Ascendium Gifts Foster Better Lives Through Education in 2021

MADISON -- Ascendium Education Group increased its giving in 2021 to help area nonprofit organizations. Ascendium, which is based in Madison, supports nonprofits where its employees live and work. Their goal: to help raise others up so more people from low-income backgrounds can reach their educational and career goals.

“Creating a community is a collaborative effort,” said Brett Lindquist, vice president - strategic communications for Ascendium. “We support area nonprofits that are doing good work in our communities in service of our mission to champion opportunity for everyone.”

This year, Ascendium’s employees donated over 7,000 hours of their time directly helping nonprofit organizations. This was done through their employee giving program, Ascendium Cares, which includes employee time spent volunteering through paid volunteer time off, as well as their volunteer hours outside of work.

“We are grateful to have such generous employees who take the time to volunteer and support their communities and neighbors," said Lindquist. "Our employees helped with everything from ensuring that people with food insecurities receive much needed meals to cleaning and painting so that kids have a better place to learn. They made themselves available to help with whatever needed to be done.”

$1.3 Million in 2021 Ascendium Giving to Madison Area Education Nonprofits

The company also donated more than $1.3 million to local nonprofit organizations. Some highlights include $300,000 in Good Neighbor Grants, which are $15,000 grants given to 20 organizations in our communities that share Ascendium’s commitment to increasing education and workforce training outcomes for learners from low-income backgrounds. Ascendium donated over $200,000 to local United Ways as part of a 2021 Unite for Our Communities campaign. That amount includes a three-to-one corporate match for every dollar pledged by employees.

In addition, Ascendium gave a $55,000 planning grant to Madison-area nonprofit JustDane to develop a hospitality management training program for residents impacted by incarceration, homelessness, substance abuse and other life challenges. A $250,000 grant to local nonprofit Operation Fresh Start (OFS) is enabling them to bolster their existing Graduate Crew program, which provides pre-apprentice training for young people just starting careers in the construction trades. OFS also added a Conservation Graduate Crew to address a growing need for diverse young adults in that field. In November, Ascendium gave Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County a $250,000 grant to support its AVID/TOPS and TOPS College Success programs, which help support learners from low-income backgrounds at every step of their academic journey.

Ascendium is deeply grateful to area organizations who are doing the work to meet the needs of the community.