups of students once a week, for about 24 weeks of the school year.
“We are profoundly grateful for the leadership of Chase and the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce Opportunity Austin campaign,” said Kathrin Brewer, Executive Director of Austin Partners in Education. “Through their support, we are able to participate in supporting the attainment of College Readiness status by hundreds seniors this year. These leaders bolster our work in building college readiness throughout AISD by providing more than 3,500 students with academic intervention this school year. “
To learn more about JPMorgan Chase Foundation initiatives please see the Community Partnership homepage of the JPMorgan Chase website.
