Align4edu

Alignment Collaborative for Education - ACE

Archives for November 2024

Robert (Bob) Malm recognized by the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce

Non-Profit Volunteer of the Year, 2024

Bob Malm, far left, is Alignment’s Volunteer of the Year

The Alignment Collaborative for Education (Alignment) nominated Bob Malm as one of the Elgin Area Chamber’s Volunteer of the Year at the annual Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce Thanksgiving recognition held on November 26, 2024 at Elgin Community College. Bob and his wife Carolyn have been role models of the community for over a decade.  Passionate about workforce development and community, Bob has worked tirelessly to ensure students and families have the resources needed to prepare for future economic and social success.

Bob began his service mindset in the military followed by years of service with the City of Elgin and later retiring to help the business community with workforce development.  During that time, Bob became a chief advocate of Alignment encouraging the community to invest in middle and high school students preparing them to graduate academic and career ready.  Bob continues in this leadership role and has for over five years served on Alignment’s Operating Board and currently chairs Alignment’s Educational Pathways A-Team.  Under his leadership, Alignment reached a milestone of serving over 10,000 students in 2024.  

Bob believes in the power of education to change lives and to shape the future prosperity of a community, the region, and the state.  It is befitting to be able to recognize Bob for the many contributions he has made to Alignment and the Elgin community.

Giving Thanks for Our Partners

As we celebrate this season of gratitude, we want to extend our heartfelt thanks for your generous support and partnership. Your continued commitment has made a significant impact, and we are truly grateful for all that you do.

Wishing you a joyous and peaceful Thanksgiving filled with warmth and happiness!

To learn more about the impact of your support, please review our interactive Annual Report highlighting our 2024 results.

As you generously give on Giving Tuesday, we kindly ask to be remembered, as your support continues to make a meaningful difference in our shared mission to prepare students to be academically and career ready.

The future of our workforce depends on it!

Zurich Hosts Second Annual Tour for U-46 Students

Thank you to Junior Achievement (JA) and Zurich Insurance for hosting the second annual Zurich Insurance tour for students from Bartlett, Larkin, and Streamwood high schools.  Approximately 80 students spent the day at Zurich touring the company’s headquarters and learning about its apprenticeship programs. Previous U-46 graduates currently working for Zurich served as tour guides for the event along with JA and Zurich employees leading workshops in “It’s My Future”. 

Alignment and School District U-46 continue to have strong partnerships with both JA and Zurich.  Nancy Coleman, Alignment’s executive director, described the partnership as ” a shared mission between Alignment, JA, and Zurich to expose students to the corporate world and the steps necessary to be successful in that workplace. This partnership is long standing as evidenced by Zurich providing employment opportunities for U-46 graduates as a result of the three partners working together to help prepare students for the future workforce.”