Editor’s Note: Irvine-based TGR Foundation, which was established in 1996 by Tiger Woods and his father, Earl Woods, encourages students to pursue STEAM careers. TGR Foundation ranked No. 40 on the Business Journal’s most recent list of nonprofits, reporting $13.5 million in revenue for the year ended Sept. 30. The Business Journal’s annual special report on the largest banks operating in Orange County starts on page 17.
What would make a tech expert interrupt her progress at her corporate job to lend her talents to a nonprofit for a full year? According to Bank of America’s Namita Hari, who spent a year with us at TGR Foundation, it wasn’t an interruption at all. In fact, as part of her “Leader on Loan” experience, she grew more professionally and personally than she might have otherwise.
This new take on pro bono services is a unique and coveted program at Bank of America, resulting in Hari getting more exposure with her bank team and gaining new perspectives as she brought her expertise to a different work environment.
This partnership with Bank of America came at a great time for us. While it can be challenging to recognize the full impact of most nonprofits like TGR Foundation, organizations are under greater pressure to measure and report the outcomes of their programs and return on investments. Individual and corporate donors want to see their dollars directly funding the services and crave data, measurable outcomes and results as they focus on their charitable giving to meet local needs. The required technology, research and analytics are often overly sophisticated, costly and cut into the percentage of direct spending on programs.
By covering the salary and benefits of one of its senior managers to work full time for 12-18 months at a designated nonprofit, Bank of America’s Leader on Loan program is an innovative solution to filling this need for expertise. It’s a win-win situation for corporations who recognize the benefits of creating a company culture that supports charitable causes.
Piloted in 2017 as another way for the bank to accelerate the impact of local nonprofits and improve the long-term sustainable growth of the organizations, its Leader on Loan program has since placed nearly 50 senior-level bank leaders with a variety of nonprofits nationwide.
Impact Data
TGR Foundation was the first nonprofit in Orange County to benefit from this opportunity. Bank of America recalled our interest in creating impact data and understanding the importance of nonprofit work and offered to further our expansion into new markets nationwide.
Our mission is to empower students to pursue their passions through education. We remove barriers for children and communities and help determined youth achieve their college and career aspirations. We serve thousands of fifth-12th-grade students annually, helping them to build skills in and outside of the classroom.
Our flagship TGR Learning Lab in Anaheim is a 35,000-square-foot facility filled with open workspaces, modern industrial interior design storefront-designed classrooms with energetic graphic walls, 3D printers and specialty equipment for students to feel safe to learn, grow and prepare for their futures. For our Foundation, building a sense of belonging for our students is critical to our values.
When we were first introduced to Hari, senior vice president and senior technology manager for Bank of America, our staff was impressed by her passion for STEAM. She was already involved with other related nonprofits including Girls Who Code and the National Center for Women & Information Technology. She shared TGR Foundation’s passion for helping youth and families succeed in life through quality STEAM programming.
Measurable Outcomes
At Bank of America, prior to her role as a Leader on Loan, Hari oversaw a team responsible for delivering data analytics and technology solutions supporting business strategies for financial and regulatory reporting. Her expertise translated well to our desire to increase measurable outcomes for future growth. Paired with funding, the Leader on Loan program is an added value to nonprofits that often must operate on very lean expenses and can struggle to offset costly technology needs.
As we expand to new regions across the country, we welcomed the opportunity to learn from Hari’s expertise and perspective on technology infrastructure and data collection to optimize the Foundation’s visibility.
Since she began working with us, we have identified opportunities and begun implementing solutions to elevate the best services to our target audience and increase the involvement of donors and students. In addition, Bank of America’s Better Money Habits financial literacy curriculum has supported students through workshops and summer classes, as well as our employees during our annual team retreat.
Hari recently committed to being a mentor in our Earl Woods Scholar Program and will support Uchechukwu “Gift” Okeze, a University of California, Irvine freshman, over the next four years and beyond.
Enriching, supporting and empowering students experiencing adversity as they work toward their personal and professional goals is appealing to new customers and builds the support of existing customers, for corporations like Bank of America.
With a mix of social and interpersonal skills, character traits and professional attitudes that all jobs require, collaborations like the Leader on Loan program also develops leadership skills such as teamwork, patience, time management and communication among employees from both brands. These “durable soft skills” become the most valuable takeaways for students and staff alike.
From the Leader on Loan program to volunteer opportunities and financial support, we’re grateful for our continued collaboration with Bank of America. Successful partnerships come with wealth, wisdom and work. It builds valuable connections. Together we are champions for youth!
