Boston, June 30, 2017 – Tenacity is thrilled to announce it is one of 100 local nonprofits to receive grants of $100,000 each through Cummings Foundation’s “$100K for 100” program. Tenacity was chosen from among 549 applicants during a competitive review process.
Tenacity’s programs provide a Pathway to Post-Secondary Success through a combination of academic enrichment, mentoring, family engagement, and tennis/fitness coaching which together improve educational outcomes for students, increase graduation rates, and help transform the lives of less advantaged Boston youth.
Representing Tenacity, Ned Eames, Founder and CEO, and Carol Salter, Director of Foundation, Corporate and Government Relations, joined approximately 300 other guests at a reception at TradeCenter 128 in Woburn to celebrate the $10 million infusion into Greater Boston’s nonprofit sector. With the conclusion of this grant cycle, Cummings Foundation has now awarded more than $170 million to local nonprofits alone.
“Tenacity is honored to have been chosen as a grant recipient through Cummings Foundation’s “100K for 100”program,” shared Tenacity Founder and CEO, Ned Eames. “The grant will help us expand academic enrichment and deeper learning opportunities for underserved Boston students while also providing tennis and fitness on the tennis courts.”
With the Cummings Foundation’s generous support, Tenacity will build on its unique blend of academic and sports-based youth development, augmenting the academic rigor of its 340-hour Middle School Academy Program and bolstering the impact of its College Prep/ Post-Secondary Services Programs while inspiring students to strive for excellence and success throughout middle school, high school, college and beyond.
The $100K for 100 program supports nonprofits that are not only based in but also primarily serve Middlesex, Essex, and Suffolk counties. This year, the program is benefiting 35 different cities and towns within the Commonwealth.
Through this place-based initiative, Cummings Foundation aims to give back in the area where it owns commercial buildings, all of which are managed, at no cost to the Foundation, by its affiliate Cummings Properties. Founded in 1970 by Bill Cummings of Winchester, the Woburn-based commercial real estate firm leases and manages more than 10 million square feet of space, the majority of which exclusively benefits the Foundation.
“Nonprofit organizations like Tenacity are vital to the local communities where our colleagues and clients live and work,” said Joel Swets, Cummings Foundation’s executive director. “We are delighted to invest in their efforts.”
This year’s diverse group of grant recipients represents a wide variety of causes, including homelessness prevention and affordable housing, education, violence prevention, and food insecurity. Most of the grants will be paid over two to five years.
The complete list of 100 grant winners is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.
About Tenacity
Tenacity’s Pathway to Post-Secondary Success programs open educational and career pathways that offer countless opportunities for personal, civic and professional growth while enabling young people to build self-confidence and explore success as students, mentors and leaders. The outcomes are striking. Tenacity has maintained a 95% high school graduation rate among students who have completed their Middle School Academy, with 80% of those graduates going on to higher education.
About Cummings Foundation
Woburn-based Cummings Foundation, Inc. was established in 1986 by Joyce and Bill Cummings of Winchester. With assets exceeding $1.4 billion, it is one of the largest foundations in New England. The Foundation directly operates its own charitable subsidiaries, including two New Horizons retirement communities, in Marlborough and Woburn. Its largest single commitment to date was $50 million to Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. Additional information is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.