Wells Fargo Provides $25,000 Grant to United Way to Support Leader in Me

Bethlehem, PA, January 14, 2019 – The Wells Fargo Foundation has announced that United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley (UWGLV) is the recipient of a $25,000 grant to support the Leader in Me program at three sites in the Bethlehem Area School District. The Wells Fargo grant will fund programming for 1,000 students in kindergarten to grade five at Calypso, Clearview and Governor Wolf elementary schools.
 
“We’re proud of our commitment to the Bethlehem Area School District and United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley,” said Mike Pany, Wells Fargo’s Community Relations Manager for Greater Pennsylvania. “With this grant, we’re proud to empower students, staff and families with the skills they need to become life-ready leaders and we look forward to playing an active role in Leader in Me by volunteering at the school sites.”
 
The Leader in Me process teaches leadership principles, creates a leadership culture and aligns academic systems which results in decreased absences, improved student behavior and ultimately increased academic achievement. Leader in Me schools accomplish this by incorporating leadership principles and practices school wide, including, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, which allows schools to build systems that empower students to learn and practice leadership skills – both at school and at home.
 
“This opportunity, in partnership with Franklin Covey, is a perfect synergy for our organization,” said David Lewis, president of UWGLV, which became the local sponsor of Leader in Me in November. “We’re grateful to Wells Fargo for supporting United Way’s and Bethlehem Area School District’s efforts to develop leaders of all ages. Education is the center point of our investments, our community-building efforts and our commitment to the region. We have a bold goal to increase the number of third-graders reading on grade level by 50 percent by 2022. Leader in Me aligns with other United Way initiatives such as Community Schools, trauma-informed classrooms, case management and parent and family engagement to create a powerful combination.”
 
The Leader in Me process is currently being implemented at 38 schools in the Allentown, Salisbury, Bangor, Bethlehem and Easton area school districts, impacting 17,000 students and 1,000 teachers.


(l-r): Vivian Robledo-Shorey, Mike Pany, Theodoro Quinones, Marci Ronald-Lesko, Nick Giordano Mission of United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley
The mission of United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley is to provide the leadership, convene the partnerships, and develop the resources and solutions that improve our community.  We remain committed to these goals and sincerely appreciate the continued support of partners, program providers and donors throughout the Lehigh Valley. www.UnitedWayGLV.org

About Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.9 trillion in assets. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, investment and mortgage products and services, as well as consumer and commercial finance, through 7,950 locations, 13,000 ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 37 countries and territories to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 262,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 26 on Fortune’s 2018 rankings of America’s largest corporations.
 
About Bethlehem Area School District
The Bethlehem Area School District is the 6^th largest school district in Pennsylvania serving nearly 14,000 culturally and economically diverse students in 22 community-based schools. The district serves five municipalities: City of Bethlehem, Bethlehem Township, Hanover Township, Freemansburg and Fountain Hill.  The district enjoys numerous community partnerships with universities, businesses, and arts providers that extend the schools’ rich curricular and co-curricular offerings.