GEM Grant Helps Heart Math Tutoring Expand Impact on Social Mobility in Charlotte

January 19, 2016

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Jan. 19, 2016 – A $50,000 grant from Global Endowment Management Foundation (GEM), has helped Heart Math Tutoring (Heart) – a nonprofit group dedicated to helping students in high-poverty concentration schools develop math skills and academic confidence – expand its impact on social mobility in Charlotte.

Through its employee-led grant cycle, the GEM Foundation provided a $50,000 grant to Heart over two years including $40,000 in December 2014 and the $10,000 in December 2015. The $40,000 grant allowed Heart to open its tutoring full program at Westerly Hills Academy in 2015/2016, serving 50 students in grades 2 – 4. The additional $10,000 will support Westerly Hills Academy’s program site in 2016/2017.

Heart is a math intervention program that recruits, trains, and supports volunteers to work as tutors in high-poverty elementary schools in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS). Hundreds of community members spend one hour each week delivering Heart’s research-based, structured curriculum. There are currently 450 volunteers signed up as weekly tutors to serve almost 400 students during the 2015/2016 school year.

About 60 percent of economically disadvantaged children in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools perform below grade level in math, based on 2014-2015 North Carolina End-of-Grade Tests. Heart uses research-based assessments and provides volunteer-friendly lesson plans that target the gaps of each individual student. To date, 97% of students tutored by Heart have met program growth goals set in partnership with CMS. The tutor-student relationships also boost the students’ academic confidence and improve the flow of social capital among races and socio-economic groups in Charlotte.

Why Social Mobility in Charlotte

A 2013 study by Harvard University and the University of California at Berkeley shows that upward mobility for children in poverty is more difficult in Charlotte than in any of the country’s 50 largest cities. The Charlotte Mecklenburg Opportunity Task Force was created in response to this study and area foundations are also putting a focus on social mobility.

“The GEM Foundation chose to focus on the upward mobility challenge in the Charlotte region, particularly for children and families, for the 2014-2015 grant cycle,” said Meg Morrison, associate director of Investment Operations at Global Endowment Management. “We selected Heart Math Tutoring because the program works to improve educational achievement, a critical aspect of increasing upward mobility. Heart is a great fit for our goals because it is scalable program aimed at early childhood education, one of the primary factors affecting an individual’s long-term economic and social progress.”

Heart impacts factors that contribute to social mobility – quality of public schools, segregation and flow of social capital. Heart volunteers act as a resource for Charlotte’s public schools in addressing student academic need and are becoming a quickly growing community of public education advocates. Heart volunteer-student relationships are also often formed across lines of diversity, thus decreasing segregation and improving the flow of social capital among races and socio-economic groups.

“We have been extremely encouraged by this grant award – our largest in support of 2015/16 schools – particularly in its validation of Heart tutors’ work as a lever in social mobility. Grants from community partners like Global Management Endowment allow Heart to recruit and support our dedicated volunteers, who give students the skills and confidence to succeed, in partnership with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools,” said Emily Elliott, executive director of Heart Math Tutoring. “GEM Foundation’s grant, combined with almost ten employee volunteer tutors, is making a huge difference to students at Westerly Hills Academy and to our organization.”

Global Endowment Management Foundation

Global Endowment Management actively manages over $6 billion of client assets in the style of larger endowments and foundations. GEM Foundation is an employee led organization launched in 2013 through financial commitments from the partners of Global Endowment Management. The Foundation’s purpose is to support worthy organizations and their missions in the Charlotte region, and to provide an important learning experience for GEM team members. For more information, visit www.globalendowment.com

Heart Math Tutoring

Heart Math Tutoring is a Charlotte-based nonprofit with a mission to ensure that all elementary students develop the strong foundation in math and enthusiasm for academics needed for long-term success, by helping schools use volunteers as tutors. Community members commit one hour per week to deliver an effective, hands-on curriculum through one-on-one tutoring sessions during the school day in Title I elementary schools. For more information, visit http://heartmathtutoring.org.