“Stags Read” provides an opportunity for everyone to have easy and free access to books
NEW YORK
--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Voya Financial, Inc.
(NYSE:VOYA), a leading provider of retirement plans for educators, announced today that
Nichole Folkman
, a teacher in the
Hartsburg-Emden School District
in
Hartsburg, Illinois
, won the second-place grant award in the company’s annual
Voya Unsung Heroes
program.
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Hartsburg, Illinois
, teacher from
Hartsburg-Emden School District
(pictured in middle left) is awarded a grant for
$12,000
as the second-place winner of Voya’s Unsung Heroes program. Voya’s
Braeden Mayrisch
, Director, Social Impact (top left),
Mark Jackowitz
, SVP, Sales Management, Tax-Exempt Markets (top middle),
Angela Harrell
, Chief Diversity and Corporate Responsibility Officer (center middle) and
Greg Springfield
, SVP, Sales - Division Manager (bottom) presented the check to
Nichole Folkman
via a surprise virtual check presentation along with
Hartsburg-Emden School
principle
Jon Leslie
(top right), and
Hartsburg-Emden School District
superintendent
Terry Wisniewski
(middle right). (Photo: Business Wire)
Through the Voya Unsung Heroes program, Voya awards
$2,000
grants to 50 K-12 educators across the country each year to support their innovative and creative teaching ideas. Voya also selects three top winners to receive additional funds. In its 20-plus years, the program has awarded more than
$5 million
in grants to educators across
the United States
.
As the second-place winner, Folkman receives
$10,000
in addition to the
$2,000
grant — bringing her total financial award to
$12,000
. This money will be used to help bring “Stags Read” to life in the
Hartsburg-Emden School District
.
“We are thrilled to recognize our nation’s educators who go above and beyond, even though the most challenging times, to make a difference in the lives of our leaders of tomorrow,” said
Heather Lavallee
, president of Tax Exempt Markets for Voya’s Retirement business. “For more than 20 years, Voya’s Unsung Heroes program has empowered educators, like Nichole, to bring innovative teaching ideas to life. We are honored to recognize her as our 2020 second-place winner and hope that she continues to be an example as she prepares our next generation of leaders for the 21st century workforce.”
Folkman’s innovative teaching idea, “Stags Read,” focuses on combining community and school resources to change access to books. The project will increase community reading and literacy by providing books to pre-school children, through
Dolly Parton's
Imagination Library
; school children, through summer reading; adults, through
Free Little Libraries
; and book swaps at schools.
“Nichole has taken her passion for Literature and brought that to life in not only our schools but also our community,” said
Hartsburg-Emden School District
principle
Jon Leslie
. “She is an emergent leader in her field, and it's great to see her get this recognition.”
With the Voya grant, Folkman hopes to create a community where everyone has easy and free access to books. Working with the entire community and impacting the generations now will continue the impact for generations to come.
To learn more about this year’s winning projects, as well as those from previous years, visit
Unsung Heroes
(
unsungheroes.com
). Applications for the 2020 Voya Unsung Heroes awards are currently being accepted through the website until
April 30, 2021
.
Unsung Heroes is part of Voya Foundation’s signature program,
Voya Teacher Voices
. Voya Teacher Voices focuses on empowering teachers to become leaders by promoting the teaching career, recognizing high-achieving accomplishments, providing training opportunities and offering financial support to achieve their goals.
About
Voya Foundation
Voya Foundation's
mission is to improve the quality of life in communities where
Voya Financial
operates and its employees and customers live.
Voya Foundation
provides grants and establishes signature partnerships in the areas of financial literacy and children's education and fosters employee engagement to deepen our positive impact on the community. For more information, visit
www.VoyaFoundation.com
.
About
Voya Financial
®
Voya Financial, Inc.
(NYSE:VOYA), helps Americans plan, invest and protect their savings — to get ready to retire better. Serving the financial needs of approximately 13.8 million individual and institutional customers in
the United States
, Voya is a
Fortune 500
company that had
$7.5 billion
in revenue in 2019. The company had
$606 billion
in total assets under management and administration as of
June 30, 2020
. With a clear mission to make a secure financial future possible — one person, one family, one institution at a time — Voya’s vision is to be America’s
Retirement Company
®
. Certified as a “Great Place to Work” by the
Great Place
to Work
®
Institute, Voya is equally committed to conducting business in a way that is socially, environmentally, economically and ethically responsible. Voya has been recognized as a 2020 World’s
Most Admired Company
by
Fortune
magazine; one of the 2020 World’s Most Ethical Companies
®
by the
Ethisphere Institute
; as a member of the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index; and as a “Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion” on the Disability Equality Index by Disability:IN. For more information, visit
voya.com
. Follow
Voya Financial
on
Facebook
,
LinkedIn
and Twitter
@Voya
.
View source version on
businesswire.com
:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201027006120/en/
Media:
Yasmine Lewis
Voya Financial
(973) 687-2997
Yasmine.Lewis@voya.com
Source:
Voya Financial, Inc.