CHICAGO — Exelon (Nasdaq: EXC), the nation’s largest energy delivery company, and the Exelon Foundation announced they will award a total of $868,000 in Green Lab Grants to 27 education-focused organizations. The grants will go toward investments in hands-on educational spaces where high school students can prepare for careers in STEM (science, technology, math and engineering).
“We are partnering with local high schools and education-focused nonprofits, providing resources that will equip young people in our communities with the critically important STEM skills necessary to succeed in family-supporting careers,” said Calvin Butler, president and chief operating officer of Exelon. “We want these students to one day work for us, and help Exelon lead the clean energy transformation.”
Public and private schools, as well as nonprofit organizations that run out-of-school programs serving Title I-eligible students, can apply for Green Lab Grants of up to $50,000 each. The Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, conducts an independent review of grant applications and administers the program, which benefits organizations based in Exelon’s service territories in Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia.
This year’s Green Lab Grants recipients are:
Delaware
Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, Wilmington
$15,000; Mussels for Clean Water Initiative – Research Lab
District of Columbia
STEM4US!, Washington
$50,000; Green Construction Training Lab for Anacostia-area high school students
The Swaliga Foundation, Washington
$25,000; OuterSpace Lab at Potomac Gardens Housing Development
Illinois
After School Matters, Chicago
$35,000; Urban STEM space and gardening apprenticeship program
Calculated Genius, Chicago
$50,000; Free STEM lab for Chicago Public Schools students, housed at KDM Engineering
Chicago Youth Centers, Chicago
$36,000; Addition of a Green Lab to the Chicago Youth Center
Curie High School, Chicago
$15,000; Sustainability Exploration Lab addition to Curie FabLab
Current Innovation, NFP, Chicago
$40,000; Blue EDP Mobile Lab for Chicago Public Schools students
Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance, Chicago
$29,498; Urban Roots Environmental Justice Program for Al Raby High School students
Howard Area Community Center, Chicago
$33,590 Extended Reality (XR) Lab addition to the Howard Area Community Center
Morton Freshman Center, Cicero
$50,000; Garden Club and Summer Garden Program
Morton West High School, Berwyn
$3,532; Morton West/Berwyn Community Garden
National Society of Black Engineers – Chicago Professionals, Chicago
$49,950; Environmental Justice MythBusters program for high school students
The Kingdom Advancement Center Inc, Elgin
$37,788; Creation of R.I.S.E. (Research and Innovation for Scientific Excellence) Lab
Maryland
Carver Vocational Technical High School, Baltimore
$25,000; Carver High School-based waste reduction program
Fair Hill Environmental Foundation, Inc., Elkton
$8,000; Outdoor lab for grade schoolers to study the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
Girl Scouts of Central Maryland, Baltimore
$12,000; Conservation-focused robotics program for female high school students
The Community Ecology Institute, Columbia
$40,000; Green Keys Internship Program
Pennsylvania
Creative Tech Works Design Studio Inc., Philadelphia
$49,928; Agricultural Sustainability through STEM Education & the Internet of Things (ASSET)
Eddie’s House, Philadelphia
$38,000; Partnership with Swarthmore College to educate facility residents about future careers in the electric vehicle industry
Girls Inc. of Greater Philadelphia & Southern New Jersey, Philadelphia
$50,000; Dedicated STEM lab with a mobile STEM station for female high school students
Imhotep Institute Charter High School, Philadelphia
$40,000; Vertical hydroponics farm
John Bartram Association (doing business as Bartram's Garden), Philadelphia
$15,000; Youth STEM programming at Bartram’s Garden
Norristown Zoological Society (doing business as Elmwood Park Zoo), Norristown
$15,000; Ninth Grade Zoo STEM Careers Development Course
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia
$28,000; Continued work of the Women in Natural Sciences & the Urban Nature Lab
The City School, Philadelphia
$38,000; TCS Hydroponic STEM Lab
Widener University, Chester
$38,000; Mobile Green Labs (follow up to Next Generation Scientists Summer Camp)
Launched in 2021, Green Lab Grants is an annual program with a new set of awardees selected each year.
The Green Lab Grants program is one of several Exelon initiatives that support education and workforce development. The annual Exelon Foundation STEM Leadership Academy gives teen girls ages 16-19 from diverse and low-income communities the opportunity to learn from women working in STEM and other leaders; explore sustainability, energy efficiency, renewable energy, and climate change; and connect with like-minded peers. Through a $1 million per year scholarship program launched in 2021, Exelon Foundation STEM Leadership Academy alumnae can apply for scholarships to cover costs associated with college. Earlier this year, the Exelon Foundation committed $2.4 million in scholarships to 24 college freshmen selected for the company’s HBCU Corporate Scholars Program, launched in partnership with UNCF (United Negro College Fund), to provide scholarship assistance, internship experiences and early-career readiness training to students attending historically Black colleges and universities.
In addition to these and other education programs for students, Exelon creates and supports workforce academies to prepare youth and work-ready adults for family-supporting careers. All told, Exelon and its energy delivery companies — Atlantic City Electric, BGE, ComEd, Delmarva Power, PECO and Pepco — have more than 75 unique workforce development programs designed to bring economic equity, empowerment and employment opportunity to under-resourced communities.
More information about Exelon’s culture of corporate citizenship is available at exeloncorp.com.
