Company Press Release

Fidelity Investments® and Teach For America Announce New National Partnership Extending Talent of Fidelity Employees Through Education Volunteer Efforts

01/09/11
Fidelity and Teach For America Launch "Fidelity Field Trips" to Supplement Classroom Curricula with College and Career Exposure

BOSTON – Fidelity Investments®, one of the world's largest providers of financial services, and Teach For America, a national nonprofit organization that enlists recent college graduates to teach in urban and rural public schools, today announced a new national partnership that will help enhance educational opportunities for thousands of middle and high school students across the United States.

The partnership is part of Fidelity's continued commitment to help students achieve academic success and support critical social issues in the communities in which it operates. Fidelity® will support Teach For America’s 8,200 teachers, also known as corps members, across the country by leveraging the unique skills and talent of its own employees in multiple states (Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Texas) to provide students with additional learning opportunities and professional role models.

"Today's youth can greatly benefit from learning experiences, both in and out of school, that provide positive, caring role models and exposure to educational and career opportunities,” said Sheila Cavanaugh, senior vice president, Fidelity Investments. "Fidelity is committed to furthering these opportunities for students. Through our expanded relationship with Teach For America, we will be in a position to better help today’s teachers improve the quality of public education in this country."

"We are grateful for Fidelity's support of our corps members and alumni, who are working relentlessly alongside many others to transform the educational and life prospects of students in our most economically disadvantaged communities," said Wendy Kopp, chief executive officer and founder of Teach For America. “The engagement of the Fidelity community will play an important role in helping ensure that all children have an opportunity to fulfill their academic potential and pursue their dreams."

As part of the partnership, executives and other employees from Fidelity will participate in the annual Teach For America Week, a volunteer event in which community leaders from a variety of sectors serve as guest teachers in corps members' classrooms. Fidelity executives from all levels of the organization will teach topics that draw on their own professional and personal backgrounds.

Additionally, Fidelity will help support Teach For America by sponsoring and organizing Fidelity Field Trips, a new program developed by Fidelity to enable Teach For America corps members and alumni to take their students on educational field trips that will enhance their classroom curricula. More than 6,000 Teach For America alumni across the country continue to serve as classroom teachers.

"Through this new program, we want to provide tangible, real-life experiences for these students, while bringing the broad knowledge and skills of Fidelity employees into Teach For America’s classrooms," said Cavanaugh. "Fidelity Field Trips will give students who may have never traveled far beyond their own neighborhoods the opportunity to experience what it’s like to be on a college campus or be inspired by a visit to the Supreme Court."

Over the next five months, Fidelity will sponsor 37 Fidelity Field Trips involving nearly 3,000 students in cities including Boston; New York; Dallas; Jacksonville, Fla.; Newark, N.J.; Durham, N.C.; Oxford, N.C.; Revere, Mass.; and Chelsea, Mass. The program, which was piloted last spring in Massachusetts and New York, includes field trips organized by Teach For America teachers that range from one- or two-day visits to museums and aquariums to five-day trips to college campuses or the nation’s capital. Students will have an opportunity to tour facilities, meet with elected officials and civil rights icons, and talk with students and faculty on college campuses. Participating schools include:

Florida: Matthew Gilbert Middle School (Jacksonville); North Shore K-8 MicroSociety Magnet School (Jacksonville); Terry Parker High School (Jacksonville)

Massachusetts: City on a Hill Public Charter High School (Boston); Eugene Wright Middle School (Chelsea); Excel High School (Boston); Garfield Middle School (Revere)

New Jersey: Passaic High School (Passaic); Burnet Street School (Newark); Barringer 9th Grade Success Academy (Newark); West Side High School (Newark)

New York: Bronx Green Middle School (Bronx); Coney Island Prep (Brooklyn); Explore Charter School (Brooklyn); Essex Street Academy (Manhattan); I.S. 339 (Bronx); J.H.S. 118 William W. Niles Middle School (Bronx); J.H.S. 162 Lola Rodriguez De Tio (Bronx); Martin Luther King Jr. High School (Hastings on Hudson); Mott Haven Village Preparatory High School (Bronx); M.S. M247 Dual Language Middle School (Manhattan); M.S. 324 Patria Mirabal (Manhattan); Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School (Manhattan)

North Carolina: Bertie High School (Windsor); Henderson Middle School (Henderson); Northwest Halifax High School (Littleton); Warren County Middle School (Warrenton); Warren New Tech High School (Warrenton)

Texas: Thomas C. Marsh Middle School (Dallas); Summit International Prep/Uplift Education (Dallas)

About Teach For America
Teach For America is the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates who commit to teach for two years in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in expanding educational opportunity. Today, more than 8,200 corps members are teaching in 39 regions across the country while 20,000 Teach For America alumni continue working from inside and outside the field of education for the fundamental changes necessary to ensure educational excellence and equity. For more information, visit www.teachforamerica.org.

About Fidelity Investments
Fidelity Investments is one of the world's largest providers of financial services, with assets under administration of nearly $3.4 trillion, including managed assets of over $1.5 trillion, as of November 30, 2010. Founded in 1946, the firm is a leading provider of investment management, retirement planning, portfolio guidance, brokerage, benefits outsourcing and many other financial products and services to more than 20 million individuals and institutions, as well as through 5,000 financial intermediary firms. For more information about Fidelity Investments, visit www.fidelity.com.