Salesforce announces $1M grant to Indianapolis schools

Tech giant Salesforce Inc. is donating $1 million to Indianapolis Public Schools to support a variety of programs for students in fifth through 12th grades.

The local grant is a portion of $23 million in philanthropic funding that Salesforce announced Monday morning for public schools and other not-for-profit organizations.

The San Francisco-based company is granting a combined $13 million to public schools in San Francisco and Oakland, California; New York City; Chicago; and Indianapolis.

Salesforce also is bestowing a combined $10 million to 14 not-for-profit organizations in the U.S., France and Australia that focus on artificial intelligence literacy and skill-building.

Salesforce is a long-time philanthropic partner of IPS. Including this year’s gift, the company has granted a cumulative $5.5 million to the district since 2018. This year’s gift is a two-year grant as compared with previous awards, which have been one-year grants.

“We are very, very grateful for them,” said Stephanie Bailey, CEO of the Indianapolis Public Schools Foundation. “There’s a long-standing commitment to our students and the community.”

Ron Smith, Salesforce’s vice president of philanthropy, said the company focuses its philanthropy on markets in which it has high concentrations of employees. About 2,200 Salesforce employees are based in Indiana.

Grant amounts—and the programs they fund—are different for each of the recipients, Smith said. “We’re very intentional about that. We don’t believe in one-size-fits-all.”

IPS will use its grant funding this year in four ways, Bailey said:

— To give more students the opportunity to participate in college fairs and college campus tours. Previously, this opportunity was only for high-school students, but now it will be expanded to include students in sixth through eighth grades, Bailey said. “We’re excited to give students an earlier opportunity to get on [a college] campus.”

— To expand a summer orientation program. The program, called Summer Bridge, allows students to visit their new school, meet their teachers and learn about the school’s rules and expectations before the school year begins. The program had been for rising high school students entering ninth grade, but it will now also be offered to rising sixth graders to prepare them for middle school.

— To allow all of the district’s fifth graders to participate in Junior Achievement’s JA BizTown program, which includes a visit to a simulated town to learn about financial literacy, entrepreneurship and work readiness.

— On sustainability planning so that the district can explore its ongoing funding needs and potential funding sources.

Monday’s announcement was timed to coincide with the company’s annual trade show, Dreamforce, which takes place Tuesday through Thursday in San Francisco. Salesforce says it expects about 50,000 people to attend this year’s event.