Media contacts:
Katie Connell, United Way of Greater Cleveland: 404.895.5513 (m) and kconnell@unitedwaycleveland.org
Craig Friedman, PNC Bank: 614.463-6647 and craig.friedman@pnc.com
Grant will support innovative, early-stage initiatives with the potential to address poverty issues most deeply affecting Greater Clevelanders
CLEVELAND – June 14, 2022 – The United Way of Greater Cleveland announced it received a $100,000 grant from the PNC Foundation to support the newly-created August Napoli Fund for Anti-Poverty Innovation.
The fund is named in honor of the chapter’s president and CEO, who is retiring this month after leading the organization since 2016. Housed within United Way’s Impact Institute, the program will grant funds to early-stage or testbed initiatives with the potential to significantly transform the lives of Greater Clevelanders living in poverty.
“Augie’s dedication and record of accomplishments leading the United Way of Greater Cleveland over the last six years speak for itself,” said Pat Pastore, PNC regional president for Cleveland. “Augie has worked tirelessly to improve the lives of those living in poverty across our community. Our PNC Foundation grant will help continue his great work and that of United Way of Greater Cleveland in fighting poverty with innovative approaches that help those in need move forward financially and realize a quality of life everyone should be able to enjoy.”
United Way is the region’s leading anti-poverty organization, implementing strategies that treat poverty’s symptoms through its Community Hub for Basic Needs and upend poverty’s root causes through its Impact Institute. The dual-pronged approach is moving the needle on poverty in profound ways and represents a new, nimbler, and more effective United Way of Greater Cleveland.
The August Napoli Fund for Anti-Poverty Innovation complements United Way’s existing Impact Institute initiatives by granting seed capital to incubate innovative, early-stage anti-poverty strategies that align with United Way’s Impact Institute goals. Initiatives the Fund will support are designed to 1) meaningfully increase the effectiveness of the non-profit service-delivery system or 2) drive sustainable, transformative change within communities. The PNC Foundation grant, the largest grant from any local business, will fuel the Fund’s investments in bold, new ideas for solving deeply entrenched poverty-related problems.
A think-tank with an action plan, the Impact Institute funnels philanthropic investments into sophisticated programs that permanently upend poverty’s root causes. Those programs which demonstrate proof of concept are then scaled in conjunction with strategic public and private sector partners. Ultimately, these initiatives drive systemic, multi-generational change for those living in poverty.
Napoli, who joined United Way in 2016 and is set to retire on June 30, has served as a champion for change, implementing structural changes to deeply entrenched systems and legacy organizations. As a result of the organization’s efforts, thousands of children, individuals, and families are on a pathway out of poverty.
“Under Augie’s bold leadership, United Way of Greater Cleveland underwent a dramatic and effective transformation to become an innovator in the nonprofit space, re-imagining the kind of solutions necessary to alleviate generational poverty for both the short and the long term,” said Paul Dolan, United Way of Greater Cleveland’s board chair. “It’s only fitting that the Anti-Poverty Innovation Fund is named after Augie, who has consistency served as a trailblazer for change in Greater Cleveland and a tireless champion for those who live in poverty’s grasp — unafraid of taking on the uncomfortable or the status quo, and we thank PNC for its philanthropic leadership and vision in providing the initial seed funding to launch the work of the August Napoli Fund.”
United Way of Greater Cleveland directs philanthropic investments into sophisticated, proven, and groundbreaking programs to reduce poverty’s impact across Greater Cleveland in measurable, effective, and sustainable ways.
###
About PNC Foundation
The PNC Foundation, which receives its principal funding from The PNC Financial Services Group (www.pnc.com), actively supports organizations that provide services for the benefit of communities in which it has a significant presence. The foundation focuses its philanthropic mission on early childhood education and community and economic development, which includes the arts and culture. Through PNC Grow Up Great, its signature cause that began in 2004, PNC has created a bilingual $500 million, multi-year initiative to help prepare children from birth to age 5 for success in school and life.
About United Way of Greater Cleveland
Founded in 1900, United Way of Greater Cleveland is a local, independent nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting poverty across the Greater Cleveland area. The largest private-sector funder of health and human services in Northeast Ohio, United Way invests in efforts that address poverty using a two-pronged approach. The first prong focuses on the daily issues affecting those living in poverty, the Community Hub for Basic Needs. The second drives research and innovation through the Impact Institute, a think tank with an action plan, focused on identifying long-term solutions to break the cycle of poverty. For more information, visit unitedwaycleveland.org and twitter.com/UnitedWayCLE.
