Mission
Background
About Ford Motor Company Fund
About Ford PAS
Archived Information on NGLC
Ford Next Generation Learning Communities (NGLCs) are local and regional partnerships of educators, businesspeople, and community leaders—supported and facilitated by the Ford Motor Company Fund—who are dedicated to reforming education and building a skilled workforce.
NGLCs redesign education based on a career academy model that motivates students to succeed by connecting what they learn in school with the careers they will pursue in adult life.
Creating this type of opportunity for students is the right thing to do for its own sake. However, the Ford NGLC mission is not just about greater student achievement.
NGLCs aim to revitalize local economies by building skilled workforces in the economic sectors most important to each community’s economic success. NGLCs are designed to increase communities’ economic success by increasing opportunities for the individual students who can help make it happen.
Ford Motor Company Fund, the philanthropic arm of the Ford Motor Company, created the Ford Next Generation Learning Community program (originally known as the Career Academy Innovation Community program) to support communities interested in increasing the number of students who receive academic and technical training at successful career academies and to ensure the academies’ long-term sustainability.
Communities seeking recognition are judged based on a 12-Point Action Plan developed by Ford Motor Company Fund in conjunction with Social Marketing Services, LLC. The plan’s 12 Best Practices outlines the best practices required to reach NGLC goals.
Based on communities’ progress in meeting these benchmarks, Ford Motor Company Fund designates NGLCs as having reached one of two levels of achievement, the Prospective and Leadership levels. As of the end of 2007, Ford Motor Company Fund recognizes and supports eight NGLCs across the country.
Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services is committed to creating opportunities that promote corporate citizenship, philanthropy, volunteerism and cultural diversity for those who live in the communities where Ford does business. Established in 1949 and made possible by Ford Motor Company profits, Ford Motor Company Fund supports initiatives and institutions that foster innovative education, auto-related safety, and American heritage and legacy.
National programs include Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies, which provides high school students with academically rigorous 21st century learning experiences, and Driving Skills for Life, a teen-focused auto safety initiative.
The Ford Volunteer Corps, established in 2005, continues Ford's legacy of caring worldwide. Through the Volunteer Corps, salaried employees, union members, retirees and their families participate in a wide range of volunteer projects in their communities. For more information on programs made possible by Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services, visit www.ford.com.
The Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies (Ford PAS) program, created in collaboration with the Education Development Center, provides high school students with high-quality interdisciplinary learning experiences that challenge them academically and develop their problem-solving, critical thinking and communication skills.
Ford PAS encourages hands-on learning that connects students to real world challenges and experiences. By building strong local partnerships with business and higher education, Ford PAS encourages and prepares students for success. To learn more, visit www.fordpas.org.