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Alignment Collaborative for Education - ACE

Grant Awards

United Way of Metro Chicago Launches Neighborhood Network in Elgin with Leadership Gift from Nicor Gas Foundation

Alignment Collaborative for Education will lead
the vision and work of the Elgin Neighborhood Network

United Way of Metro Chicago, in collaboration with founding supporter Nicor Gas Foundation and lead partner agency Alignment Collaborative for Education, has announced the expansion of its Neighborhood Network Initiative in Elgin. Establishing a Neighborhood Network in Elgin empowers local neighborhood leaders to leverage a multi-year investment from Nicor Gas Foundation and support from United Way to identify and solve issues important to their community.
   
“United Way has a long-standing relationship and partnership with the Elgin community,” said United Way of Metro Chicago President and CEO Sean Garrett. “Along with the Nicor Gas Foundation, we are thrilled to work with our partners at Alignment Collaborative for Education to launch the Elgin Neighborhood Network and reaffirm United Way’s commitment to the residents of Elgin. Our goal is to continue to work together to build a community where everyone can reach their potential and thrive.”  

“As the founding supporter of the Elgin Neighborhood Network, the Nicor Gas Foundation is honored to join United Way of Metro Chicago and our community partners on this transformative investment,” said Nicor Gas President and CEO Wendell Dallas. “We are committed to advancing equity in education for all young people. Nicor Gas is proud to support the Elgin Neighborhood Network and work in partnership with Alignment Collaborative for Education to provide workforce training opportunities and job readiness programs to better prepare high school students to pursue fulfilling careers.”

“The launch of the Elgin Neighborhood Network is a gamechanger for the Elgin community,” said Alignment Collaborative for Education Executive Director Nancy Coleman. “We are grateful for United Way of Metro Chicago and the Nicor Gas Foundation for believing in our work and joining our strong coalition of community leaders to ensure all people can thrive in Elgin, starting with crucial education and workforce development programming for our youth.”

Mayor Kaptain Recognizes Alignment’s Work in State of City Address

Photo Credit : James Harvey Photography

In his annual state of the city address, Mayor David Kaptain cited strong partnerships with community partners as a reason for Elgin’s success. Alignment Collaborative for Education is proud to be one of those partners.

“Workforce development and business retention have resulted in a growing city, a healthy city,” Kaptain said during a breakfast sponsored by the Elgin Area Chamber at Elgin Community College. “We’ve done a really good job of doing balanced, diversified growth.” He said the city’s focus on education in the last seven years and the efforts of Alignment Collaborative for Education are helping to create employees to support the growing business community.

“We are creating a workforce that will provide workers at all levels,” Kaptain said, adding that the group’s work has been recognized by the United Way, which gave it a $150,000 grant to continue improving workforce education.

Read the entire Daily Herald article by Rick West here.

Read the Elgin Courier-News article by Gloria Casas here.

Alignment Launches New Fiscal Year with Generous Support from the Seigle Foundation

Seigle Foundation Awards Grant to Alignment

Alignment was recognized by the Seigle Foundation with a $25,000 grant award to kickoff its new fiscal year. The Seigle Foundation selected Alignment for this award based on its work in the Elgin and Dundee communities to prepare youth for future personal and career success.  

Alignment will utilize this generous funding to expand its work-based learning initiatives for middle and high school students throughout the Elgin and Dundee communities. That work includes career exploration as early as middle school advancing to more specialized, industry specific opportunities for high school students. Students have the opportunity to be placed in various work-based learning settings across multiple industry clusters. These opportunities are made available by Alignment’s large network of over 200 partners committed to building a future workforce that meets the economic and social growth of the community.  

Thank you to the Seigle Family for providing this investment in our youth, the community, and the region’s future workforce development.

Alignment Awarded Workforce Development Grant from Kiwanis

Alignment Awarded Workforce Development Grant from Kiwanis

Thank you to the Kiwanis Club of Elgin for your grant of $1,500 to support Alignment’s work-based learning initiatives in the high schools. This grant will specifically work to support U-46 seniors graduating in May to connect with employers regarding local employment opportunities.  

Seniors enrolled in such programs as U-46’s automotive, culinary arts, early education, engineering, nursing assistant, precision manufacturing, welding, etc., will receive assistance with resume development and interview skills along with a virtual job fair setting where they can speak with local companies about employment opportunities.  

We greatly appreciate our Kiwanis members and their assistance with preparing U-46 students to contribute to our local workforce!

Nicor Energy Grant Funded

Nicor Energy Grant FundedThe Alignment Collaborative for Education received $5,000 in funding under Nicor’s The Path to Social Mobility and Enhanced Opportunities Includes Education and Career Readiness grant program. Alignment’s role is to build business and community partnerships that collaboratively offer students within School District U-46, opportunities to participate in a comprehensive career education and work readiness program. This program prepares students to gain industry recognized credentials while still in high school so that students upon graduation can immediately enter the workforce and have the necessary foundation for post-secondary education and training.  We greatly appreciate the support of Jim Griffin, Nicor’s Vice President of Operations and member of Alignment’s Governing Board.