St. Louis, MO—November 12, 2021—Nine PBS has been named a 2021 Bank of America Neighborhood Builders® awardee for its work addressing early childhood learning in the St. Louis community.
As a Neighborhood Builder, Nine PBS will receive a $200,000 grant over two years; comprehensive leadership training on topics ranging from increasing financial sustainability, human capital management, and strategic storytelling; join a network of peer organizations across the U.S.; and get the opportunity to access capital to expand its impact. The program is one of the nation’s largest investments into nonprofit leadership development.
“As communities continue to recover and navigate a changing landscape, nonprofits are still experiencing significant demands to help meet critical local needs like education and workforce development,” says Marilyn Bush, President, Bank of America St. Louis. “Nine PBS is helping bridge important gaps to help those in our community achieve economic opportunity and stability. Programs like Neighborhood Builders will help these organizations grow sustainably and strategically for greater positive impact.”
Nine PBS reaches 2.4 million people—95% of households—in the St. Louis metro area in Missouri and Illinois. In the last five years, Nine PBS has grown its early education work exponentially. Its vision is to be a training hub and educational resource for educators, caregivers, and families to increase kindergarten readiness and close third grade achievement gaps.
Its standards-aligned Teaching in Room 9 on-air classroom series started in April 2020 with local funding from Bank of America. The national Neighborhood Builders grant lets Nine PBS continue this work, which positively impacts children who are not enrolled in preschool.
What started as a strategy for teaching kids at home during pandemic-related school closures, now has aired close to 1,700 episodes in math, literacy, science, and related arts. Children ages 2-11 have viewed episodes of Teaching in Room 9 1.2 million times.
“Now more than ever, keeping St. Louis area children learning and ensuring that educational tools are readily available is a fundamental component of our mission,” says Amy Shaw, President and CEO, Nine PBS. “In collaboration with and support from Bank of America, particularly as a Neighborhood Builder, we have an additional exciting opportunity to incorporate financial education into our STEM content, strengthening kids' math, decision-making, and economics skills.”
About Nine PBS
As an essential community institution, Nine PBS exists to enable access to information, knowledge, and learning opportunities for all. We tell stories that move us. We meet people where they are the most comfortable consuming content. Nine PBS’s platforms include four distinct broadcast channels (Nine PBS, Nine PBS KIDS®, Nine PBS World, and Nine PBS Create), ninepbs.org, social media, the free PBS Video App, streaming services, live and virtual events, and the Public Media Commons. Since 1954, Nine PBS has accepted the community’s invitation into their homes, schools, and businesses.
For more information, contact:
Matt Huelskamp
Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer
(314) 313-6049
mhuelskamp@ninepbs.org