Creating opportunities for future generations
In 2020 in partnership with United Way of Metro Chicago, KPMG Chicago shifted our investment through the United Way Neighborhood Network Initiative into the Auburn Gresham community. KPMG stands behind United Way’s belief that the zip code a person lives in should not determine their destiny. By shifting our attention to Auburn Gresham, we hope to make a deeper impact and provide more opportunities to create a healthy, safe and sustainable neighborhood.
Why Auburn Gresham? We have a common agenda and aligned community focus.
1
KPMG was introduced to the Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation (GAGDC) in 2020 by United Way of Metro Chicago as we embarked on our new partnership and investment in the Auburn Gresham community. GAGDC is the heartbeat of the community, leading the Auburn Gresham Neighborhood Network – they welcomed KPMG with open arms as a new corporate partner. Since then, we have volunteered at the GAGDC mobile food pop-ups at the height of the pandemic, donated back to school kits to SOS Villages’ Auburn Gresham campus, established a KPMG Family for Literacy (KFFL) partnership with Joplin Elementary by donating 2,500 books and sponsoring a virtual family reading night featuring local authors/guest speakers, and donated our 1 millionth KFFL book to Woodson Regional Library.
2
KPMG has been a longtime supporter of Big Shoulders Fund, dating back to the 90s, and provides books to all 61 of its Chicago area elementary schools through Bernie’s Book Bank and our KFFL program. In 2020, we began a deeper partnership with a Big Shoulders Fund school in Auburn Gresham. St. Ethelreda is an extraordinary school led by Principal Dr. Denise Spells, offering an educational experience that allows its graduates to flourish in high school and beyond. Over the last three years, we have hosted numerous back to school volunteer events, continued our book donations, and kicked off a mentoring program. By partnering with St. Ethelreda, KPMG hopes to create a deeper impact at one school and build meaningful relationships with faculty, staff, students, and family members.
3
Dreams for Kids & Rapunzl provide equitable access to financial literacy through teacher training programs, contextualized curriculum, and a real-time investing simulator. Their program demystifies financial concepts and empowers students with the knowledge to harness financial markets and build generational wealth. KPMG launched our first Dreams for Kids pilot with the freshmen class of Leo High School in 2021 and worked with over 60 high school freshmen. Since then, the program has been expanded to all grades of Leo High School and has been introduced to Simeon Career Academy in Auburn Gresham as well. Each year, KPMG hosts the top-performing students from both schools at the Chicago Ignition Center for lunch, a panel with leaders from our Chicago African Ancestry business resource group, and distributes scholarships for the students to use toward college.
2024 KPMG U.S. Impact Plan
At KPMG, we know that investing in our people, planet, prosperity, and governance is fundamental to how we grow as a business and our role as stewards of the capital markets.