September 23, 2015

Ford Motor Company Fund helps kick off the new school year with more than US$ 1.7-million in education grants and scholarships

Automotive design can stir a person's deepest passion. Rami Khoury knows the feeling. So does Konnor Bartels. They are two of the first five winners of the William Clay Ford Automotive Design Scholarship, honoring Mr. Ford's legacy of design innovation and leadership.

"I look at the automobile as a rolling sculpture on wheels," said Khoury, a student at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. "All of these shapes and forms that move on the street, and yet carry people to their destinations. It has both form and function."


Bartels, a student at Cleveland Institute of Art, has always liked creating designs and bringing them to life. "Design fuels my passion and desire to create," he said. "I am excited by the collaboration, the creation, the story and the user."

The US$ 1-million William Clay Ford Automotive Design Scholarship, honoring William Clay Ford's outstanding contributions to automotive design, will award US$ 10,000 to five outstanding college sophomores or juniors each year for 20 years. It's one of several new initiatives Ford Motor Company Fund, the philanthropic arm of Ford Motor Company, is launching to accelerate its commitment to helping young people reach their potential.

All told, Ford Fund is investing more than US$ 1.7-million in new and ongoing global educational programs, part of more than US$ 8-million annually in scholarships, grants and other initiatives that offer promising and at-risk students the opportunity to follow their career dreams and hone essential workplace skills. Ford Fund also is focused on helping vulnerable students stay in school and graduate, keeping them on track for future success.

In addition to continuing signature education programs such as Ford Blue Oval Scholars, Ford Next Generation Learning and Ford Freedom Award, Ford Fund's educational investments getting underway include: 
Alan Mulally Engineering Scholarship: Ford created the new Alan Mulally Leadership in Engineering Scholarship to develop engineering talent. The global US$ 1-million program, which starts this fall, awards 10 scholarships for US$ 10,000 each to outstanding engineering students at 10 partner universities. 

Ford College Alliance (FCA): FCA will provide US$ 500,000 in scholarships to engineering, IT and business students at select universities, plus US$ 150,000 in university vehicle team funding and US$ 50,000 in school grants. 

Ford Driving Dreams: Ford Driving Dreams recently launched in Panama and will soon be underway in Arkansas, California, Illinois, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin to help Latino youth graduate from high school on time and pursue higher education. The Ford Driving Dreams initiatives include drop-out prevention grants, book donations and a motivational tour featuring pep rallies, scholarships, and contests that are investing US$ 520,000 in local communities. By the end of this school year, Ford Driving Dreams will have reached more than 40,000 students in more than 40 markets and will have delivered more than US$ 3-million in educational resources since 2010. 

Ford College Community Challenge (Ford C3): This global competition encourages college students to put their knowledge and creativity to work by taking the lead in developing projects around the theme of building sustainable communities. Ford C3 has launched in Brazil, China and the United States, which also includes the Ford Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCU) Community Challenge. New this year are Ford C3 grants in Ghana, Kenya, Morocco and South Africa. Ford is also making grants to Tribal Colleges and Universities in the Native American community in the US for the first time. Ford's investment in C3 grants and supporting programs is US$ 525,000. 

Heart Behind the Oval: College students and high school seniors in the Ford Blue Oval Network are asked to propose a project with a local non-profit that addresses 'Building a Brighter Future'. Students and their non-profit partners have the opportunity to earn US$ 10,000 in support.


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