Publication Date: August 29, 2022
Publication Location: Brattleboro, VT
Contact: Kate Casa   |   [email protected]

KeyBank awarded a $20,000 grant to World Learning for the program Pathway to Financial Literacy, a new initiative under World Learning’s New Vermonter Education Program (NVEP). This critical support will expand NVEP’s curriculum offerings and help World Learning ensure the long-term success of the program, one that is quickly becoming a national model for refugee resettlement.

NVEP is a partnership between World Learning and School for International Training (SIT) and the Ethiopian Community Development Council in which housing and education are provided to refugees in Brattleboro. More than 100 Afghan refugees were given temporary housing and English language and cultural orientation classes on SIT’s campus this past year with the goal to integrate the new Vermonters fully into the community. Additional plans involve expanding the program to new refugee groups this fall.

“On behalf of World Learning, I’m delighted to be taking this next step to grow our partnership with KeyBank through this critical support of our programming for new Vermonters settling in Brattleboro. We look forward to working together in a community where both our institutions have deep roots,” World Learning CEO Carol Jenkins said.

KeyBank’s grant will allow NVEP to expand its English language learning curriculum to include basic financial literacy training tailored to the needs, backgrounds, and experiences of refugees. Local KeyBank branch staff have been invited to provide the classes with the dual outcome of introducing the refugees to more members of the Brattleboro community.

“KeyBank believes in doing our part to improve the lives of disadvantaged populations in our neighborhoods through education, workforce development, and community investment,” said KeyBank Regional Corporate Responsibility Officer Brigitte Ritchie. “As a company recognized for our strong culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion, we welcome people of all cultures to our community and are proud to help support their successful integration.”

World Learning Inc. is a thriving global organization made up of World Learning, a global development and exchange nonprofit organization, The Experiment in International Living, the nation’s most experienced provider of intercultural exchange programs abroad and virtual for high school students; and School for International Training, offering accredited undergraduate study abroad programs through SIT Study Abroad, including the comparative International Honors Program, and internationally focused master’s degrees, certificate programs, and a doctorate through SIT Graduate Institute. For more than 90 years, the organization has delivered international education, cultural exchanges, and sustainable development. For more information, visit worldlearning.org. 

KeyCorp’s roots trace back nearly 200 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation’s largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $187.0 billion at June 30, 2022. Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of approximately 1,000 branches and approximately 1,300 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank is Member FDIC.