Liberty Mutual’s Scholarship Provides Four Students $2,500 Each Per Year for Four Years,
Partnership with Mass. Department of Higher Education Offers Additional Financial Incentives
Liberty Mutual Insurance today presented each of the four recipients of its LEADA@Liberty Scholarship with $2,500 per year for each of the four years of their college career. The scholarship, which Liberty launched last year, will be awarded annually to four students of African descent who are enrolled in the Massachusetts Commonwealth Commitment program. The scholarship program is designed to offset the cost of college for Massachusetts students who enroll in community college with the ultimate goal of completing a degree at a state university or University of Massachusetts campus.
The recipients of the 2017-2018 LEADA@Liberty Scholarship are:
- Chelsea Amadi, North Shore Community College
- Nomwende Doamba, North Shore Community College
- Imani Exilhomme, Bunker Hill Community College
- Anthony Wathuo, Middlesex Community College
“We are thrilled to award our inaugural scholarship to Chelsea, Nomwende, Imani, and Anthony and we look forward to working with them as mentors and advisors over the next four years of school,” said Kevin Gayle, Former Operations Chair of Liberty Mutual’s Employees of African Descent and Allies(LEADA@Liberty) employee resource group. “We see investing in students at the beginning of their college career as a way to create a path for future Liberty Mutual employees and our goal with this scholarship is to reach a historically untapped pool of talent. Being able to help offset the cost of college tuition and the resulting student loan debt is a win-win for community college students, Liberty Mutual Insurance and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.”
The first of its kind in the nation, the Commonwealth Commitment is the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education’s innovative college affordability and completion plan that aims to help more Massachusetts students achieve the dream of a college career. The plan commits Massachusetts public colleges and universities to providing a series of financial incentives to students who begin their studies at one of 15 community colleges, earn an associate degree within two and a half years, and then transfer to a state university or University of Massachusetts campus to earn a baccalaureate degree. Liberty Mutual is the Commonwealth Commitment’s first private sector partner.
“Liberty Mutual and the LEADA@Liberty team in particular have been great partners in supporting our students on their journey to baccalaureate degrees through transfer,” said Carlos E. Santiago, Massachusetts Commissioner of Higher Education. “By supporting the Commonwealth Commitment program with scholarships and offering internship and mentoring opportunities, Liberty Mutual is helping students stay on a path to graduation and success in their chosen field.”
Administered by the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), the LEADA@Liberty scholarship is available to students of African descent attending community colleges in Massachusetts. In addition to the scholarship, through the Commonwealth Commitment, students who attend college full-time and maintain a 3.0 GPA receive a freeze on tuition and fees, a 10 percent rebate at the end of each successfully completed semester, and a full MassTransfer tuition waiver in their third and fourth years at a university.
“The UNCF Boston office is pleased to partner with Liberty Mutual Insurance on the LEADA@Liberty scholarship program,” said UNCF Area Development Director Lois Smith. “This exciting new initiative provides scholarships for deserving Massachusetts Community College students of African descent who will create a pipeline toward completion of a bachelor’s degree. UNCF is the nation’s largest private scholarship provider to minority group members and has helped more than 445,000 students graduate from college. Each year, we award more than $100 million in scholarships to more than 10,000 students at more than 1,100 schools across the country, including our prestigious network of 37 HBCUs.”
For more information about the annual scholarship, please visit https://scholarships.uncf.org/Program/Details/da7b50b3-90a5-44e2-b368-379013b0041a
About LEADA@Liberty
One of Liberty Mutual’s six employee resource groups (ERG), LEADA@Liberty + Allies provides meaningful connections, professional development and ongoing support to employees of African descent and their allies, while acting as a resource to influence inclusive business practices.
ERGs represent different affinity groups — groups formed around shared backgrounds and experiences — and their allies — those who support people beyond their own background, culture or experience. They are led by executives and co-chairs and are company-sponsored. Liberty Mutual’s Diversity & Inclusion team provides each group with a budget and oversight, and all ERGs follow a framework that supports the company’s broader business objectives, called the 4Cs: culture, community, career and commerce.
About Liberty Mutual Insurance
Liberty Mutual’s purpose is to help people embrace today and confidently pursue tomorrow. Keeping this promise means we are there when our policyholders throughout the world need us most.
In business since 1912, and headquartered in Boston, Mass., today we are a leading global insurer with operations in 30 countries and economies around the world. We are the fourth largest property and casualty insurer in the U.S. based on 2016 direct written premium data as reported by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. We also rank 75th on the Fortune 100 list of largest corporations in the U.S. based on 2016 revenue. As of December 31, 2016, we had $38.3 billion in annual consolidated revenue.
We employ more than 50,000 people in over 800 offices throughout the world. We offer a wide range of insurance products and services, including personal automobile, homeowners, commercial automobile, general liability, property, surety, workers compensation, specialty lines, and reinsurance. You can learn more about us by visiting www.libertymutualinsurance.com.
Contact:
Adrianne Kaufmann
Liberty Mutual Insurance
617-574-5983
Adrianne.kaufmann@libertymutual.com
